BWW Exclusive: Watch Nick Cordero's Last Public Performance, 'Dear Hate'- The Single Is Available Now!

Just yesterday, Americans paused to remember the 400,000 lives lost to COVID-19 in a special ceremony at our nation's capital. One of those lives was beloved Broadway veteran Nick Cordero.

Today, Broadway Records has announced the release of Nick's last public performance, a song with the timely message that love conquers all despite the existence of hate. Performed by Cordero and Liana Stampur, "Dear Hate" was recorded live at Sony Hall on March 9th 2020, and was unknowingly Nick's final appearance in public. The song is produced by Emmy Award-winning Producer and Music Director, Michael J Moritz Jr. The single is now available on BroadwayRecords.com and will be available later this week wherever digital music is sold.

"On Monday night, I found myself thinking about Nick, how much I miss him and so many others lost, and how so much had changed in the world since he left us," says Michael J Moritz Jr, Nick Cordero's music director and frequent collaborator. "I remembered that I had Nick's last public performance in my archives, and felt a real desire to release it to the world. I woke up with an idea and called Nick's wife, Amanda. I asked what she thought about releasing this poignant single to honor all the people who've helped our country through the difficult year, and honor all those lost to COVID-19. Nick loved this song and sounds so good on it with Liana. The lyrics serve as a remember that love and beauty remain, even in the seemingly darkest of times; a fitting message for this moment in history."

Nick Cordero received a Tony Award nomination for his role of Cheech in Bullets Over Broadway. A beloved figure in the Broadway community, he also originated roles in A Bronx Tale and Waitress. Cordero passed away on July 5th at the age of 41, following a long battle with coronavirus. His solo album, Live Your Life: Live at Feinstein's/54 Below, was released by Broadway Records last September, to celebrate his incredible talent in a life cut tragically short. For the duration of his illness, fans and friends united over social media to support Cordero and Kloots by singing Cordero's original song "Live Your Life", which is featured on the album. Those wishing to support the family directly can also donate to a GoFundMe page set up to benefit them.

Liana Stampur is a teacher/singer/activist/mother and founding performer of the ACLU's Sings Out for Freedom concert. She holds a BFA from NYU and an MS in Early Childhood Education from Bank Street College of Education. Liana is proud to be a PreK teacher at the City and Country School in Manhattan. Her solo children's album "A Soft Place To Land" was released in November 2020.

Michael J Moritz Jr is an Emmy Award winning Tony Award winning Producer, Mixer, Music Director, Conductor and Pianist. Since the start of the pandemic, Michael has produced, mixed, and collaborated with Adam Lambert, Andrea Bocelli, Annie Lennox, Audra McDonald, Barry Manilow, Bette Midler, Chloe X Halle, Darren Criss, Deborah Cox, Dionne Warwick, Gladys Knight, Idina Menzel, John Legend, John Mayer, Jordin Sparks, Josh Groban, Journey, Kat McPhee, Kelli O'Hara, Kenny G, Kristin Chenoweth, Leslie Odom Jr, New York Philharmonic, Paul Shaffer, and Stevie Wonder. Michael has received high praise for his music direction and performance piano work in both Broadway and Pop arenas. Michael's work as a pianist, music director and arranger is featured on many recordings in the pop and musical theatre genres. Most recently, Michael produced the mixes for Ratatouille, The TikTok musical. Michael produced the charity single by Broadway for Orlando, "What the World Needs Now", and served as conductor, music director and producer for both From Broadway With Love; A Benefit Concert for Orlando, and From Broadway With Love: A Benefit Concert for Parkland. Michael received the 2019 TONY award for Best Musical as a co-producer of Hadestown and the 2017 Emmy Award for Audio for From Broadway With Love: A Benefit For Orlando. He also received 2 TONY and Olivier award nominations as a co-producer for Broadway/West End's Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. Other notable Broadway producing credits include Big Fish, A Night With Janis Joplin, On The Town, and The Velocity of Autumn.

In addition to Cordero and Stampur, the single features Michael J Moritz Jr (Piano/Music Director), Larry Cook (Bass), Jakob Reinhardt (Guitar), Bryan Carter (Drums) and Damon Grant (Percussion) with backing vocals by Natalia Lepore Hagan and Annabelle Kempf. The single is produced, mixed and mastered by Michael J Moritz Jr.

Proceeds from "Dear Hate" will benefit The Actors Fund (www.actorsfund.org).

Broadway Records (Van Dean, President) is the Grammy® winning record label dedicated to preserving musical theatre and theatre vocalists. Recent releases include If The Fates Allow: The Hadestown Holiday Album, Lea Salonga Live In Concert with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Legacy: Two Song Cycles by Ahrens and Flaherty, Georgia On My Mind with an all-star Broadway cast, the soundstage recording of Estella Scrooge, the Grammy® and Tony Award-winning The Color Purple (2015 revival), the Tony Award® winning and Grammy® nominated revival of Once On This Island, the Grammy® nominated Matilda The Musical, Fiddler on the Roof (2015 revival) and My Fair Lady (2018 revival), Anastasia, Bandstand, Groundhog Day, The Lightning Thief and NBC's television events, "The Wiz Live!" and "Peter Pan Live!". The label's critically-acclaimed "Live at Feinstein's/54 Below" series features top Broadway stars including Patti LuPone, Aaron Tveit, Annaleigh Ashford, Norbert Leo Butz, Sierra Boggess, Laura Benanti, Emily Skinner & Alice Ripley, Adam Pascal & Anthony Rapp, Micky Dolenz and many others. Broadway Records launched the Broadway for Orlando initiative (in partnership with creators Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley) culminating in the all-star benefit single, "What the World Needs Now is Love," which leaped to #1 on iTunes with no radio airplay. Broadway Records philanthropic endeavors also include the From Broadway With Love benefit concerts for Sandy Hook, Orlando (Emmy Award for Sound) and Parkland. To learn more, visit BroadwayRecords.com.

Watch the full, touching performance below and click here to donate today to The Actors Fund.