Josh Groban, Annaleigh Ashford, LaChanze, André De Shields & More to Perform at MISCAST23

MCC Theater has announced initial performers for Miscast23, which will take place on Monday April 3 at the Hammerstein Ballroom. The evening will honor Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Award® nominee Vanessa Williams and MCC Youth Company alumna Lianny Toval.

Miscast23 will feature performances by Tony Award® winner Annaleigh Ashford (Sweeney Todd; "B Positive"), Tony Award® nominee Denée Benton ("The Gilded Age;" Into the Woods), Lorna Courtney (&Juliet; West Side Story), Emmy, Tony, and Grammy Award® winner André De Shields (Hadestown; The Wiz), Tony Award® nominee Josh Groban (Sweeney Todd; Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812), Tony Award® winner LaChanze (Trouble in Mind; The Color Purple), Drama Desk Award® nominee Bonnie Milligan (Kimberly Akimbo; Head Over Heels), Tony Award® winner Ben Platt (Parade; Dear Evan Hansen), and Eleri Ward (A Perfect Little Death; Only Gold). And more to be announced soon! Will Van Dyke will serve as Musical Director.

Miscast is one of the most anticipated and exciting theater events in New York each year. This spring, the biggest stars of stage and screen will take to the stage at Hammerstein Ballroom, performing songs from roles in which they would not traditionally be cast.

Tables and sponsorship packages are available now by calling Vinny Martini, Senior Manager of Special Events, at (212) 727-7722 x 205. Show-Only priority booking opens on February 7 for MCC Patrons. MCC Subscribers and Members booking opens on February 9. Public show-only on sale begins February 10. All tickets will be available for purchase at www.mcctheater.org/miscast.

To receive exclusive updates about Miscast23 and to learn more about the event, sign up at www.mcctheater.org/miscast. Additional benefits can be accessed through ticket and sponsorship packages. For more information, visit the website or e-mail vmartini@mcctheater.org.

Funds raised from Miscast23 help MCC Theater produce exciting new work Off-Broadway and support its Youth Company and in-school partnerships that serve New York City public high school students, as well as MCC's literary development work with emerging playwrights.

ABOUT MCC Theater

MCC Theater is one of New York's leading nonprofit Off-Broadway companies, driven by a mission to provoke conversations that have never happened and otherwise never would. Founded in 1986 by Bob LuPone (1946-2022) and Bernie Telsey, and later joined by co-Artistic Director Will Cantler, as a collective of artists leading peer-based classes to support their own development as actors, writers and directors, MCC fulfills its mission through the production of world, American, and New York premiere plays and musicals that challenge artists and audiences to confront contemporary personal and social issues, and robust playwright development and education initiatives that foster the next generation of theater artists and students.

MCC Theater's celebrated productions include Kate Nash's Only Gold with a book by Andy Blankenbuehler and Ted Malawer, Donja R. Love's soft; Ross Golan's The Wrong Man; Aziza Barnes' BLKS; Jocelyn Bioh's School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play; Penelope Skinner's The Village Bike; Robert Askins' Hand to God (Broadway transfer; five 2015 Tony Award® nominations including Best Play); John Pollono's Small Engine Repair; Paul Downs Colaizzo's Really Really; Sharr White's The Other Place (Broadway transfer); Jeff Talbott's The Submission (Laurents/Hatcher Award); Neil LaBute's reasons to be pretty (Broadway transfer, three 2009 Tony Award® nominations, including Best Play), Some Girl(s), Fat Pig, The Mercy Seat, and All The Ways To Say I Love You; Michael Weller's Fifty Words; Alexi Kaye Campbell's The Pride; Bryony Lavery's Frozen (Broadway transfer; four 2004 Tony Award® nominations including Best Play, Tony Award® for Best Featured Actor); Tim Blake Nelson's The Grey Zone; Rebecca Gilman's The Glory of Living (2002 Pulitzer Prize finalist); Margaret Edson's Wit (1999 Pulitzer Prize); and musicals including Alice by Heart, Ride the Cyclone, Carrie, and Coraline. Many plays developed and produced by MCC have gone on to productions throughout the country and around the world.

Over the years MCC has worked with thousands of students through the innovative MCC Youth Company, school partnerships, and student matinee programs.

Executive Director Blake West joined the company in 2006. MCC opened the doors to its new home in Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood, The Robert W. Wilson MCC Theater Space, on January 9, 2019, unifying the company's activities under one roof for the first time and expanding its producing, artist development, and education programming. MCC founding Co-Artistic Director Bob LuPone sadly passed away on August 27, 2022. MCC continues to honor his fierce need for engagement with the art, the artists, and the audience and remember the profound impact he had on everyone who entered its spaces.