Cabaret & Concert NewsCarole King, Ben Platt, and Hugh Jackman Will Take the Stage at NYC’s 2019 Global Citizen FestivalJackman returns to co-host the September concert event.
By
Ruthie Fierberg
July 30, 2019
Carole King, Ben Platt, and Hugh Jackman
The Global Citizen Festival returns to the Great Lawn in New York City’s Central Park September 28. With a six-fold mission to encourage global citizens to end extreme poverty, to call on world leaders to fight diseases like HIV/AIDS and polio, to empower women and girls, to fight pollution, and to provide quality education for all humankind, the Global Citizen Festival brings together major music stars for a cause.
Grammy Award winner and Kennedy Center Honoree Carole King will headline alongside Queen + Adam Lambert, Grammy winner Pharrell Williams, Grammy winner Alicia Keys, Grammy nominee OneRepublic, and Grammy winner H.E.R. The concert will feature special guest performances by French Montana, Tony Award winner Ben Platt (Dear Evan Hansen), and Jon Batiste and Stay Human.
Broadway-bound Tony Award winner (and former Tony host) Hugh Jackman will return to co-host alongside Deborra-lee Furness. This year’s co-hosts includes Broadway’s Matt Bomer (The Boys in the Band), Emmy Award winner Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), Elvis Duran, Oscar nominee Taraji P. Henson, Oscar winner Rami Malek, Bill Nye, Joy Reid, and Oscar winner Forest Whitaker.
Presented by Citi and Cisco, the 2019 festival will air on MSNBC as well as iHeart Radio Stations and the iHeart Radio app. The show will also be livestreamed on YouTube and Twitter, presented by Johnson & Johnson.
The festival is a free ticketed event through the Global Citizen app. Learn more at GlobalCitizenFestival.com. Ticket draws will occur throughout the summer and fans will be notified by Global Citizen when they have been selected.
“I last performed in Central Park in 1973, and it’s an honor to return for such an important occasion as this year’s Global Citizen Festival,” said King in a statement. “Throughout my career, I’ve had the privilege to see the incredibly unifying power of music, and I look forward to taking the stage to bring thousands together in the fight against extreme poverty.”
Platt added, "It's an absolute dream to be performing in Central Park at this year’s Global Citizen Festival among such esteemed artists. I’m excited to come together to celebrate the impact of thousands of Global Citizens who are fighting for equality and an end to extreme poverty.”
Beautiful: The Carole King Musical currently plays Broadway’s Stephen Sondheim Theatre. It celebrated its five-year anniversary earlier this year and will play its final performance October 27. Platt won his Tony Award for his performances as the titular role in Dear Evan Hansen and went on to release his debut solo album Sing to Me Instead, with which he toured the U.S. Jackman is currently on his own global arena tour with Hugh Jackman: The Show, which runs through October 2019.
Since 2012, the festival has activated citizens and world leaders to honor their responsibilities in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and ending extreme poverty by 2030.
