Lin Manuel Miranda Challenges TV Industry to Create All-Inclusive Environment in New #SeeAll PSA

Lin Manuel Miranda is stressing the importance of diversity on the small screen…

During Sunday night’s Primetime Emmy Awards, a powerful PSA that challenges the television industry to do more to create an all-inclusive environment will air, featuring the 40-year-old Puerto Rican composer, lyricist, actor, singer, rapper, producer, and playwright.

See All,

Miranda, who created the Tony Award-winning musical Hamilton, appears alongside Billy Porter, Isis King, Daniel Dae Kim, Jamie Chung and others, in the 60-second PSA, titled “See All.”

The PSA, created by the Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing (AIMM), a division of the New York-based Association of National Advertisers, features the actors alternating lines of the script, which opens with the appeal, “We appreciate the dialogue. We see the effort from Hollywood. But we need more.”

In the spot’s midsection, the voices raise important questions. “Do you see me in this industry? You act as if bias doesn’t exist. Would you rather breathe life into stereotypes or stand up against them? Because what I know of my culture isn’t who you portray me to be.”

The comments become more pointed as the spot progresses. “We are more than a splash of color on your white canvas. We’re not your quota. We are quotable. So show me — me. Not your me. Me.”

A social movement to #SEEALL will follow.

The actors epitomize the success in recent years of more diverse performers. Miranda, who has Puerto Rican roots, is just an Oscar away from becoming an EGOT. Porter, the star of Poseand Kinky Boots, is among today’s most high-profile LGBTQ performers. King, the first trans woman to compete on America’s Next Top Model, is one of the most visible transgender people on television. Kim, who was born in South Korea, has appeared in Lost, Hawaii Five-O and Angel. Chung, a second-generation Korean-American, has appeared in the films The Hangover Part IISucker Punch and Big Hero 6.

AIMM describes itself as “a coalition of entities from the entire marketing ecosystem, representing the Hispanic, African-American, Asian, and LGBTQ+ markets. AIMM members are focused on re-prioritizing multicultural and inclusive marketing to help companies maximize their growth potential. AIMM has been the catalyst for unprecedented industry research examining multicultural marketing opportunities and the obstacles that stand in the way of optimal growth.”

Longoria Hosting Special Night of Music to Raise Funds for Homeless LGBT Youth

Michael Longoria is singing for Homeless LGBT Youth…

The Mexican-American Broadway veteran is teaming up with American Idol alumni Constantine Maroulis and Diana DeGarmo for a special night of music on Thursday supporting the nonprofit organization New Alternatives at the New York City club Hardware.

Michael Longoria

The benefit, co-hosted by Ashley Austin Morris, will raise money for New Alternatives — an organization that helps homeless LGBT youth become self-sufficient and transition out of the shelter system and into stable adult lives. The center — which provides services including case management, education, life-skills training, community-building recreational opportunities for self-expression and support services for HIV-positive youth — will be losing its donated space after August, and Longoria hopes the benefit will raise enough money as well as awareness to keep the program alive.

“It’s a very dangerous situation for young people, where the only reason they’re homeless is because their family has abandoned them,” he tells Billboard. “That’s the only reason they’re in there, and that’s what we need to get involved in — if we don’t look out for them, who will?”

Programs like New Alternatives are necessary, he said, to help homeless youth map out their futures while staying out of “harm’s way.” “This organization is specifically for these people that go to these other shelters and are harassed or physically hurt because people don’t accept young gay people,” he said.

The event — which kicks off at 9 p.m. — will also feature raffles for a Broadway records album package, a bottle of Pinot by Tituss wine autographed by Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt star Tituss Burgess, as well as tickets to The Color PurpleFiddler on the RoofKinky Boots, Finding NeverlandHimself, Nora, Trip of Love and Feinstein’s/54 Below.

The evening will serve as a celebration of Pride Week and a reminder to the community to remain vigilant in the face of hate and bigotry in light of the tragic massacre at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, killing 49 and injuring 53.

“What happened in Orlando is just a reminder that no matter how much love we have, other sources of evil are always going to resist, so let’s find a way to get serious in a positive way that shows our support for each other and our love for each other in public,” he said. “The people that need to be the most out and proud are the youth — the young people that are seeing all this violence are now scared to be themselves. … I feel like now more than ever is the time we need to show affection and we need to show who we are, because those people that were in that nightclub were people that were living their lives and showing their love for one another.”

Longoria — who said he has visited Pulse while on tour with various productions — was heartbroken to learn of a mother who was killed in the club while out dancing with her son. “To know that that mother was there in support of her son and loved her son and was accepting of her son and she lost her life in that tragic moment was just the worst news that I got, and ultimately, it’s just an attack on all Americans, humanity and our American way of life,” he said. “In a gay club, we are in a place where we can be ourselves and be free and not worry about any of that judgment and live our lives, and to have an attack on that freedom is an attack on every freedom in America, and that’s why all Americans need to be paying attention and getting involved in hopes of preventing this kind of thing from happening again in the future.”

Longoria — an original member of the cast of Jersey Boys in the role of Frankie Valli after a run in Hairspray — is currently supporting his new CD, Broadway Brick by Brick: a Latin-infused collection of Broadway classics including “Maria” (West Side Story), “The Sound of Music” (The Sound of Music) and “Music and the Mirror” (A Chorus Line). The record weaves in Longoria’s own personal story of his youth in Los Angeles leading to his success on The Great White Way.

“It became an autobiography of my life, my journey as a very young opera singer in a Mexican-American culture, a very heterosexual, Catholic culture, and finding myself in musical theater, in Broadway songs, and realizing that I was gay all the while,” he said. “Each song I chose tells a milestone of my journey, starting with my father, getting accepted to NYU and not having a means to get there, and getting the scholarship and getting on a plane in Los Angeles and leaving my family behind.”

A $10 donation is suggested to attend. Hardware is located at 697 10th Ave. in New York.

Estefan’s Musical Based on Her Life to Premiere in Chicago Next Summer

Gloria Estefan is ready to get theater audiences on their feet…

The 56-year-old Cuban Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and her music producer husband Emilio hope to have the musical based on their life on Broadway next year.

Gloria-Estefan-Hotel-Nacional

Producers said Tuesday “On Your Feet!” will premiere in Chicago next summer before landing at a Nederlander theater in the fall of 2015.

Jerry Mitchell, who directed Kinky Boots, will helm the show, with Sergio Trujillo choreographing. The story will be written by Alexander Dinelaris.

The Estefans were both born in Cuba and together became musical luminaries in Spanish and English, winning Grammy Awards and fans across the U.S. with crossover hits like “Rhythm is Gonna Get You,” “Conga” and “Words Get in the Way,” in addition to helping the careers of other artists including Shakira, Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony and Jon Secada.

Estefan fought back from a serious spine injury in 1990 to become Latin music’s premier female artist, with more than 100 million career album sales.

She’s also in charge of a string of enterprises, and has a minor stake in the Miami Dolphins NFL team.