Wicked composer Stephen Schwartz and Tony Award-winning actor Brian Stokes Mitchell will co-host Millennium Stage 12th Anniversary: Broadway The Third Generation.

Free tickets are required for the upcoming event and will be distributed one per person in front of the Opera House beginning at 4 PM Jan. 31.

Casting for the concert is currently underway. The concert will be followed by a week of performances on the Millennium Stage featuring new Broadway composers.

In related news, the free Millennium Stage series will feature a concert with Alice Ripley's band RIPLEY Jan. 12, 2009. Actress Ripley is currently starring in Arena Stage's production of Next to Normal.

Mitchell, who was seen in the recent Les Misérables in Concert at the Hollywood Bowl, earned a Tony nomination for his performance in the title role of Man of La Mancha. He won the 2000 Tony, Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk awards for his performance as Fred Graham/Petruchio in Kiss Me, Kate, and his other Broadway credits include lead roles in King Hedley II; Ragtime; Kiss of the Spider Woman; Jelly's Last Jam; Oh, Kay!; Mail; and the City Center Encores! mountings of Kismet, Do Re Mi and Carnival. Television audiences will be familiar with Mitchell's work from his roles on "Trapper John, M.D.," "Roots" and "Frasier." Mitchell was elected the 12th president of the Actors' Fund of America, and he has performed in concert halls and cabarets around the country. His Playbill Records CD is entitled "Brian Stokes Mitchell." Schwartz, a five-time Tony nominee for the scores of Pippin, Godspell, Working, Wicked and his lyrics for Rags, earned Academy Awards for "Pocahontas" and "The Prince of Egypt." He also nabbed three Academy Award nominations for his work on "Enchanted." Schwartz has also won Grammy Awards for the recordings of Wicked, Godspell and "Pocahontas."

For more information call (202) 467-4600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org.