The 6:30 PM event will be held at the Hard Rock Café in Manhattan. Following dinner and cocktails, a host of Broadway performers will perform selections from the catalogue of Tony winners John Kander and Fred Ebb.
Slated to appear are Daniel Reichard (Candide, Jersey Boys), Julia Murney (Wicked), Gerry McIntyre (Once On This Island), Donnie Kehr (Tommy), Travis Cloer (Jersey Boys), Peter Gregus (Contact), Sara Schmidt (Brooklyn), Lori Eure (Cabaret), Krisha Marcano (The Color Purple) and Christopher Spaulding (Curtains).
Joining the Broadway folk will be Wingspan student participants as well as members of the Wingspan team, including Paul Ashley, Jessica Bashline, Cara Kossman, Tommy Marr, Marissa Porto and Bevin Ross, along with Rebecca Ashley of the Sacred Heart School.
Jim Abbott (The Drowsy Chaperone) is the musical director with a band including Kevin Dow (drums: Jersey Boys), David Kuhn (bass: Taboo), Kevin Kuhn (guitar: The Lion King), Jay Leslie (sax & flute: "The Tokens"), Matt Paterson (trumpet: Curtains) and Steve Snider (keyboards: Jersey Boys).
The non-profit Wingspan Arts specializes in arts programming for children in grades K-12. Wingspan offers in-school and after-school instruction, as well as scholarship and tuition assistance for students who attend Wingspan's conservatory and partnership programming. Tony Award winners John Kander and Fred Ebb first collaborated on the song "My Coloring Book" in 1962. The team would go on to create their first musical with Hal Prince, Flora, The Red Menace, starring a young Liza Minnelli. Their works also include Cabaret, The Happy Time, Zorba, Chicago, The Act, The Rink, Kiss of the Spider Woman and Curtains. The duo have also seen Cabaret and Chicago adapted into successful films. All About Us, based on the Thornton Wilder play The Skin of Our Teeth, was produced at the Westport Country Playhouse last season. The Signature Theatre is currently producing Kander and Ebb's The Visit, starring Tony winners Chita Rivera and George Hearn.
Tickets for Arts2Life – ranging $150-$10,000 – are available by phoning (212) 586-2330. For further information visit www.WingspanArts.org.
