Wonderwall
STARS CELEBRATE CARNEGIE HALL ANNIVERSARY WITH CONCERT
WENN, Thursday, April 14, 2011, 12:02am (PDT)
Sting, James Taylor and Bette Midler were among the stars who performed at Carnegie Hall on Tuesday (12Apr11) to mark the 120th anniversary of the iconic New York venue.
Steve Martin and Barbara Cook also took to the stage at the gala concert, which featured famous songs from Carnegie Hall debuts to raise cash for the venue’s Weill Music Institute, an artistic and education program.
Host Taylor kicked off the night with a rendition of There’s No Business Like Show Business and remembered his own first appearance there 40 years ago – before jokily adding, “I can’t recall that night too clearly. The seventies were a blur to me.”
He later teamed up with Cook for a duet of Stephen Sondheim‘s Not While I’m Around from Sweeney Todd.
Midler also reminisced about her own 1972 debut at Carnegie Hall, while Martin performed Foggy Mountain Breakdown from his 1971 appearance.
Sting took to the stage mid-evening and sang Penny Lane to mark the Beatles’ impact on America, but a big surprise came at the end of the show when former U.S. President Bill Clinton appeared to promote the Weill Music Institute, according to the Associated Press.
Taylor then rounded off the evening by performing Over The Rainbow, which was sung by Judy Garland during her 1961 show at the venue.
The gala raised more than $2.8 million (£1.75 million).
