Donna Murphy to Star in Benefit Performance of Wasserstein's Pamela's First Musical

Donna Murphy will lead an all-star cast in a benefit performance of Pamela's First Musical, adapted from the 1996 children's book by the late Wendy Wasserstein. The performance will be held at Town Hall on May 18, directed by Graciela Daniele, and will benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and Theatre Development Fund's Open Doors Program, which Wasserstein founded.

Pamela's First Musical features music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by David Zippel and a book by Wasserstein. Two-time Tony Award winner Murphy will play Pamela's beloved Aunt Louise, joined by Lynn Ahrens, Christian Borle, Carolee Carmello, Sandy Duncan, Gregg Edelman, Christine Ebersole, Stephen Flaherty, Kathie Lee Gifford, Adam Heller, Richard Kind, Robert Klein, Tommy Tune and many others. Special guest David Garrison makes an appearance as Producer Bernie S. Gerry. Casting for role of Pamela will be announced shortly.

This delightful one-act musical tells the story of a young girl from the suburbs who spends an unforgettable birthday with her eccentric, sophisticated Aunt Louise Murphy attending a lavish Broadway production and meeting all the glamorous, creative people who made it possible.

The concept of staging Wasserstein's 1996 children's book began several years ago. Though Zippel had originally approached Wasserstein about making it into a television movie, they eventually began working with Cy Coleman to turn it into a live stage show, which was essentially complete at the time of Coleman's death in 2004. It was set to premiere in 2005, but the production was eventually cancelled due to Wasserstein's tragic death from lymphoma at age 55. Zippel and Daniele, who had directed two workshop productions of Pamela's First Musical, have continued working on the project over the last few years. The benefit performance at Town Hall will be the first public presentation of the show.