Marc Shaiman, Billy Porter and More Set for Broadway Dreams Foundation's CHAMPAGNE & CAROLING Benefit Today

The Broadway Dreams Foundation will hold its second annual Champagne & Caroling Gala at Celsius, a restaurant, bar and event space within Citi Pond at Bryant Park (5th Ave and 42nd Street) on Monday, December 10, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. At this one of a kind urban winter wonderland in of the heart of midtown Manhattan, Broadway's brightest stars and patrons of the arts will join together for a festive celebration of the country's premier musical theatre training program. The evening will include festive cocktails, hors d'oeuvres and performances by Tony, Grammy and Emmy Award-winner Marc Shaiman, BDF Artistic Director Nicholas Rodriguez (Tarzan, "One Life to Live"), teaching artists Billy Porter (Kinky Boots), Matthew Scott (Jersey Boys), Kirsten Scott (Follies), Morgan James (Godspell), BDF alumni Ryann Redmond (Bring It On The Musical), current Broadway Dreams students from across the country.

Proceeds from the evening will allow The Broadway Dreams Foundation to continue to offer high level educational opportunities, theatrical training and scholarships to students of all ages. BDF offers significant scholarships to hundreds of participants each year, ensuring that all qualified students are able to realize their Broadway dreams regardless of their financial status. This past year, 42% of all BDF students attended programs on full or partial scholarship. Past students have gone on to star on Broadway and in national touring and regional productions including Bring It On The Musical (Ryann Redmond, Calli Alden), Bare (Ariana Groover), Memphis (Lindsay Roberts), The Book of Mormon (Paris Nesbitt), Spring Awakening (Blake Daniels) and The Addams Family (Ethan Wexler), among others.

The Champagne and Caroling Gala will also kick off a season-long partnership between The Broadway Dreams Foundation and Upsilon Ventures, now celebrating its 20th Anniversary as New York City's town square. With this exciting, new collaboration, BDF will help realize the Park's mission of providing quality free entertainment to its more than 6 million annual visitors with performances by BDF students and Broadway teaching artists.

The Host Committee for this year's Gala includes Broadway Dreams board members and Event Chairs Ryan Stana of RWS and Associates and Adam Sansiveri, Vice President of Bernstein Global Wealth Management, along with Tony Award winners Jack O'Brien and Christine Ebersole, Tony Award nominees Matthew Morrison and Jason Robert Brown, Nick Adams, Angus McIndoe, David Gallo, Rachel Hoffman, Jaime Harris, Jeremy Katz, David Cote, Hillary Dobbs, Doug Melville, Sue Vaccaro, Rhonda Price, Lakey Wolff, Max Sullivan, Jeffrey Shubart, John and Renee Wolfe, and Jacqueline Davis.

The Broadway Dreams Foundation, led by Executive Director Annette Tanner, teaches the next generation of musical theater performers how to kick start their career through unique, week-long performance intensives taught by Broadway's brightest stars and savvy industry insiders. Attendees receive first-rate training in acting, dance and vocal performance before participating alongside their Broadway idols in concerts event open to the public and directed by one of the industry's finest directors. National partners include Atlanta's ALLIANCE THEATRE, Philadelphia's Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts and Omaha Performing Arts.

In addition to the week-long Summer Performing Arts Intensives, BDF offers shorter, concentrated workshops entitled "Triple Threat Extremes" in cities throughout the country. For more information on The Broadway Dreams Foundation, please visit:
www.mybroadwaydreams.com.