Cyndi Lauper, Original Leads Set for TDF HONORS KINKY BOOTS Benefit

The show will feature the entire current Broadway cast and former cast members of the Tony Award-winning Best Musical. Original stars, Billy Porter ("Lola"), Annaleigh Ashford ("Lauren") and Stark Sands ("Charlie"), are among those former cast members performing in support of TDF's education and access programs on Monday, March 20 at 8pm at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre (302 West 45th Street, NYC). There will be a VIP pre-show cocktail reception/press opportunity and at the Broadway Lounge of the Marriott Marquis at 6pm.

Also performing will be "Lolas" J. Harrison Ghee, Todrick Hall and Alan Mingo, Jr., "Charlies" Killian Donnelly and Andy Kelso, "Lauren" Jeanna de Waal and original "Angels" Paul Canaan, Nathan Peck, Charlie Sutton and Joey Tartano. The finale will include TDF Stage Doors Students from New York City's Harvey Milk High School. Kinky Boots director/choreographer Jerry Mitchell and musical director Will Van Dyke will helm the concert. The chair for the event is TDF trustee Betsy Miller.

The funds raised will Provide vital support for TDF's wide range of education and access programs, which make theatre accessible to over 15,000 theatergoers each year.

Ticket prices range from $100 to $2500. To purchase tickets and for more information visit: honors.tdf.org; email events@tdf.org or call Sara Accardi at 212.912.9770 ext. 344.

"When choosing this year's TDF honoree we realized that every TDF program has participated in Kinky Boots. We're thrilled to honor the show's lead producers Daryl Roth and Hal Luftig, the entire cast, company, producing team, management team and house staff who have been wonderful and supportive partners," said TDF's Executive Director Victoria Bailey. "Over the years at Kinky Boots, we've introduced the theatre to thousands of NYC public school students through all of our education programs - Stage Doors, Open Doors and Residency Program, provided access for adults and children with low vision and hearing loss with open captioning sign language interpretation and audio description, and on May 7 our Autism Theatre Initiative will present the first autism friendly performance of the show. Everyone involved in the production has supported our mission of making theatre accessible."

KINKY BOOTS is the winner of six 2013 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and features a Tony Award-winning score by Cyndi Lauper, a book by Tony Award-winner Harvey Fierstein and direction and choreography by Tony Award-winner Jerry Mitchell. Kinky Boots tells the uplifting and heartwarming tale of Charlie Price, a young man reluctantly taking over his family's struggling shoe factory and looking for a fresh idea. Charlie meets and finds inspiration in Lola and together, they discover that it takes a good friend to make a great pair.

KINKY BOOTS has won every major Best Musical Award and is represented around the world with the Tony Award-winning Broadway company now in its fourth year, a North American First National Tour in its third year, a London production in its second year (where it won the 2016 Olivier Award for Best Musical), and an Australian production that opened in October 2016. Other previous productions include an extended run in Toronto, two productions in Korea, and a Japanese language production. The Grammy Award-winning Original Broadway Cast Recording of Kinky Boots is available on Sony Masterworks Broadway.

Theatre Development Fund (TDF) was created in the conviction that the live theatrical arts afford a unique expression of the human condition that must be sustained and nurtured. It is dedicated to developing diverse audiences for live theater and dance and strengthening the performing arts community in New York City. Since 1968, TDF's programs have provided over 92 million people with access to performances at affordable prices and have returned over $2.7 billion to thousands of productions. Best known for its TKTS Discount Booths, TDF's membership, outreach, access (including its newly formed Autism Theatre Initiative), and education programs-as well as its Costume Collection-have introduced thousands of people to the theater and helped make the unique experience of theater available to everyone, including students and people with disabilities. Recent TDF honors include a 2011 Mayor's Award for Arts and Culture, a 2012 Tony Honor for Excellence for its Open Doors Arts Education Program, a 2012 New York Innovative Theatre Award for its support of the Off-Off-Broadway community, a 2013 Lucille Lortel honor for "Outstanding Body of Work" in support of the Off-Broadway community, a 2016 "Friend of Off-Broadway" honor from The Off-Broadway Alliance, and New York City's 2016 TITLE II ADA Sapolin Public Service Award. For more information, go to tdf.org.