PURIM SHPIEL TO BENEFIT BIRTHRIGHT ISRAEL Takes Place 3/9

"5th ANNUAL BROADWAY PURIM SHPIEL TO BENEFIT BIRTHRIGHT ISRAEL" Monday, March 9 th , 2009 at 7PM at The Hudson Theatre

The National Entertainment Fund for the Cultural Arts (NEFCA) and event Co-Chair Michael Steinhardt proudly present the 5th Annual Broadway Purim Shpiel at the Hudson Theatre on Monday, March 9 th , 2009 at 7pm. For one night only, stars from Broadway's biggest hit shows join together for the Broadway Purim Shpiel, a hilarious retelling of the Purim story.

ROCK OF AGES STARS CONSTANTINE MAROULIS and AMY SPANGER JOIN THE CAST

Host: Jackie Hoffman (Xanadu/Hairspray)
Jordan Gelber All My Sons
Mary Faber Avenue Q
Constantine Maroulis Rock of Ages
Marc Kudisch 9 to 5
Logan Lipton Wicked
Jared Gertner 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Noah Weisberg South Pacific
Carly Jibson Hairspray
Alli Mauzey Wicked
Stanley Bahorek 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Amy Spanger Rock of Ages

All proceeds from the NEFCA production will benefit Taglit-Birthright Israel, an organization dedicated to sending young Jews from across the world to Israel. Full details about the event can be found at www.nefca.org/5thbroadwaypurimshpiel/

"I'm inspired every time I announce that we are about to celebrate our 5 th Anniversary of the Broadway Purim Shpiel" said NEFCA Founder and Executive Director Scott Kluge.

"Once again, Broadway's brightest stars will be performing exclusively for our audience."
"This year's cast has stars from the Tony Winning Smash hit South Pacific, the highly acclaimed play All My Sons and other Broadway staples such as Wicked and Avenue Q" the Director/Producer added. "In such a challenging climate, I thought it was more important than ever to make sure the show goes on. I wanted the community to know that no matter what's transpiring in our lives, there is always time to give back.

Thanks to the generous underwriting of Michael Steinhardt, all proceeds from this year's Broadway Purim Shpiel will go to Taglit-Birthright Israel to help make his dream that it is every Jewish person's birthright to visit Israel, a reality.The performance will be held at the Hudson Theatre at 141 West 44 th Street in New York City. The event begins 7PM with complimentary cocktails. The Purim Shpiel kicks off at 8PM.

For more information or to purchase tickets, please visit http://www.nefca.org/5thbroadwaypurimshpiel/

Taglit-Birthright Israel provides the gift of first time, peer group, educational trips to Israel for Jewish young adults ages 18 to 26. Taglit-Birthright Israel's founders created this program to send thousands of young Jewish adults from all over the world to Israel as a gift in order to diminish the growing division between Israel and Jewish communities around the world; to strengthen the sense of solidarity among world Jewry; and to strengthen participants' personal Jewish identity and connection to the Jewish people.

The gift of the 10-day trip is being provided by our partners: the people of Israel through the Government of Israel, North American Jewish Federations through the United Jewish Communities (UJC), and leading private philanthropists. Please take a few minutes to learn more about our partners, especially your local Jewish Federation, which is your gateway to community involvement, continued learning and leadership opportunities. Taglit-Birthright Israel operates on a belief that it is every Jewish person's birthright to visit Israel.

To date, over 120,000 young adults from 45 countries have traveled to Israel for the first time on Taglit-Birthright Israel trips.ABOUT NEFCAThe National Entertainment Fund for the Cultural Arts (NEFCA) is a non-profit 501 c 3 production company. NEFCA developed and will produce The "5 th Annual Broadway Purim Shpiel," a benefit for Taglit-Birthright Israel.

NEFCA prides itself on improving the image of different charities by producing unique and entertaining benefit events per request. Non-profits are desperately seeking out fresh fundraising programs to avoid the saturated market of monotonous charity dinners. NEFCA provides that originality and works with charities to brand them as trendier and more interesting. NEFCA develops many different kinds of events including but not limited to film, theater and television projects. www.nefca.org