BENEFIT: Money raised will support housing for locals with HIV/AIDS
but little else. There will be showgirls, or as he puts it, “incredibly lovely eye candy,” and they will figure it all out at their first rehearsal, which took place six days before the show.
“I’ve done this before in my shows, just had to recut it a little for different dancers,” he says.
He’s just happy his previous gig stopped playing Sundays so he could be available for Ribbon of Life, the show he says every act in town wants to be a part of.
“All the local people want to do it because all the donations stay right here,” he says. “You don’t know where the money goes with so many charities.”
It goes toward a permanent housing program, 10 units total, for people living with HIV/AIDS. It also goes toward rent, mortgage, reduced co-pays and much more for 500 people.
Lea Carrasco-Zanini, Golden Rainbow executive director, runs the program. She also gets all that footwork for Ribbon of Life started a year in advance. It’s not just performers that make this show. It also takes several donors and a silent auction. Last year’s show raised more than $200,000, an increase of $40,000 over the previous year.
Until the recession hit, the show was consistently seeing an increase from year-to-year.
“A few years there it was really hard for us,” she says. “Quite simply, it affects how many people we can serve in the community. It’s what sustains our organization.”
Ribbon of Life’s “Tributes” show is Sunday at The Smith Center. Tickets are available at thesmithcenter.com.