Dear Friends and Family,

I am so excited to be acting and singing in a show this spring at the Birmingham Festival Theatre entitled Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens. As many of you may know, although I direct or music direct school shows quite often, I haven't been onstage myself in quite a while. I am honored to be sharing the stage with some of Birmingham's finest talent for this show and know that it will be a wonderful experience. Elegies, a brilliant piece of musical theatre, is a collection of songs and monologues inspired by the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt and centers around those affected by the AIDS crisis. Our show runs February 21-24 and will be a benefit for the Alabama AIDS organizations.

I consistenly ask my middle school students to participate in community service projects and push them to find ways to make the world a better place. Last year they won a national award for their over 700 hours of service and traveled to DC to receive their honor. When I was asked to participate in this cast, my first response was, "Thank you, but no, I am simply too busy." And then I realized that I although I am "too busy", this is a project that gets at the heart of what I am trying to teach my students. And what better way to teach than to lead? And so I am thrilled to be joining this amazing cast - I hope you can join us in Birmingham February 21-24 at the Birmingham Festival Theater for Elegies! Part of the actual NAMES project quilt will be on display in the lobby - if you have never seen it, you should definitely come.

Productions of this scope are very costly and we hope to cover production costs before show open with donations so that the AIDS organizations can benefit from our ticket sales. BFT is committed to making this fundraiser a success, but we cannot do it without your help. How could you help? In this show I sing two pieces - "Heroes All Around"and "Holding On." Consider making a donation for each of those two pieces! Do you know someone affected by the AIDS crisis? Consider making a donation in memory of or in honor of them. If you are not able to make a donation to this show but live in the Birmingham area, buy a ticket and come see the show. You will be moved by the show and be able to support your local AIDS organizations in one fell swoop. A win-win situation.

For those of you interested in making a donation to this amazing piece of theatre, we would love to offer you the following:

For $1000 or more, your name or the name of your organization will be on both the poster and in the program and you may have your own piece of the quilt in the lobby of the BFT.

For $100-$999, your name will be displayed on a call board in the BFT lobby and in the "Thank you" section of the program for this production.

For $100 and under, your name will be mentioned in the "Thank you" section of the program for this production.

BFT is a nonprofit theatre, so there will be a tax deduction with your donation. Any donation is welcome (as well as anonymous donations) and I hope that we can make this a very special production that will leave an impact on the theatre community and the Birmingham area for years. Donations should be made payable to BFT with "Elegies" in the memo line and may be sent to me at:

Cherith Parrish
629 Barclay Lane
Birmingham, AL 35206

Thank you so much for supporting my music and theater habits over the years and always being such a wonderful network for me ~ you are gems and I treasure you!

~Cherith