Becca – A Concert Celebrating Rebecca Luker

When Broadway star Rebecca Luker passed away last December of complications from A.L.S. (commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease), colleagues and journalists struggled to find enough superlatives to describe her incredible talent.

The New York Times hailed her “crystal clear operatic soprano.” Playbill recalled her “innate warmth, infectious joy, and gorgeous voice.” Broadway’s Laura Benanti called her “humble, loving and kind. So much so that you would sometimes forget her otherworldly talent, until she would sing, and her golden voice would wrap you in peace.” And Kristin Chenoweth, who called Luker an inspiration described her voice as “soprano heaven. I love you, Rebecca.”

On Tuesday, May 4th, Becca, a streaming show of music and stories from her three-decade career will take place at 7:30 PM ET/4:30 PM PT. The event is a fundraiser for Target ALS with all proceeds going to ALS research.

Participating in the concert will be Benanti, Sierra Boggess, Michael Cerveris, Chenoweth, Victoria Clark , Santino Fontana (they appeared in Cinderella together), Judy Kuhn, Howard McGillin, Norm Lewis, Kelli O’Hara, Tam Mutu and Sally Wilfert.

Wilfert and Luker recorded All the Girls, an album of songs about women and their friends, that was released late last year.

Luker originated the role of “Lily” in the musical The Secret Garden.

The show’s composer, Lucy Simon, is acting as honorary producer for this event. Frank DiLella, who hosts On Stage for Spectrum News in New York, will serve as the host. Mary-Mitchell Campbell and Joseph Thalken serve as co-music directors.

Luker was nominated for three Tony Awards: Best Actress in a Musical for her roles as “Magnolia” in the 1994 revival of Show Boat and as “Marian Paroo” in the 2000 revival of The Music Man and for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her role as Winifred Banks in Mary Poppins.

Her other Broadway credits included The Phantom of the Opera, The Sound of Music, Nine and Fun Home.

She was married to Danny Burstein who is a Tony nominee this year for his role as Harold Zidler in Moulin Rouge The Musical.

I was only lucky enough to see Luker in one show: The Music Man. She was glorious. She truly sang like an angel.

It’s tragic that she was taken from her family, friends and colleagues at such a young age (she was 59).

Becca will be filled with joy, beautiful music and certainly a few tears. But could anyone help you feel better are such a tragic loss than Rebecca Luker herself?

Tickets for Becca begin at $20 and go higher based on your ability to pay.

All photos courtesy Rebeccaluker.com