Alda, Harris and Kaye to Lead Carnegie Hall Birthday Salute to Theodore Bikel

Broadway veterans Alan Alda, Rosemary Harris and Judy Kaye will celebrate the 85th birthday of Theodore Bikel, the folk singer and Broadway actor who originated the role of Captain Von Trapp on Broadway, with a star-studded concert at Carnegie Hall on June 15. The concert, called Theodore Bikel: The First 85 Years, will benefit the Juvenile Law Center, the non-profit law firm dedicated to protecting the rights and well-being of children in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems.

In addition to Alda, Harris and Kaye, Bikel will be joined by Broadway veteran Patricia Conolly and a host of folk luminaries, including Arlo Guthrie, Tom Paxton, Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul & Mary fame, David Amram, the band Beyond the Pale, Artie Butler, David Krakauer, Bikel's band Serendipity 4 Shura Lipovsky, Noel Paul Stookey, Susan Werner and Michael Wex. Honorary committee co-chairs for the event include Barbara Cook, Frank Langella, John C. Whitehead, Elie Wiesel and folk icon Pete Seeger.

Bikel made his Broadway debut in the 1955 play Tonight in Samarkand, and earned a Tony Award nomination for his performance in The Rope Dancers, before earning a second nod as Captain Georg Von Trapp in the original 1959 production of The Sound of Music. His other Broadway credits include The Lark, Café Crown, Pousse-Café and The Inspector General. Regionally, he’s performed the role of Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof more than 2,000 times, and is currently starring in a national tour of Sholom Aleichem: Laughter through Tears.

In addition to acting in such classic films as The African Queen and The Defiant Ones, Bikel was a leading light in the folk music scene of the 1960s. He co-founded the Newport Folk Festival and has remained a powerful advocate for peace, human rights and social justice for more than five decades*#8212;from the civil rights movements in the United States to apartheid in South Africa to promoting peace and religious pluralism among Israel and its neighbors.

“Throughout my life I have been equally passionate about music and social justice, and have allied myself with others whose use guitars, banjos, fiddles and words to conquer fear and injustice,” said Bikel in a statement. “I can think of no better way to celebrate that life than a night of music with some of my nearest and dearest friends, and no more deserving cause than protecting the rights of our nation’s most vulnerable children.”