New York, NY (PRWEB) May 8, 2006 -- The cast and crew of the new teen
musical "In Your Dreams" issued a statement today congratulating Prince
Harry of England on the founding of his new AIDS-related charity in
Lesotho, and offered to perform a charity benefit in New York on the
evening of Sept. 11th, with all proceeds to go to this new charity.
"Our musical has been offered a number of performance nights this coming
September in Manhattan at the prestigious Ars Nova Performance Center,
including Sept. 11th, and at this advance point in time it would be a
very simple thing for us to add a single additional night to our
showcase schedule in order to perform such a benefit," says Zeke Farrow,
the creator and lyricist for the musical. "And we would very much like
to do so."
Prince Harry's new charity, called Sentebale, is aimed at creating a
better life for the thousands of AIDS orphans in the African country of
Lesotho, where HIV and Aids has affected at least 30 percent of the 1.8
million population and the infection rate seems to be climbing. There
are a minimum of 120,000 orphans, and possibly up to 200,000, currently
living in orphanages in that country under severe conditions. Donations
to Sentebale can be made at http://www.sentebale.org or by calling,
outside of in England, +44 800-458-0835. Charitable contributions to the
charity may shortly be accepted via Paypal.com.
Sentebale, which means forget me not, is dedicated to Prince Harry's
mother, the late Princess Diana, who died in a 1997 car crash. Sentebale
will be located at the Mants'ase Children's Home near Mohale's Hoek,
Lesotho, a kingdom in southern Africa where 70 people die from AIDS
daily.
Twenty-one-year-old Harry and Lesotho Prince Seeiso co-founded the
orphanage. Seeiso's mother died in 2003 and, like Diana, was active in
the global fight against AIDS. Harry said the charity will fund small
but helpful programs that larger aid groups haven't been funding.
"Sentebale does mean 'Forget me not' and it's a way that both me and
Prince Seeiso can relate to our mothers who were both in sort of the
same jobs working with orphaned children," Prince Harry told a pool of
reporters in Lesotho recently.
The Prince became familiar with the country, in southern Africa, and its
problem during a gap-year visit between Eton and Sandhurst in 2004. Two
years ago a mutual friend put Harry in touch with Prince Seeiso, 40, the
younger brother of King Letsie of Lesotho, who is his country's High
Commissioner in London. The two princes came up with the charity idea
together.
During his 2004 visit to Lesotho Harry was so struck by the country's
plight that he conceived the idea of a television documentary, knowing
that a royal name could attract publicity and money. The one-hour
special was broadcast in Britain in late 2004, and helped to raise
almost £1 million for the charity.
"Everyone involved here would be happy to donate their time and space
for something that is so worthwhile," says Farrow. "As the world knows,
America is far from perfect, but we really do have our hearts in the
right place."
Ars Nova seats only 99 in its theater, so it could not be a huge affair,
says Farrow.
AndhraNews.net News for May 8, 2006
