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Givenik.com joins with “The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess” to support Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS

Contact:
Rick Miramontez / Elizabeth Wagner
rick@oandmco.com / elizabeth@oandmco.com
212-695-7400


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE

G I V E N I K . C O M
JOINS WITH
“T H E  G E R S H W I N S’  P O R G Y  A N D  B E S S”
FOR POST-PERFORMANCE RECEPTION
TO SUPPORT
BROADWAY CARES/EQUITY FIGHTS AIDS

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21
AT B. SMITH’S

New York, NY – On Tuesday, February 21st, Givenik.com, the revolutionary way to go to Broadway, will partner with the critically acclaimed Broadway production of The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess for a special post-performance reception for audience and cast members at B. Smith’s (320 West 46th Street) to support Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDSPurchase any ticket through Givenik.com to the Tuesday, February 21st performance and send your confirmation number to RSVP@givenik.com to be invited to a special post-show cast party at B. Smith's, supporting Broadway Cares! And be sure to remember BC/EFA when choosing who receives your 5% donation.

The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess is now on Broadway with a cast led by four-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald (Ragtime, “Private Practice”) as Bess, Drama Desk nominee Norm Lewis (Les Misérables, Sondheim on Sondheim) as Porgy and two-time Tony nominee David Alan Grier (Race, “In Living Color”) as Sporting Life. The cast also includes Phillip Boykin as Crown, Nikki Renée Daniels as Clara, Joshua Henry as Jake, Christopher Innvar as Detective, Bryonha Marie Parham as Serena and NaTasha Yvette Williams as Mariah, as well as Sumayya Ali, Allison Blackwell, Roosevelt André Credit, Trevon Davis, Joseph Dellger, Wilkie Ferguson, Carmen Ruby Floyd, Gavin Gregory, Heather Hill, David Hughey, Andrea Jones-Sojola, Alicia Hall Moran, Cedric Neal, PhumzileSojola, Nathaniel Stampley, Julius Thomas III, J.D. Webster and Lisa Nicole Wilkerson.

The classic story by DuBose and Dorothy Heyward is set in Charleston’s fabled Catfish Row, where the beautiful Bess struggles to break free from her scandalous past, and the only one who can rescue her is the crippled but courageous Porgy. Threatened by her formidable former lover Crown, and the seductive enticements of the colorful troublemaker Sporting Life, Porgy and Bess’ relationship evolves into a deep romance that triumphs as one of theater’s most exhilarating love stories.

Following its sold-out world premiere engagement at Boston’s American Repertory Theater, one of Broadway’s most accomplished creative teams, led by Tony-nominated director Diane Paulus (Hair), Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks (Topdog/Underdog), and two-time Obie Award-winning composer Diedre L. Murray (Running Man), brings George and Ira Gershwin’s legendary masterwork to the Broadway stage for the first time in more than 35 years.

The creative team also includes choreographer Ronald K. Brown, set designer Riccardo Hernandez, costume designer ESosa, lighting designer Christopher Akerlind and sound designer Acme Sound Partners

The Gershwins’ PORGY AND BESS is produced on Broadway by Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel, Rebecca Gold, Howard Kagen, Cheryl Wiesenfeld/Brunish Trinchero/Lucio Simons TBC, Joseph and Matthew Deitch, Mark S. Golub and David S. Golub, Terry Schnuck, Freitag Productions/Koenigsberg Filerman, the Leonore S. Gershwin 1987 Trust, Universal Pictures Stage Productions, Ken Mahoney, Judith Resnick, Tulchin/Bartner/ATG, Paper Boy Productions, Christopher Hart, Alden Badway, Broadway Across America, Irene Gandy and Will Trice. www.PorgyandBessonBroadway.com

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is one of the nation’s leading industry-based, nonprofit AIDS fundraising and grant-making organizations.  By drawing upon the talents, resources and generosity of the American theatre community, since 1988 BC/EFA has raised more than $195 million for essential services for people with AIDS and other critical illnesses across the United States. 

BC/EFA also awards annual grants to more than 400 AIDS and family service organizations nationwide and is the major supporter of seven programs at The Actors Fund, including the HIV/AIDS Initiative, the Phyllis Newman Women’s Health Initiative, the Al Hirschfeld Free Health Clinic and more. 

For more information, visit www.broadwaycares.org.

Givenik.com is redefining theatergoing, one ticket at a time.  The revolutionary service offers discount, full-price & premium tickets to dozens of Broadway and Off-Broadway shows, as well as group rates to all shows, and donates 5% of the ticket price to the charity of the ticket-buyer’s choice.  Give money, save money, see a show—it’s a win-win-win situation.

Give•nik (n.)  1. a person whose passion for charity is matched only by his/her passion for all things Broadway; 2. a user of givenik.com

Any certified non-profit organization can sign up to be a part of Givenik.com for free to develop a new, year-round fundraising mechanism.  The organizations that have joined Givenik.com since it launched in 2007, from national groups to local chapters, and from arts organizations to educational institutions, include The Trevor Project, VH1 Save the Music Foundation, City Harvest, Broadway Green Alliance, Dress for Success Worldwide, God’s Love We Deliver, The Actors Fund, Stand Up to Cancer, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, The It Gets Better Project, New York Theatre Workshop, local chapters of Susan G. Komen For the Cure Breast Cancer Foundation, the Museum for African Art and the American Foundation for Equal Rights.

Theatergoers interested in becoming “giveniks” and charitable organizations and school groups interested in joining can simply go to www.givenik.com for more information.

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