Tony Nominee Richard Kind Hosts 5th Annual BORN FOR BROADWAY Tonight

Born for Broadway welcomes Richard Kind, star of stage and screen and a Tony nominee for The Big Knife, as the host for its fifth annual fundraiser and celebrity cabaret, held at the Merkin Concert Hall at 8 p.m. tonight, October 13, 2014. This marks Kind's second time hosting the show, which he helped to inaugurate in 2009.

Also joining the previously announced cast of performers, which features Orange Is the New Black star Danielle Brooks, are songwriters/composers Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman (Hairspray, Catch Me If You Can, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Addams Family), who between them boast Tony, Emmy, Grammy, and Drama Desk Awards as well as multiple Academy Award and BAFTA nominations.

Founder and Executive Producer Sarah Galli created Born for Broadway in 2003 while studying theater at Marymount Manhattan College, as a way to give back to her community after her brother Jeff suffered a spinal cord injury. Eleven years later, it has evolved from a student-run music revue into an annual cabaret that brings together established Broadway and television performers and emerging talent, including individuals with paralysis, to benefit paralysis-related causes.

Says Galli, "We couldn't be more thrilled that Richard is hosting Born for Broadway once more. He is the epitome of what Born for Broadway aspires to be: energetic, hilarious, and enormously compassionate, with just the right amount of sass. Richard was truly born for Broadway, and to have Marc and Scott as a part of our night, joining us as we shine a necessary spotlight on paralysis causes, is beyond a thrill. I am enormously grateful."

Tickets are on sale now for $25-75 at bornforbroadway.com. All proceeds benefit Unite 2 Fight Paralysis, a nonprofit that supports international advocacy, education, and spinal cord injury research. Tony nominee Marcia Milgrom Dodge (Ragtime) will direct, with music direction by Lawrence Yurman (Grey Gardens). See below for date and venue details and a full cast listing. For media inquiries, please contact Tim Price at tim@bornforbroadway.com or 917.880.8751.