Deborah Cox, Fela! Cast, Chuck Cooper, Melba Moore Join Lineup for Third Annual Broadway In South Africa Concert | Playbill

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News Deborah Cox, Fela! Cast, Chuck Cooper, Melba Moore Join Lineup for Third Annual Broadway In South Africa Concert Pop star Deborah Cox, who appeared on Broadway in Aida, has joined the lineup of the third annual Broadway in South Africa (BSA) concert, along with the cast of Broadway's Fela! and Tony Award winners Chuck Cooper and Melba Moore.

The event, to be held Oct. 4 at 7:30 PM in the Manhattan Center's Grand Ballroom, will also feature the previously announced Alice Ripley, Lance Bass, Tituss Burgess, Julia Murney, Kate Shindle, Ariana Grande, Sean Bradford, Darius de Haas, Brandon Victor Dixon, Frankie James Grande, Emma Hunton, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Adam Kantor, Morgan Karr, Jose Llana, Tracy McDowell, Christopher Spaulding and Lisa Nicole Wilkerson. Shea Sullivan will choreograph and perform a tap piece set to live African drums.

Patrick Heusinger, star of Broadway's Next Fall and television's "Gossip Girl," will attend the event, which will also feature appearances by TV stars and 13 alumni Graham Phillips ("The Good Wife") and Ariana Grande (Nickelodeon's "Victorious").

Songwriters, including Grammy Award winners Desmond Child and Julie Gold as well as Drew Gasparini, Marcy Heisler, Joe Iconis, Kait Kerrigan, Peter Lerman, Brian Lowdermilk, Jordan Mann, Catherine Porter, Jeremy Schonfeld and Jeff Thomson, will create original material for the event based on essays and letters written by children instructed by BSA teaching artists during workshops conducted in townships surrounding Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban.

The evening, which will be directed by Jen Bender with music direction by Brad Haak, will honor producer Michael Butler, "lauded for bringing Hair to Broadway in 1968, and an active proponent of youth creating positive global social change," according to organizers.

Sandra Thurman, former AIDS Czar under President Bill Clinton and current President and CEO of International AIDS Trust, will give the keynote address. Bass, Cooper, Moore and Phillips will also give special presentations. The other performers will introduce the new songs written for the event. Individual tickets can be purchased for $100 and $25 by visiting www.ticketmaster.com. VIP and sponsorship opportunities are available by contacting BSA at [email protected]. Manhattan Center's Grand Ballroom is located at 311 West 34th Street.

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Broadway in South Africa aims to "develop cross-cultural exchange between youth in need and artists who seek to use their talents for change." Visit www.broadwayinsouthafrica.org.

 
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