Theater legend Kander honored

Associated Press

NEW YORK

When the Dramatists Guild Fund honors composer John Kander at a star-studded gala Sunday, there is very likely to be one person reluctant to be there. That would be John Kander.

“It scares me to death,” says the Tony Award-winning songwriter with partner Fred Ebb of “Cabaret,” “Chicago” and “Kiss of the Spider Woman.” “I guess I’m not the world’s most spotlight-oriented person.”

The Dramatists Guild Fund is the public charity arm of the Dramatists Guild of America, which aids and nurtures writers for the theater. The fund is celebrating its 50th anniversary and chose Kander, 85, to honor since he also is celebrating his half-century of creating art.

The gala at the Mandarin Oriental New York hotel is slated to feature performances and tributes from Liza Minnelli, Chita Rivera, Bebe Neuwirth, Stockard Channing, Joel Grey, Christie Brinkley, Rob Marshall, Susan Stroman, Debra Monk, Karen Ziemba and Joshua Henry.

Fellow writers Stephen Sondheim, Stephen Schwartz and Terrance McNally also are expected to attend, and Jon Cryer, the star of “Two and a Half Men,” will serve as host.

“It is going to be a wonderful, big love fest,” says Gretchen Cryer, president of the Dramatists Guild Fund. “Everybody loves John.”

Minnelli would be at the top of that list. “They invented me,” says the actress, who earned an Academy Award for “Cabaret” on screen and a Tony for the Kander and Ebb musical “The Act.” “With ‘Liza With a Z,’ they gave me a real identity. The way they write, there’s nobody like them. Nobody.”

Kander, who just turned 85, didn’t stop working after Ebb’s death in 2004. He is collaborating with lyricist Greg Pierce on a musical.