Tony Winner Brian Stokes Mitchell to Sing at Kennedy Memorial

A celebration of the life of Edward M. Kennedy, the longtime senior senator from Massachusetts who died on August 25, will include a performance by Tony winner Brian Stokes Mitchell. The private memorial, held at the JFK Library and Museum in Boston, Massachusetts from 7-9pm on August 28, also features a speaking program that includes such luminaries as Vice President Joseph R. Biden, Senator John F. Kerry, Senator John McCain, Senator Orrin Hatch, Governor Deval L. Patrick, Congressman Joseph P. Kennedy II and Caroline Kennedy.

Mitchell will sing “The Impossible Dream” from Man of La Mancha, the show based on the novel Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. The actor headlined a revival of the musical by Dale Wasserman, Mitch Leigh and Joe Darion during the 2002-2003 Broadway season. He earned his fourth Tony nomination for his performance in Man of La Mancha. He was also nominated for his work in Ragtime, King Hedley II and Kiss Me, Kate, for which he won in 1999.

The song choice is poignant because it echoes one of Senator Kennedy’s most notable speeches: his address to the Democratic National Convention in 1980, in which he conceded his campaign for nomination as the Democratic Presidential candidate against incumbent Jimmy Carter. He famously said, “For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die.”