Who’s That With John Lindsay?” (1969)
Felt Forum TheaterMadison Square GardenNew York
October 11, 1969John Lindsay, the mayor of New York city, was running for his
second term in 1969.
On Saturday, October 11th, celebrities who backed the Mayor participated in a
$150-a-ticket gala at the Felt Forum at Madison Square Garden. Sarah H.
Goddard, in charge of ticket sales for the event, told The New York Times that
“somewhere between half and three-quarters of the 3,850 seats were sold” for
the event, which was characterized as “the main fund-raising event of the
campaign.”
The last two hours of the show (including Streisand's three songs) was
televised on New York's Channel 7 beginning at 11:30 p.m.
The headlining celebrities who were referenced in the show's title (Who's That
With John Lindsay ... Alan, Barbra, Frank, and Harry) were: Alan King,
Streisand, Frank Sinatra, and Harry Belafonte.
“There was Frank Sinatra and Judy Collins (guitar and all), and Ethel Merman
and Harry Belafonte and Barbra Streisand, Helen Hayes, Robert Ryan, Sidney
Poitier, and of course the new graduate, Dustin Hoffman,” wrote Victor Riesel
for the Las Vegas Sun (referencing Hoffman's big movie hit, The Graduate.)
Other celebrities who participated that evening were Woody Allen, Alan Arkin,
Leonard Bernstein, Julie Harris, James Earl Jones, Jerry Orbach, Robert
Redford, George Segal and Eli Wallach.
Why support Lindsay? Belafonte told The New York Times, “He's the only one who
has shown a sensitivity and understanding of the complex problems facing all
people, both the minorities and the Establishment.”
Merv Griffin, who hosted the evening, told the Times, “John Lindsay is a
committed man, plus he has imagination, vitality and national stature.”
Streisand offered a more jovial reason for supporting Lindsay: “He's
good-looking,” she stated.
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