Norm Lewis, Krysta Rodriguez, Patina Miller & More to Join 9th Annual VOICES: STARS FOR FOSTER KIDS

On Monday, September 18, 2023, You Gotta Believe, a New York City-based, national organization that focuses exclusively on finding permanent parents and families for older kids in foster care, will hold its 9th annual Voices: Stars for Foster Kids benefit concert at The Town Hall in New York City. Created and hosted by Stars In The House’s Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley, the evening will feature special performances and appearances by Sharon Catherine Brown, Charlotte d’Amboise, Ta'Nika Gibson, Matt Gould, Anika Larsen, Norm Lewis, Terrence Mann, Griffin Matthews, Gracie McGraw, Rosie Perez, Krysta Rodriguez, Bellamy Young and more to be announced. The show will open with Tony Award winner Patina Miller reprising her performance as the Leading Player in Pippin by leading the entire company, which will include her two Pippin castmates Terrence Mann and Charlotte d’Amboise, in “Magic To Do.” The entire evening will be directed by Brenda Braxton with music direction by Seth Rudetsky. 

 

Executive Director of You Gotta Believe Jennifer Pinder said, “We are overjoyed that Voices: Stars for Foster Kids is returning to the stage for the first time since 2020! Seth and James brilliantly combine the personal stories of people connected to foster care and adoption with the musical talents of Broadway’s best. It is an honor to work together on such a unique and memorable event and to bring attention to the serious need to find permanent solutions for older youth in foster care.”

 

Today nearly 400,000 children are in foster care in the United States, and every year as many as 22,000 youth will age out of the foster care system. Without the safety net of a forever family to provide the security and comfort most take for granted, these young people are left on their own to face a future filled with hardships — from lack of education to unemployment, higher rates of incarceration, poor health, early parenthood and homelessness. A staggering 20% of youth who age out alone will experience homelessness - that’s 4,000 homeless kids each year. 

 

Due to the transformative work of YGB since 1995, thousands of parents have been trained to make an unconditional commitment to youth in care, over 750 families have been licensed as foster families after receiving training through YGB, and nearly 375 older youth have been adopted into families trained by YGB. YGB offers families perpetual support, including counseling and mental health services, to ensure permanency. 

 

Created by Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley in 2015, Voices: Stars for Foster Kids brings together the very best performers from the American stage and screen to raise awareness about the plight of kids in foster care, particularly those aged 10 and older who are in danger of aging out of the foster care system alone. Combining celebrity, music, and everyday people sharing their incredible stories, Voices: Stars for Foster Kids directly benefits YGB’s mission to find permanent families for older kids in foster care. Since its inception in 2015, Voices: Stars for Foster Kids has raised $3,392,300 for YGB. 

 

In anticipation of this year’s event Wesley said, “These concerts are always amazing. The stories about families finding each other are always so moving and inspiring. And then each story connects with a fantastic song that brings the house down. It’s always a highlight of the year for me.”

 

Rudetsky continued, “And this year, one of the Moms is Sharon Catherine Brown who starred as Effie in Dreamgirls. I don’t want to reveal what she’s singing, but let’s just say, I’m sure that after she adopted her son, she told him “And I Am Telling You, I’m Not Going!”

 

In addition to their conception of and dedication to YGB’s annual benefit concert, Seth and James are co-hosts and producers of “Stars in the House,” an award-winning charity livestream with over 500 shows produced since the beginning of the pandemic, almost $1.2 millions raised for the Entertainment Community Fund, and nearly $700,000 raised for other charities. 

 

Tickets for the Voices: Stars for Foster Kids benefit concert are on sale now starting at $25, available at Ticketmaster.com or in person at The Town Hall at 123 West 43rd Street which is open from 12 pm to 6 pm Monday through Saturday. For more information on You Gotta Believe, VIP tickets, and sponsorship opportunities, please visit YouGottaBelieve.org.

 

About You Gotta Believe

You Gotta Believe (YGB), founded in 1995, focuses exclusively on finding permanent parents and families for kids in foster care. With an expertise in working with young adults, teens, and pre-teens who are most in danger of aging out of the system alone, YGB has worked with thousands of youth and parents to create forever families. 

 

About Seth Rudetsky  

Seth began working on Broadway as a pianist for shows like Les Miserables and Phantom Of The Opera. He soon connected with Hearts and Voices, an organization that brings live weekly performances to hospitalized people with AIDS and began volunteering for them in 1992, performing at: Rivington House, Roosevelt Island Hospital, the prison ward at St. Clare’s Hospital and the Cardinal Cooke AIDS ward.

