Jun 24, 2005  |  By: BRIAN MOYLAN  | COMMENTS     

PUBLISHER MARK SEGAL is frantic.

“I’m getting the hotel rooms for Bryan Adams, setting up a videotape recording for Walter Cronkite and arranging a jet for Elton John,” he says from his office at the Philadelphia Gay News. “And that’s just the last half hour.”

The source of his stress is his role as executive producer of the Philadelphia Freedom Concert & Ball, a July 4 event featuring Sir Elton, Adams, R&B diva and gay icon Patti LaBelle and others. The goal is to raise money and awareness about HIV/AIDS causes.

The event began as a lark. When approached by a group of local fund-raisers for the Elton John AIDS Foundation, Segal, who has experience organizing smaller fund-raisers, said he would only be interested in producing an event if it were a concert with John. He says he thought that would keep the fund-raisers off his back.

Soon after, however, Segal received a call from Robert Key, executive director of the Elton John AIDS Foundation, and with support from city officials they developed the idea to celebrate July 4 with such a performance. Money raised at the event is to go to the Elton John AIDS Foundation and the Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld Fund, a group Segal established just for this event that will distribute funds and raise awareness for AIDS service organizations.

THE CONCERT KICKS off at 8 p.m., on Independence Day, and features performances by John, Adams, LaBelle as well as gay songwriter Rufus Wainwright. Peter Nero and the Philadelphia Pops will serve as a backing band for several of the acts.

LaBelle’s latest CD, “Classical Moments,” was released this week and features a duet with John on his classic hit “Your Song.” They are scheduled to perform the song publicly for the first time at the concert.

The stage is being built on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art (the steps that Rocky Balboa famously climbed). The crowd is to convene on Benjamin Franklin Parkway, the street that starts at the museum steps and extends to City Hall. The whole stretch will be lined with giant screens showing the action on stage.

Organizers expect a crowd of about 1.5 million people. The Freedom Concert is a larger-scale version of Philadelphia’s annual Independence Day concert, which has attracted more than 1 million people in the past. Visitors are welcome to bring chairs and benches and set up their own seating.

It is free and open to the public. A fireworks display will follow the show, at approximately 10:30 p.m.

For those who want access to the ball or a guaranteed seat at the concert, it will not be cheap. The ball kicks off at 5 p.m., inside the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and is to feature appearances by all the performers; it lasts until the concert starts.

A ticket to the ball is $1,000. A VIP seat close to the stage costs $500. It’s $1,500 for both — $2,000 for the ball, VIP seats, valet parking and a security escort to the concert and $2,500 for access to the stars’ green room, a group photo with John and all the rest of the perks.

Segal says there are 2,000 VIP seats and 1,000 tickets available for the ball, which he said is 80 percent sold out.

One event that might detract from the show is “Live 8,” a series of simultaneous concerts in Philadelphia, London, Paris, Rome and Berlin on July 2 to highlight the problem of global poverty. John and Madonna are scheduled to perform at the London edition of the concert in Hyde Park.

In Philadelphia, on July 2 — on the same stage that will be used for the Freedom Concert — Will Smith, Bon Jovi, Stevie Wonder and Maroon 5 are scheduled to perform.