Liza Minnelli, Kristin Chenoweth & More Join Vineyard Theatre Tribute to John Kander

Liza Minnelli, Mario Cantone, Kristin Chenoweth, Jason Danieley and Norm Lewis will join previously announced stars Chita Rivera, Debra Monk, Julia Murney, Karen Ziemba, Heidi Blickenstaff and host David Hyde Pierce in honoring composer John Kander at the Vineyard Theatre’s 2010 Benefit Gala on March 8 at the Hudson Theatre. The evening will pay tribute to the work of Kander and his late collaborator Fred Ebb, whose final musical, The Scottsboro Boys, will open at the Vineyard on March 10, directed by Susan Stroman.

All of the participating stars at the gala have appeared in Kander & Ebb musicals. Minnelli won her first of three Tony Awards in her Broadway debut performance in Flora, the Red Menace (revived at the Vineyard in 1987) and received an Oscar for Cabaret and a Tony nomination for The Rink. Rivera won Tonys for Kiss of the Spider Woman and The Rink and starred in Chicago. Chenoweth made her Broadway debut in Steel Pier alongside Curtains vets Ziemba and Monk. Hyde Pierce won a Tony for Curtains alongside Danieley. Cantone appeared in All About Us at the Signature Theatre of Virginia, which also presented First You Dream: The Music of Kander and Ebb starring Blickenstaff, Murney and Lewis.

The Vineyard gala performance will be directed by Jen Bender, with musical direction and accompaniment by Paul Masse.