Cast Members of THE LION KING & DEAR EVAN HANSEN Join Hear Your Song, Nonprofit Empowering Kids with Serious Illnesses

Hear Your Song, a national nonprofit based in New York City has released The Adventure of Zippy Junior, a video mini-musical written by 12-year-old Zippy and starring members of the original Broadway cast of The Lion King and the current Broadway cast of Dear Evan Hansen. Hear Your Song empowers children and teens with serious illnesses and complex health needs to make their voices heard through collaborative songwriting: the story, lyrics, and script were all written by Zippy, a multi-talented theater fan from Pennsylvania living with a primary immune deficiency disease (PIDD).

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Zippy identifies himself as a "Zebra," the official symbol of rare disease in the United States. After doctors discovered that Zippy's immune system was not functioning normally, he began receiving immunoglobulin infusions at age two to build up an artificial immune system. And a decade later, while PIDD is a lifelong genetic illness, Zippy is so much more than his diagnosis - now he has the songs to show it, too.

Last summer, Zippy shared his deep obsession with pasta, working with Hear Your Song to write a song called "Noodles!" "Hear Your Song is all about giving kids power and choice and control in their songwriting processes and letting them know that their voices matter," says Executive Director Dan Rubins. "Whatever they want their song to be, whether they want a trio of singers or a trombone solo, we'll make it happen."

So when Zippy decided to focus his next song on one of the few things he loves as much as rigatoni - musicals - Hear Your Song was ready. Inspired by his own connection to zebras, Zippy set to work writing a mini-musical about a zebra who flies to New York City to find his family and ends up in the cast of The Lion King on Broadway.

But who would star alongside Zippy? Hear Your Song reached out to five original cast members of The Lion King: Stanley Wayne Mathis (Broadway's first Banzai), Tracy Nicole Chapman-Nolan (the original Shenzi), Brian Evaret Chandler, Sam McKelton, and Christine Yasunaga. Also appearing is Demi Singleton, a recent Young Nala in The Lion King who stars as the young Serena Williams in the upcoming Will Smith film King Richard. Reese Sebastian Diaz, from the current Broadway company of Dear Evan Hansen, another one of Zippy's favorite musicals, joins the cast as the title zebra, Zippy Junior.

"We were overwhelmed by the response we got from the Broadway community," says Rubins. "Everyone - the whole cast and creative team - donated so much time and talent to bring Zippy's vision to life."

Although Zippy acts and sings in the video himself, he had no idea who else would be in the cast until he saw the final product. "I was shocked and speechless," he says, describing the moment when he met the "amazing actors" from his favorite Broadway shows on a Zoom preview screening of his musical.

For Zippy, says his mom Heather, the experience was profound: "You try to support your child through these unexplainable challenges, but you are often left grasping for ways to make them feel normal and valued. Hear Your Song gives them a space where they are the drivers in a creative process that is totally and completely unique to them."

The Adventure of Zippy Junior, available now on Hear Your Song's YouTube channel, joins dozens of other Hear Your Song videos that feature the lyrics and music of kids ages 6-18 with serious illnesses and complex health needs across the country.