  

In 2001, he produced and conducted "Dreamgirls” starring Heather Headley, Audra McDonald and Lillias White, the first fall concert for The Actors Fund, which was recorded on Nonesuch Records and raised almost $1 million for The Fund. He then did “Funny Girl” with Idina Menzel and Jane Krakowski, “Chess” with Adam Pascal and Josh Groban, “Hair” with Jennifer Hudson, “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” with Terrence Mann and Jennifer Hudson and “On The Twentieth Century” with Marin Mazzie and Kathleen Turner. He also starred opposite Sutton Foster in The Actors Fund production of “They’re Playing Our Song” and hosted and played piano for an array of divas for their 2009 Nothing Like A Dame concert with Betty Buckley, Stephanie J. Block, Audra McDonald, Kelli O’Hara and Bebe Neuwirth.  

  

As a writer, he was nominated for three Emmy awards for comedy writing on “The Rosie O’Donnell Show” and is the author of three volumes of “Seth’s Broadway Diary” which has tons of Inside Broadway stories (Dress Circle Publishing) and  “My Awesome Awful Popularity Plan” and its sequel “The Rise and Fall of a Theater Geek” (published by Random House), a young adult series about a teenaged gay kid named Justin Goldblatt, who’s obsessed with theater and sports a Jewfro.  

 

He is the afternoon Broadway host on SiriusXM Radio and recently co-wrote and co-starred in “Disaster!” on Broadway, which was co-produced by his husband, James. Seth and James produced the all-star Broadway for Orlando recording of “What the World Needs Now Is Love," featuring Carole King, Gloria Estefan, Sara Bareilles, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Billy Porter. The song charted on the Billboard Hot 100, reached #1 on iTunes, and raised over $100,000 for the GLBT Center of Orlando. Seth and James also organized the group to sing at the Democratic National Convention in 2016. 

 

Seth and James teamed up with Broadway superstar Audra McDonald, director Schele Williams, and Broadway Inspirational Voices’ Joseph Joubert and Michael McElroy to release a very special recording and music video of the beloved song “Georgia On My Mind'' to help to raise funds and awareness for Stacey Abrams’ Fair Fight organization’s work to ensure that every eligible Georgian has the resources and information they need to vote in the January 5th runoff election.  The single is released by Broadway Records, and is available wherever digital music is sold and on BroadwayRecords.com. The video, which was directed by Schele Williams, is available for viewing via Fair Fight’s YouTube Page. 

 

Most recently, they collaborated with Williams on a special video celebrating the Inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, which aired during the January 20 special.  Over 35 stars, including Chita Rivera, Betty Buckley, Chandra Wilson, Jessie Mueller, Laura Benanti, Leslie Uggams, Peppermint, Vanessa Williams, Wayne Brady, and more joined from the safety of their own homes to belt out two iconic Broadway songs: “Season of Love” from RENT, and “Let The Sunshine In” from HAIR. 

 

About James Wesley  

In addition to conceiving the idea for Broadway for Orlando, James created (and co-produced with Seth) Voices for the Voiceless on Broadway in 2015 starring Tina Fey, Jane Krakowski, Megan Hilty, Antwone Fisher, Charlene Tilton, Caroline Rhea, Darren Criss, Alec Mapa, Kate Shindle, and Eden Espinosa. It shined a spotlight on foster care in a unique and entertaining way, combining celebrity, music, and everyday people sharing their stories. The concert raised $500,000 for You Gotta Believe! and the Council on Adoptable Children.  

  

In response to concerns that marginalized people would suffer after 2016's presidential election, James co-produced and co- hosted a concert series called Concert for America with his husband. The first concert was held at The Town Hall in New York, New York January 20, 2017. Over the course of the series (13 in all), entertainment’s biggest stars from Barry Manilow, Vanessa Williams, Chita Rivera, Melissa Manchester, Marcia Cross, and Grant Gustin, generously lent their voices to raise money for national organizations dedicated to protecting civil rights, women’s health, and environmental protection.  

  

As a writer, he wrote and starred in the critically acclaimed off-Broadway play, “Unbroken Circle”, starring Eve Plumb and Tony nominees Anika Larsen and Jennifer Simard. He also wrote “Art and Science”, a comedy-drama dealing with the generational differences between two gay men. It starred Tony nominees Tony Sheldon and John Tartaglia.  

  

James and Seth are the proud recipients of the National Leadership Award from the LGBTQ Task Force for their work on Broadway for Orlando’s What the World Needs Now is Love. For their work on Stars in the House, they have received the Gotham Icon Award from the Museum of the City of New York, the Founders Award for Resilience from the Cancer Support Community and a Drama Desk Award.