Broadway Stars Come Together In NYC For NF Hope Concert On May 20th

An impressive collection of Broadway talent will come together Sunday, May 20th, 2018 for New York City's second annual NF Hope Concert at SubCulture New York.

Benefit organizer Jeff Leibow, formerly of Jersey Boys, has brought together an incredible list of Broadway performers including Jeremy Stolle (Phantom of the Opera), Quinn VanAntwerp (The Play That Goes Wrong), Peter Saide (Desperate Measures), Ava Della Pietra (School of Rock), Laura Nicole Harrison (The Art Couple) and Keith Harrison (Million Dollar Quartet) and NYC Downtown performer, Migguel Anggelo (Welcome to La Misa, Baby), for a spectacular evening of entertainment to raise awareness and financial support for Neurofibromatosis Network, an organization dedicated to families and individuals suffering from Neurofibromatosis (NF).

"The Broadway community is very close-knit family," says Jeff. "Even so, I am awed by the number of performers who want to help make the NF Hope Concert a success in every way possible."

Tickets start at $40 and are available online at: nfhope.org/NYC

The inaugural NF Hope Concert took place in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2011. Since then, the event has grown by leaps and bounds and is now expanding into new markets, increasing its reach to raise awareness for Neurofibromatosis research and advocacy. Last year, the NF Hope Concerts in Las Vegas and New York City raised $150,000. Advocacy efforts funded by NF Hope Concerts in 2017 played a vital role in federal legislation that provided $15 million for NF research (Army-run NF Research Program (NFRP)).

NF is a genetic disorder of the nervous system characterized by tumors, which can grow on any nerve in the body without warning. Leibow's young daughter, Emma, was diagnosed with this condition in 2010 when she was just nine months old. As Leibow and his wife, Melody, learned more about the disorder's devastating effects, they conceived the idea for the concert with the realization that they had an obligation to Emma and the nearly 130,000 people living with NF to educate others about the disorder. Although it is a very common genetic disorder, most people are unaware that NF affects 1 in 2,500 people, making it more prevalent than Cystic Fibrosis, hereditary Muscular Dystrophy, Huntington's Disease, and Tay Sachs combined.

Every year, Emma has supplied Leibow and his wife all the inspiration they need to make this event a success, but complications in the last eighteen months have given them even more to fight for.

"The last year has brought numerous challenges for Emma,?Said Leibow, "including a surgery on her leg resulting from a massive tumor that stretches from her hip to her knee. This reminder of the disorder's unpredictability has only fueled our drive to support this incredibly personal cause. When Melody and I founded the NF Hope Concerts in 2011, we dreamed of expanding it to new markets. We are seeing that come to fruition with New York and earlier this month in Chicago. We now have our sights on making an even bigger goal a reality, funding the search for a cure."

The event will include a silent auction, featuring items such as posters signed by the casts of current hit Broadway shows, house seats to Hamilton, The Play That Goes Wrong and Phantom of the Opera, and an evening at Bubby's Restaurant and The Odeon. Register for the auction here.

New York City's 2nd Annual NF Hope Concert

Sunday, May 20, 2018 @7:30 PM

SubCulture (45 Bleecker Street)

Tickets and information at: nfhope.org/NYC

You can follow NF hope on Facebook and Twitter.

**A glimpse into the life of an NF Family. Jeff and Melody share Emma's story:

**The NF Hope Concert: Seven Years Later:

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