LA Children’s Chorus Gala Bel Canto raises $270,000

Music and joy reigned when the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus (LACC) honored legendary composer and beloved American musical storyteller Richard M. Sherman and LACC advocates and benefactors Mary Blodgett and Carlton Calvin at its annual fundraiser, Gala Bel Canto, on Wednesday, April 10, 2013, at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion’s Grand Hall in downtown Los Angeles. The event raised $270,000 for Los Angeles Children’s Chorus’ artistic, educational and scholarship programs.
LACC and esteemed special guests, including Dick Van Dyke, star of iconic films Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, film critic Leonard Maltin, and Broadway star Ashley Brown, who played the title role in the hit stage version of Mary Poppins, presented heartfelt tributes musical and otherwise to the evening’s illustrious honorees.
Brown sang a deeply poignant rendition of Sherman’s iconic “Feed the Birds,” Van Dyke presented Sherman’s award joined Sherman for an impromptu duet on “Chim Chim Cher-ee, then Sherman, himself, gave a very special live performance, teaming up with the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus to perform his blockbuster“It’s A Small World (After All).” The tribute to Blodgett and Calvin featured a performance by LACC’s Young Men’s Ensemble – the LACC musical group they helped launch four years ago with their considerable fundraising efforts. Los Angeles Timesarchitecture critic Christopher Hawthorne, a personal friend of Blodgett and Calvin, presented them with the Rebecca Thompson Founder’s Award.

(L-R) Dick Van Dyke, Broadway star Ashley Brown (“Poppins”), Gala Bel Canto Honorees Carlton Calvin, Mary Blodgett and Richard Sherman with Master of Ceremonies Leonard Maltin. -Courtesy Photo

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