Lance Bass, Michel Butler, et al. Set for BROADWAY IN SOUTH AFRICA Gala

Dancing With The Stars finalist and N'SYNC star Lance Bass, theater producer and last years' honoree Michel Butler and New York Yankees pitcher David Robertson will be featured guests at tonight's fourth annual Broadway in South Africa gala. Tonight's event will feature Broadway artists and Broadway in South Africa (BSA) students from South Africa sharing the stage to present and perform world-premiere songs written my many of New York's most talented songwriters and composers. For tonight's show, held the Manhattan Center's Grand Ballroom, located at 311 West 34th Street, general admission tickets are now selling for $25, and can be purchased at the door, or by visiting www.broadwayinsouthafrica.org. Curtain is 7:30p.

BSA's students, who are all venturing out of South Africa for the first time, will take the stage with Broadway Inspirational Voices, Rosie's Broadway Kids, Declan Bennett (American Idiot), Andrew Keenan Bolger (Mary Poppins), Sean Bradford (The Lion King), Lilli Cooper (Spring Awakening), Emma Hunton (Spring Awakening), Frankie James Grande (Mamma Mia!), Jeremy Gumbs (The Scottsboro Boys), Adam Kantor (Avenue Q), Chelsea Krombach (Promises Promises), Rachel Potter (The Addams Family), Christopher Spaulding, songwriter Katie Thompson and Lisa Nicole Wilkerson (The Lion King).

The event chair is Ward H. Simmons, VP of Marketing and PR at Hugo Boss, this year's presenter. This year's honoree is be Keep A Child Alive, an organization founded by Leigh Blake and Grammy Award winner Alicia Keys, that provides lifesaving AIDS treatment, care, nutrition, support services and love to children and families affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa and India.

BSA has worked at Keep A Child Alive sites throughout South Africa since 2009. In keeping with the organization's tradition of honoring its students' voices through song, the new pieces presented tonight were chosen through the first-ever BSA Songwriters Project, and they're all based on essays and prose written in classes conducted by BSA teaching artists during BSA workshops held in townships surrounding Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban. 

The songwriters selected include Declan Bennett, Sean Bradford, Joey Contreras, Jared Dembrowski, Rick Elice, Faye Greenberg, David Lawrence, Michael Lluberes, Annie Pasqua, Jenna Pasqua, Alan Schmuckler, Pebe Sebert and Will Van Dyke. A portion of the evening with be interactive, allowing guests to experience what a BSA workshop entails.

Additional sponsors include C2 Imaging, Conde Nast, Design Compendium, Hearst Publishing, Mary Giuliani Catering, Montecasino, Paper Boy Productions, Robinson's Prime Reserve, South African Airways, Southern Sun Hotels, Stella Artois and Tequila Avion. For tickets and VIP and/or sponsorship opportunities please contact Broadway in South Africa at info@broadwayinsouthafrica.org.

Broadway in South Africa aims to develop cross-cultural exchange between youth in need and artists who seek to use their talents for change. The organization's philosophy is that all children deserve the opportunity to explore their own creative potential, and build life skills necessary to develop productive lives. For further information visit www.broadwayinsouthafrica.org.

Photo Credit: Kevin Thomas Garcia