Please welcome to the stage Tony Award-winners Debra Monk and David Hyde Pierce.
A number of years ago, I had the great thrill of working on John Kander and Fred Ebb's Steel Pier.
It was an unforgettable experience onstage and off.
And I felt like I had been welcomed in to a warm and wonderful new family.
A few years later, Deb and I appeared in another Kander and Ebb musical, Curtains,
and that was a nightmare.
Ever since 1965's Flora The Red Menace,
John and Freddy have given us more than a dozen amazing, groundbreaking and frequently heartbreaking musicals.
In addition to Fred's creative genius and compassion and generosity He was also a very naughty, naughty boy.
The last joke that Fred and I shared was:
A woman goes into the drug store and asks the man, "Where are the batteries?"
And he says, "Come this way."
And she said, "If I could come that way, I wouldn't need the batteries."
So, now you know what Curtains was like.
I unfortunately didn't get to know Fred. He passed away in 2004.
But I can tell you this about him: He was a man whose actions speak as loudly as his beautiful words.
As a stipulation in his will, Fred wanted a portion of the on-going royalties from his shows
To go to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS through the Fred Ebb Foundation.
So in 2005, Fred's nephew and executor, Mitchell Bernard, presented Broadway Cares with a first "royalty check" of $300,000.
Last week, Fred's legacy continued with his 2012 gift of $1.3 million.
It is the largest single donation in Broadway Cares history.
That brings the total donation from Freddie and the Fred Ebb Foundation today to an amazing $6.9 million.
So this afternoon, as a tribute to Fred and the incredible legacy he left for all of us,
and in honor of the beautiful partnership of Kander and Ebb please welcome some kids from the original company of Curtains, with a little bit of Chicago on the side.
You know, Deb? I see all these familiar faces. I think of Freddie and John.
I look at all these beautiful people and you know what I think?
What?
I think that putting on a musical has gotta be the most fulfilling thing a person could ever hope to do.
You're a special kind of people known as show people You live in a world of your own
The audience paid plenty to sit there and clap Hearing you sing, watching you tap
Did you know your dentist longs to be in show business Your window washer wants to be a star
And though your analyst may Never couch it that way
Analyst, couch. That's funny!
You don't know how lucky you are
Some policemen and detectives dream of show business They can't arrested, but still
They sit around the station and fancy this life They jeer Sherlock Holmes and cheer Mack the Knife
Ask your cleaning lady, "Don't you dream of show business To vocalize or stretch beside a bar?"
Her affirmative shrug as she shampoos your rug Let's you know how lucky you are
There's a special kind of aura 'round a show person Just ask the next waiter you meet
He walks in fifth position, his voice is just grand He gives you the check, ya give him a hand
We're a special kind of people known as show people We live in a world of our own
Our days are tied to curtains, they rise and they fall We're born every night at half-hour call
Half hour!
We can't picture being anything but show people Civilians find the whole thing quite bizarre
But that hop in our hearts when the overture starts Helps us know how lucky we are
Show people!
Come on! Everybody!
It's an honor and a joy to be in show business I feel that spotlight hit me and I'm gone
At the last curtain call, I'm the envy of all So I know the show must go on!
So thrilling! We're show people! And on! So willing! We're show people! And on!
So thrilling that show people go on!
David Hype Pierce, Debra Monk, the cast of CURTAINS and alumni from CHICAGO in "Show People." Thank you, Fred Ebb!