"The Special Sessions" Benefits Youth Guardian Services
Saturday, October 9, 1999, was a very special day for the city of Baltimore, AXIS Theatre, fans of THE LAST SESSION, and Youth Guardian Services. That was the day Steve Schalchlin and Jim Brochu came to town to give benefit performances for Youth Guardian Services and AXIS Theatre.
THE LAST SESSION (TLS) is a musical about a singer/songwriter with AIDS who has had enough of living with the disease. He decides to end his battle once and for all, and he calls his friends into the studio to record a last album, before he ends his life. The subject matter is difficult, but the musical is actually very uplifting and surprisingly funny.
TLS has won many awards, and it had very successful runs in New York and Los Angeles. There have also been limited engagements of the play in Omaha, Houston, Denver, and, most recently, Baltimore.
TLS was written by Jim Brochu, with words and music by Steve Schalchlin. Steve began writing the songs when he was very sick with AIDS. The songs are about his experience of living with AIDS. Once the songs were written, Steve's partner Jimmy realized that there was a play just waiting to be written, and he wrote it.
Steve is a member of the Youth Guardian Services Board of Directors and a great friend of ours. When Board Chair Ron Iseli learned that AXIS Theatre of Maryland was going to stage a production of TLS, he contacted Steve and asked if he would be willing to do a benefit performance of his one-person show, "Living in the Bonus Round", for YGS during the Baltimore run of the play. Steve immediately agreed. And the management of AXIS Theatre immediately agreed to donate their space and their technical and house staff to the benefit. Steve also agreed to do a special benefit performance of THE LAST SESSION for AXIS Theatre, where he would play the role of Gideon, the singer/songwriter with AIDS.
Ron appealed to the YGS Board to donate money and frequent flyer miles to make these benefits happen, and Board Member Steve Basile kindly donated miles to bring both Steve and Jim from Los Angeles to Baltimore for the benefits. In addition to Steve playing the role of Gideon during the evening performance of TLS, Jimmy offered to play the role of Jim, the studio engineer, for that performance. This would be a very special treat, because he had only performed in this role once before.
The benefits happened, and they were huge successes, both for YGS and for AXIS Theatre.
At 2pm, Saturday, October 9, Steve performed his one-person show to benefit Youth Guardian Services. Jimmy joined Steve for a duet during the performance, and the audience enjoyed every minute of the show. At the conclusion of the show, YGS founder and Executive Director Jason Hungerford and Associate Director Jason Seymour joined Steve on stage and presented Board Chair Ron Iseli an award for his continued involvement with YGS and for making this very special benefit happen.
At 8pm that night, Steve and Jimmy performed their respective roles in a special performance of THE LAST SESSION to benefit AXIS Theatre. The show was brilliant, and, between the cast and the audience, it was hard to tell who enjoyed the show more!
TLS fans came in from all over the country for the benefits, and we thank them for their support. They filled AXIS Theatre to capacity, and they were a most appreciative audience.
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