The New York Civil Liberties Union, the New York state affiliate of the ACLU, has announced the lineup for its 15th annual benefit concert, Broadway Stands Up for Freedom, which will be presented July 17 at 7:30 PM at the NYU Skirball Center for Performing Arts. The event highlights “social injustices and civil rights issues through song and spoken word.”
Twelve songwriting teams and performers have joined forces to present brand-new songs for the evening, including 2017 Tony Award winner Gavin Creel (Hello, Dolly!), Tony nominee Chris Jackson (Hamilton), three-time Tony nominee Celia Keenan-Bolger (The Cherry Orchard, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Peter and the Starcatcher), Tony nominee Adrienne Warren (Shuffle Along), Lindsay Mendez (Significant Other, Wicked), Michael Friedman (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson), Andréa Burns (On Your Feet!, In the Heights), Georgia Stitt (Little Shop of Horrors), Nathan Tysen (Amélie), songwriting team Kait Kerrigan and Brian Lowdermilk, Jenni Barber (Sunday in the Park with George), Andrew Kober (Sunday in the Park with George), Shaina Taub, Liana Stampur, and Clinton Curtis, with more to be announced.
Susan Blackwell will return as host with co-directors Peter Flynn and Daniel Goldstein. Kurt Crowley, music director of Hamilton, will serve as the music director.
NYCLU executive director Donna Lieberman, who created the annual event with a group of aspiring actors, said, “Now, more than ever, we need to come together as a community to fight for the soul of our democracy. Protest music has connected people and sustained movements from the days of slavery through the civil rights and anti-war movements, to the resistance of today. When we ‘lift every voice and sing’ with the Broadway community, we strengthen our bonds, energize the movement for human rights and continue the tradition of music as a force for freedom.”
Proceeds from the show will benefit the NYCLU’s mission of promoting and protecting civil rights and liberties of all New Yorkers.
Click here for ticket information. For more information about the show, visit Nyclu.org/broadway. The Skirball Center is located at 566 LaGuardia Place in Manhattan.
Lindsay Mendez and Andréa Burns have been special guest performers on Playbill’s Broadway on the High Seas cruises. Cabins are available for Playbill’s Rhine River cruise in August 2017, featuring Burns, Seth Rudetsky, Faith Prince, Terrence Mann, Charlotte d’Amboise, and Santino Fontana. Playbill Travel is now also booking Broadway on the Danube River with Michael Feinstein for November 2017, also featuring Carmen Cusack, Julia Murney, Christopher Fitzgerald, Marc Kudisch, Christopher Sieber, Brandon Uranowitz, and Rudetsky, as well as other exciting talent to be announced. Visit PlaybillTravel.com for booking and information.
LOVE THEATRE? CHECK OUT THE NEW ARRIVALS AT THE PLAYBILL STORE!
