Broadway's Finest to Headline Annual NYCLU Benefit "Broadway Stands Up For Freedom"

NEW YORK – The New York Civil Liberties Union, the New York State affiliate of the ACLU, announced today a star-studded lineup of award-winning performers for its annual benefit concert. “Broadway Stands Up for Freedom” will boast performances by some of Broadway’s finest on Monday, July 20, at the NYU Skirball Center for Performing Arts (566 LaGuardia Place). Tickets are available now by visiting http://nyuskirball.org/calendar/broadwaystandsup.

“We’re thrilled that so many talented performers and artists generously support our work and celebrate the vital link between the arts and civil liberties,” said NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman. “We’re planning an evening of great music and laughs, all for a worthy cause.”

Dozens of Broadway’s finest will perform, including 2015 Tony Award-winners Michael Cerveris (with Loose Cattle) and Ruthie Ann Miles, 2015 Tony Award nominees Judy Kuhn, Beth Malone, Brandon Uranowitz, and Steven Boyer, as well as Celia Keenan-Bolger, Montego Glover, Seth Rudetsky, Kate Ferber, Grace McLean, Shaina Taub, and Liana Stampur with the Clinton Curtis Band.

Susan Blackwell returns as host, and 2015 Tony Award-winner Jeanine Tesori will be the keynote speaker for the evening. With Peter Flynn as director and Paul Staroba as musical director, the one-night-only benefit will also feature an original video by Andrew and Celia Keenan-Bolger (see their 2014 video here).

In addition to some of Broadway’s hottest rising talent, the evening 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.

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 civil rights and civil liberties issues; and its work to stop overly aggressive policing and zero-tolerance discipline in the city’s public schools.

VIP tickets and sponsorship packages, now on sale for $100 and up, can be purchased here. Individual tickets, $60, can be purchased at http://nyuskirball.org/calendar/broadwaystandsup; by calling 212.352.3101; or in person at the Shagan Box Office located in the Center’s lobby at 566 LaGuardia Pl.

For more information about the show, visit www.nyclu.org/broadway. To see photos of the 2014 concert, visit here.

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 60,000 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.

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 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.