Tag Archives: Kelli O’Hara

Lin-Manuel Miranda to Take Part in Stephen Sondheim Virtual Birthday Concert

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Lin-Manuel Miranda is celebrating a living musical theater legend.

The 40-year-old Puerto Rican composer, lyricist, singer, actor, producer and playwright, widely known for creating and starring in the Tony Award-winning Broadway musicals In the Heights and Hamilton, has signed on to appear on Sunday’s Stephen Sondheim virtual birthday concert.

Lin-Manuel Miranda

Miranda, who starred in Mary Poppins Returns, joins a roster of new additions that includes Jake Gyllenhaal, Linda Lavin, Laura Benanti, Neil Patrick Harrisand Ben Plattfor the all-star benefit for Artists Striving To End Poverty.

Previously announced stars participating in the concert include Annaleigh Ashford, Melissa Errico, Beanie Feldstein, Josh Groban, Judy Kuhn, Randy Rainbow and Lea Solanga. 

Special appearances will be made by Victor Garber, Joanna Gleason, Nathan Lane and Steven Spielberg.

They’ll all join the previously announced Meryl Streep, Bernadette Peters, Patti LuPone and Audra McDonald, among many others, in the special virtual concert to celebrate Sondheim’s 90th birthday.

Take Me To The World: A Sondheim 90th Birthday Celebration, hosted by Raúl Esparza, is set for this Sunday, April 26, the 50th anniversary of the opening night of Sondheim’s groundbreaking musical Company.

The concert kicks off at 8:00 pm ET, and will be available for free at Broadway.comand the Broadway.com YouTubechannel.

Other artists performing songs from the Sondheim catalog will include Mandy Patinkin, Christine Baranski, Donna Murphy, Kristin Chenoweth, Sutton Foster, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Kelli O’Hara, Aaron Tveit, Maria Friedman, Iain Armitage, Katrina Lenk, Michael Cerveris, Brandon Uranowitz, Stephen Schwartz, Elizabeth Stanley, Chip Zien, Alexander Gemignani and, from the cast of Pacific Overtures at Classic Stage Company, Ann Harada, Austin Ku, Kelvin Moon Loh and Thom Sesma.

Esparza starred as Bobby in the 2006 Tony Award-winning revival of Companyand in the Kennedy Center Sondheim Celebration productions of Sunday in the Park with George and Merrily We Roll Along in 2002, as well as the City Center Encores! production of Anyone Can Whistle and in last year’s Road Show.

“The world is in a hard place,” Esparza said in a statement, “and we are all searching for something great. Well, Stephen Sondheim is greatness personified.”

Mary-Mitchell Campbell will be the music director, with Paul Wontorek serving as director.

The online event will act as a fundraiser for ASTEP (Artists Striving to End Poverty), the organization conceived by Campbell and Juilliard students to transform the lives of youth through art.

Rivera to Perform at “Concert for America: Stand Up, Sing Out!” on Inauguration Day

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Chita Rivera is standing up and singing out…

The 83-year-old half-Puerto Rican actress, dancer, singer and Broadway star will be spending inauguration day at a concert in New York City raising money for human-rights organizations.

Chita Rivera

Rivera, the first Hispanic woman and the first Latino American to receive a Kennedy Center Honors award, will perform at the Concert for America: Stand Up, Sing Out!

The event will be held at The Town Hall in Manhattan on January 20. It’s intended to be the first in a series of monthly benefit concerts and will be streamed live on Facebook.

In addition to Rivera, a two-time Tony Award winner, the lineup includes Kelli O’Hara, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Betty Buckley, Jessie Mueller and Billy Porter.

Others slated to perform include Sharon Gless, Andrea Martin, Bebe Neuwirth, Rosie O’Donnell, Rosie Perez, Caroline Rhea, Stephanie Mills and Charles Busch.

The concert is the brainchild of Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley, who also organized the Broadway for Orlando fundraising concert.

Mueller, currently starring in Waitress, will reach back to her Tony Award-winning role as Carole King to sing “Beautiful.” She hopes its message of love and tolerance resonates.

“Hate comes from a lack of love, so we can’t fight it with more of its own toxicity; we have to fill it with love,” she said. “There are really big things at stake. Things we can’t save or solidify or safeguard alone. We have to think bigger, we have to ask for help, we have to reach out to one another and band together. I hope this concert can be an example of that.”

Proceeds will benefit groups that protect civil rights, women’s health and environmental protection, including Planned Parenthood, Southern Poverty Law Center, National Immigration Law Center and The Sierra Club Foundation. Tickets range from $25 to $50.