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Faith Prince and three of her Broadway friends will take over the Moonlight Theatre in Vista for a one-night fundraiser and show July 3. Courtesy photo
Faith Prince and three of her Broadway friends will take over the Moonlight Theatre in Vista for a one-night fundraiser and show July 3. Courtesy photo
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‘Four Girls’ take over Moonlight for fundraiser

VISTA — Faith Prince’s career has spanned four decades. It has taken her from the stage to the big screen and back again, along the way earning a Tony Award and netting her a legion of fans.

It’s been a long and grueling journey, but above all, it’s been full of laughs, she said.

To that end, Prince and three of her very best friends from Broadway — Andrea McArdle, Maureen McGovern and Randy Graff — will share some of those laughs in Vista on Friday, as the “The 4 Girls Phenomenon” stage show hits the Moonlight Amphitheater for a one-night fundraiser for the Moonlight Cultural Foundation.

Proceeds from the concert will help the foundation raise funds for arts education programs for youth and adults, to foster engagement of new audiences and increase student-educator participation in the artistic process.

Prince said the stage show with the four actresses has been a hit since it debuted 18 months ago, as fans get a chance to connect with the women in a very unique and intimate way.

“People know you as performers, but they don’t know about your life or how you are got there,” said Prince, 57. “On Friday, they will be able to hear us sing the songs we are known for mixed with stories of how we got there, as well as some funny backstage stories. They’ll get a sense of us as people and the industry, and people love that because they get to hear those stories.”

Prince started her career on the stage before achieving moderate success on screen. She is probably best known for her role as Angela Viracco in the ‘80s cult classic “The Last Dragon.”

She returned to Broadway during the late 80s and won her first Tony for her role in the 1992 revival of “Guys and Dolls,” and was nominated for three others. She also continues to have recurring roles TV, including the shows “Drop Dead Diva” and “Melissa and Joey.”

Prince said her passion has been the stage.

“There is nothing like being in the room with the living energy between the audience and yourself,” Prince said. “One thing that I really like is that it’s there, it is at that moment, and then it is gone, it is in your memory. It is not something that you put on digital tape for the end of the century. It is this thing that passes between you and the audience for that moment, and I love that.”

Prince said her experience on “The 4 Girls Phenomenon” has been made by the bond she has forged with her fellow performers.

“It has been a lot of fun, it is like working with four of your best friends, but after work, you get to talk shop, talk about home and your past and your future, and you can really be yourself and trust them,” she said. “They’ve picked some incredible women, and we have incredible chemistry with each other. And you see truth.

“When you’re on stage with them, who you are comes through, your humanity comes through and you can not fake that,” Prince said. “You have four women who really get along and that is not easy. That situation could easily be like dynamite, and when it doesn’t work, oh man, it is torture, and the audience sees that.”

Fortunately, Prince said, this is not the case.

“This is a great bunch of broads, you’ll love it,” she said. “I’m 57, I’m just getting started and now I am in my prime. Now that I have no filter, it is beautiful. You are just yourself, and the beauty of watching that, the history of how we got here, it will be life changing for you.”