Headliners Announced for NYCLU Benefit, Including Lena Hall, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Seth Rudetsky and More, 7/21

The New York Civil Liberties Union, the New York State affiliate of the ACLU, today announced a star-studded lineup of award-winning performers for Broadway Stands Up for Freedom, its annual benefit concert to be held on Monday, July 21, 2014 at the NYU Skirball Center for Performing Arts (566 LaGuardia Place, NYC).

"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 Tony Award® winner Lena Hall, Drama Desk winner and Tony Award® nominee Celia Keenan-Bolger, Tony Award® nominees Condola Rashad and Robin deJesus, radio personality and raconteur extraordinaire Seth Rudetsky, and a company that features television stars Telly Leung, and Todd Buonopane, as well as Broadway Stands Up for Freedom founding performer Liana Stampur, with the Clinton Curtis band.

The one-night-only benefit will also feature an original video by Broadway's Andrew Keenan-Bolger (see his 2013 video here) and new music by Broadway composer Michael Friedman. Susan Blackwell returns as the evening's host, with Daniel Goldsteinreturning as director. Paul Staroba will make his NYCLU debut as music director.

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.

Broadway Stands Up for Freedom, now in its 12th year, was founded by Liana Stampur, Dana Steingold and Erich Bergen, who is currently filming "Jersey Boys" with director Clint Eastwood. The planning committee includes founders Bergen and Stampur, host and director Blackwell and Goldstein, and performing artists Todd Buonopane, Emily Hayes, Dan Kazemi, Kait Kerriganand Zachary Prince. Previous companies have featured notable talents Michael Cerveris, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Gavin Creel, Randy Graff, Tonya Pinkins, Lisa Kron, Rebecca Luker, Dennis O'Hare and John Tartaglia.

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 starting at $100, can be purchased here. Individual tickets for $60 can be purchased by visiting http://nyuskirball.org/calendar/nyclu2014, by calling 212-352-3101, or in person at the Shagan Box Officelocated in the NYU Skirball Center lobby at 566 LaGuardia Place. For more information about the show, including a complete list of performers, visit www.nyclu.org/broadway.

To see photos of the 2013 Broadway Stands Up for Freedom concert, click here.

Biographies:

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 nearly 50,000 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. Founded by Jay Oliva (President Emeritus, NYU) and 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