Laura Benanti, Karen Olivo & More Join Festivites for Women's Day on Broadway

In celebration of International Women's Day, Disney on Broadway announces free registration, programming, and participants for the 4th annual "Women's Day on Broadway" virtual event on Friday, March 12, 2021, beginning at 1 pm EST. All gender identities and expressions are welcome. Free registration is now open at www.womenofbroadway.com.

"On March 10, 2020, we held our 3rd annual Women's Day on Broadway event, welcoming Secretary Hillary Rodman Clinton as our Keynote Speaker, along with many amazing women from within the theatre community. The next day, the world and our industry shuttered due to the pandemic," said Anne Quart, SVP Production & Co-Producer, Disney Theatrical Productions. "This year has been unimaginably difficult for our community, who were suddenly cut off from not just their livelihoods but their chosen purpose. With our theatre's still dark, we knew it was important now more than ever to gather the Women of Broadway to share our stories and inspire and refresh each other."

Following its launch in 2018, this year's event coincides with the one-year mark since Broadway's shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year's event, themed "Reflecting Courageously, Transforming Collectively" will continue to engage attendees of all gender identities and expressions in a two-hour virtual event, featuring two substantive conversation sessions entitled "Broadway's Moms: How Life Goes on When the Show Doesn't" and "Broadway's Second Act: A Conversation about Moving Beyond Intention."

The first session, entitled "Broadway's Moms: How Life Goes on When the Show Doesn't" will bring mothers together to discuss the unbelievable challenge of parenting and specifically mothering during the pandemic. The panel will be moderated by Cara Cooper and Jessica Rush, co-hosts of the Mamas Talkin' Loud podcast. Panelists for this session includes Tanya Birl, Laura Benanti, Vanessa Javier, Julia Jones, and Karen Olivo.

The second session, "Broadway's Second Act: A Conversation about Moving Beyond Intention," will be moderated by award-winning ABC News Correspondent, Deborah Roberts, leading a conversation about what actionable steps we can all take to ensure that we not only increase representation of BIPOC women in our board rooms, writing rooms, rehearsal rooms and beyond but that they have equal access to power and privilege. Panelists for this session include Maria Manuela Goyanes, Alia Jones-Harvey, Tali Pelman, Eva Price, and Aaliytha Stevens.

Introductions made throughout the event are young BIPOC women ready to join the industry. Many are participants in Black Theatre Coalition's Winter/Spring initiative, including Marija Abney, Gethsemane Herron-Coward, Tavia Jefferson, Erin Moore, Brittany Monachino, and Phoebe Moore.

The event will feature a prerecorded performance of The Broadway Sinfonietta under the direction of Founder/Orchestrator Macy Schmidt.

Pearl Cleage is an Atlanta based writer, currently Distinguished Artist in Residence at the Tony Award winning Alliance Theatre. Her playwrighting credits include Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous, Pointing at the Moon, What I Learned in Paris, Blues for an Alabama Sky, Flyin' West, The Nacirema Society Requests the Honor of Your Presence at a Celebration of Their First One Hundred Years and Tell Me My Dream. Her first of 8 novels, What Looks Like Crazy On An Ordinary Day, was an Oprah Book Club pick and spent nine weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Her other novels include Baby Brother's Blues, I Wish I Had A Red Dress, Babylon Sisters, and Things I Never Thought I'd Do, her memoir, Things I Should Have Told My Daughter: Lies, Lessons and Love Affairs, and book for children, In My Granny's Garden.

Cara Cooper & Jessica Rush are Broadway Moms and co-hosts of the podcast, Mamas Talkin' Loud. They have inspired listeners from all walks of life, and, most importantly during this time, in a moment when mothers and artists have been affected disproportionately. They have built a community of support and comfort, continuing to bring their in-depth and meaningful conversations to listeners, amplifying all walks of life, even as life went into lockdown.

Lynn Nottage, on behalf of The Lillys, will announce a new initiative to honor the legacy of Lorraine Hansberry, the groundbreaking playwright of A Raisin in the Sun and establish a unique opportunity to address gender and racial disparity in American theater. This national initiative will be added to The Lillys' roster in service to its mission of celebrating, supporting, and advocating for women theater artists and gender parity at all levels of theatrical production. Lynn Nottage is the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama twice (2009, 2017) and serves as a Board member of The Lillys.

Deborah Roberts is an award-winning ABC News Correspondent for "20/20," "Nightline," "Good Morning America" and "ABC World News Tonight with David Muir." A media veteran, Roberts is a highly respected journalist who has traveled the world in her reporting. She has also served as substitute anchor for Good Morning America, World News Weekend and 20/20, as well as a co-host on "The View." Roberts is author of Been There, Done That: Family Wisdom For Modern Times, a book written with her husband, Al Roker. She makes her home in Manhattan with her husband and two children.

For more information and to register for the event, visit the home for Women's Day on Broadway, WomenOfBroadway.com, and follow us @WomenOfBroadway.