Professional Motion Picture Production and Distribution NEWS

Emmy Award Winner LeVar Burton to Appear on Opening Night of RENT on Friday June 14th, a Fundraiser Benefiting AIDS Research Alliance

By StudentFilmmakers.com
posted Jun 8, 2013, 12:30

AIDS Research Alliance (ARA) announced today that on Friday evening, June 14th, actor/activist LeVar Burton will appear on Opening Night of RENT at the Hudson Theatre in Hollywood. A portion of the proceeds from this performance and the performances on June 15th and 16th will benefit AIDS Research Alliance. Burton has been ARA’s national spokesperson for two years and has served on its Board of Directors for almost one year.

RENT will run on Friday & Saturday at 8:00 PM, and on Sunday at 7:00PM. General admission tickets for Rent are $34, with student and senior tickets available for $25 with valid ID. To purchase tickets online go to https://www.plays411.net/rent. To purchase by phone call (323) 960-4410. The Hudson Theatre is located at 6539 Santa Monica Boulevard on Theatre Row in Hollywood.

"LeVar Burton has demonstrated an amazing commitment to AIDS Research Alliance since he joined our organization two years ago," said Carolyn Carlburg, CEO of ARA. "On June 14th, those who attend this performance of RENT will have the opportunity to hear from LeVar, an Emmy Award winning actor who is truly committed to realizing an HIV-free generation."

AIDS Research Alliance helped to make HIV/AIDS treatable, but 8,000 people still die of AIDS every day, while millions more with HIV may lose a third of their life spans. As an independent research organization, AIDS Research Alliance has moved the science forward, contributing to the approval of half of today’s HIV/AIDS treatments. Now, AIDS Research Alliance is dedicated to finding a cure, and is conducting research on its drug candidate, prostratin.

Burton remarked, "I am so honored to be part of this wonderful organization and anything I can do to help with AIDS research is truly my pleasure."

RENT is a rock opera based on Puccini's La Boheme, which tells the story of one year in the life of a group of bohemians struggling in the East Village New York during the 1990s. The story centers on Mark and Roger, two roommates. While a former tragedy has made Roger numb to life, Mark tries to capture it through his attempts to make a film. In the year that follows, the group deals with love, loss, AIDS, and modern day life, all wrapped up in one powerful story. Rent director Kristen Boulé is the founding artistic director of 2Cents Theatre Group currently in residence at the Hudson Theatres.

LeVar Burton is an Emmy Award-winning actor, director, producer, and HIV/AIDS activist, whose career has spanned decades. He first rose to fame as Kunta Kinte on Roots. Burton is also known for his roles as Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge on Star Trek: The Next Generation and as the host of the PBS children’s program Reading Rainbow, for which he also served as executive producer. Further, Burton directed and produced several segments of the Star Trek franchise, and directed the Emmy-nominated Tiger Woods Story for Showtime. Currently, Burton is promoting a new tablet-based Reading Rainbow App, which he developed. You can currently see him starring on the TNT drama Perception.

AIDS Research Alliance is a nonprofit, medical research organization dedicated to finding a cure for AIDS. Since 1989, AIDS Research Alliance has conducted clinical trials leading to the approval of half of today’s HIV/AIDS treatments. Its current research targeting latent HIV reservoirs, including the development of prostratin, will bring the world closer to a cure. AIDS Research Alliance is also at the forefront of infection prevention as a member of the federal HIV Vaccine Trials Network. Free from political or profit motives, AIDS Research Alliance offers clinical trial volunteers access to the next generation of HIV/AIDS treatments and vaccines at its world-class clinic in downtown Los Angeles, and in this way, pursues all pathways to the worldwide eradication of HIV/AIDS.

Resources:

www.aidsresearch.org