Video: Aaron Lazar Is Embracing His Impossible Dream and Staying Positive in the Face of ALS

Two and a half years ago, Aaron Lazar, star of such beloved Broadway shows as Les Misérables, The Last Ship, The Light in the Piazza, and many more, was diagnosed with ALS. When he went public with the news in January, Lazar was met with resounding support from the Broadway community that has become a second family. Now that family has shown up to make a dream come true.

"My buddy Jonathan Estabrooks is a producer, and he asked me when the [news] came out if I wanted to make an album," he explained to BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge. "It's a big idea. I wanted to sing songs of hope and inspiration with some of my friends, which ended up being some of the greatest artists in the world. People opened their hearts and  souls to this project. Here we are now with nine tracks, eight duets, and a huge 'We Are the World'-style group performance of the song that's been the anthem of my life for the last couple of years- 'The Impossible Dream.' It really is a dream come true."

Those artists include such stage and screen luminaries as Neil Patrick Harris, Leslie Odom, Jr., Norm Lewis, Kate Baldwin, Kelli O’Hara, Loren Allred, Sting, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Kristin Chenoweth, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Mike Love, Liz Callaway, Joanna Gleason, Brian d'Arcy James, Adrienne Warren, Shoshana Bean, Christy Altomare, Christiane Noll, Adam Jacobs, and the late Rebecca Luker, who passed away from ALS in 2020.

They come together to raise their voices in support of Lazar and to raise funds and awareness for the disease. A portion of the proceeds from "Impossible Dream," which will be released on August 23, will benefit the ALS Network, an organization dedicated to helping people with ALS live longer and better lives.

"I feel like I've got something to do here- to heal myself. I don't know how to do that, so I started reading books. I learned very quickly from research that health is more than physical. It's also mental, emotional and spiritual. So I thought that if I could work on these other parts of myself, the physical will follow," he said. "It's really hard to maintain that belief and have that kind of faith as the physical progression of ALS continues for me. How do I do it? I accept that I have ALS. I don't accept that it will continue to progress and tumble that way. Maybe that time will come, but it hasn't come yet."

Pre-order the album today and watch in this video as Aaron chats more about the indomitable power of the human spirit.