Some of the voices were from the past: Irena Gut Opdyke, a Polish woman who saved 12 Jews during the Holocaust; Mildred Loving, an African-American woman who challenged her conviction for marrying a Caucasian man in 1950s Virginia. Some were from the present: Tovah Feldshuh, the critically acclaimed actress who plays Irena; Phyllis Newman, the multiple Tony-Award winner who gave voice to Loving; and a host of stars including Richard Belzer ("Law and Order: SUV"), Robert Klein, Linda Lavin, Jim Dale, Mike Burstyn, Anne Meara and tens of other singers, musicians and choruses. Nonmusical guests included representatives from the Jewish Alliance for Change (sponsor of the evening), Marriage Equality New York and Garden State Equality. And the real stars of the evening may have been those in a film collage showing happy, stable couples of all ages who had one thing in common: they are of the same sex, and they want the rights and responsibilities of marriage just like everyone else.  Millburn resident Sara Lazarus wrote and directed the concert. 

On Monday, April 13, the stars gathered at the Peter Norton Symphony Space on the Upper West Side in New York City for "Broadway for a New America: Standing Up for Marriage Equality and a Progressive Agenda for Change." While the music was themed around love and marriage – for everybody – participants, who are arguably among the most talented people on the planet, made their point with touch-notch music and drama. 

Feldshuh performed a piece from her current Broadway hit play, "Irena’s Vow," in which she plays a young woman who successfully hid 12 Jewish people in the home of a German officer where she was forced to work as a housekeeper. The actress’s own comments brought home how cruel it is to deny the things we value – like love – to other people with whom we share the planet. Newman read a moving statement from Loving, who was prosecuted for marrying a white man, exiled from Virginia, and eventually took her case to the Supreme Court, which overturned laws forbidding interracial marriage in 1967. "The chance to love," wrote Loving and read by Newman, "should not be denied to anyone."

The mood of the gathering, which included a silent auction and VIP after party, was far from solemn, however. Humor came from Meara and Klein, of course, but who knew Belzer can be funny? Or that the highlight of an incredible musical evening would be the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus’ rousing version of Beyonce’s "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)"?

The benefit, which was originally planned for March 2, came during an important week for marriage equity: Vermont and Iowa became the third and fourth states to legalize gay marriage. While expressing some bewilderment ("Why are New York and New Jersey behind Iowa?"), artists and speakers brought home the message that millions of Americans are denied a simple right that the rest of us take for granted: the right to legally make a life, and a family if you want, with the person you love.

According to Equality New Jersey, civil unions, which were supposed to give same sex couples essentially the same rights as married people, have been a bust (that’s why Vermont’s legislature voted to legalize gay marriage – that state already had civil unions.) And while the 2000 census counted more than 600,000 committed gay couples in this country, as recently as last fall California voters passed Proposition 8, defining marriage as strictly between opposite sexes (The California Supreme Court heard arguments against that law on March 5 and is expected to rule in early June).

Gay couples face discrimination in financial benefits, the legal arena, immigration (marriage to an American can get one a green card, but not if the American is of the same sex as the immigrant) and more. The Jewish Alliance pointed out that many religious groups – including the Episcopal Church; the Reform, Reconstructionist and Conservative branches of Judaism; the Unitarian Universalist Association and more – support or at least do not actively oppose gay marriage.

According to Garden State Equality, 59 percent of New Jerseyans say that allowing their homosexual neighbors to legalize their status is just fine with them. New Jersey Gov. John Corzine has called for the legalization of same-sex marriage "sooner rather than later," although Iowa beat New Jersey to the punch. More information about the struggle for equality in marriage in New Jersey is available from Garden State Equality. The Web site is http://www.gardenstateequality.org