Additional Performers Announced for NYCLU Benefit Concert “Broadway Stands Up for Freedom” – July 21
Contact:
Rick Miramontez / Marie Pace / Michael Jorgensen
rick@oandmco.com / marie@oandmco.com / michael@oandmco.com
212-695-7400
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE
JUSTIN GUARINI, ADAM CHANLER-BERAT, ZACH UNGER, AND BARRET FOA
JOIN STAR-STUDDED LINEUP
FOR THE 12TH ANNUAL NYCLU BENEFIT CONCERT
“ B R O A D W A Y S T A N D S U P F O R F R E E D O M ”
MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014
NYU SKIRBALL CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
New York, NY (July 11, 2014) — The New York Civil Liberties Union, the New York State affiliate of the ACLU, today announced additions to the company of award-winning performers for Broadway Stands Up for Freedom, its annual benefit concert to be held on Monday, July 21 at the NYU Skirball Center for Performing Arts (566 LaGuardia Place, NYC).
“We are elated at the range and breadth of talent that will appear onstage at the Skirball to celebrate the vital ties that bind the arts and civil liberties,” said NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman. “This one-time-only concert promises inspiration along with great music and laughs, all to support the NYCLU’s youth programs.”
Adam Chanler-Berat, Justin Guarini, Zach Unger, and Barrett Foa will add their estimable talents to a distinguished company that includes Tony Award® winner Lena Hall, Drama Desk winner and Tony Award® nominees Celia Keenan-Bolger, Condola Rashad and Robin de Jesus, radio personality and raconteur extraordinaire Seth Rudetsky, television star Telly Leung, as well as Broadway Stands Up for Freedom founding performer Liana Stampur, with the Clinton Curtis band.
National Medal of Arts recipient and Pulitzer-, Tony-, Emmy-, Olivier- and Drama Desk award-winning playwright and screenwriter Tony Kushner serves as the evening’s honorary chair. Playwright Quiara Alegria Hudes, winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for drama, will be the keynote speaker.
The benefit will also feature an original video by Broadway’s Andrew Keenan-Bolger and new music by Broadway composer Michael Friedman. Susan Blackwell returns as the evening's host, with Daniel Goldstein returning as director. Paul Staroba will make his NYCLU debut as music director.
In addition to some of Broadway’s brightest rising stars, Broadway Stands Up For Freedom will showcase the teenage winners of the NYCLU’s Freedom of Expression contest, which invites New York City public schools students to speak their minds on important civil liberties issues in their lives.
Broadway Stands Up for Freedom, now in its 12th year, was founded by Liana Stampur, Dana Steingold and Erich Bergen. The planning committee also includes Todd Buonopane, Kait Kerrigan, and Zachary Prince. Previous companies have featured notable talents Michael Cerveris, Cheyenne Jackson, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Gavin Creel, Randy Graff, Tonya Pinkins, Dennis O’Hare and John Tartaglia.
Proceeds from the show benefit the NYCLU’s youth programs, including its work with LGBT teenagers; its Teen Activist Project, which engages New York City youth as organizers and peer educators on bullying, reproductive rights and other civil rights issues; and its work to stop the “school to prison pipeline.”
VIP tickets and sponsorship packages, now on sale starting at $100, can be purchased here. Individual tickets for $60 can be purchased by visiting http://nyuskirball.org/calendar/nyclu2014, by calling 212-352-3101, or in person at the Shagan Box Office located in the NYU Skirball Center lobby at 566 LaGuardia Place. For more information about the show, including a complete list of performers, visit www.nyclu.org/broadway.
To see photos of the 2013 Broadway Stands Up for Freedom concert, click here.
Biographies_________________________________________________________
The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) is one of the nation's foremost defenders of civil liberties and civil rights. Founded in 1951 as the New York affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, we are a not-for-profit, nonpartisan organization with eight chapters and regional offices and nearly 50,000 members across the state. Our mission is to defend and promote the fundamental principles and values embodied in the Bill of Rights, the U.S. Constitution, and the New York Constitution, including freedom of speech and religion, and the right to privacy, equality and due process of law for all New Yorkers.
NYU SKIRBALL CENTER: The Jack H. Skirball Center for the Performing Arts is the premier venue for the presentation of cultural and performing arts events for New York University and lower Manhattan. Led by executive producer Jay Oliva (President Emeritus, NYU) and executive director Michael Harrington, the programs of the Skirball Center reflect NYU's mission as an international center of scholarship, defined by excellence and innovation and shaped by an intellectually rich and diverse environment. A vital aspect of the Center's mission is to build young adult audiences for the future of live performance. www.nyuskirball.org
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