Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley have announced casting for the next iteration of their critically-acclaimed CONCERT FOR AMERICA, an evening leveraging the power of music and performance to support vulnerable people in crisis.
The benefit event, which will take place at UCLA’s Royce Hall on Saturday, September 21, will feature performances and calls to action from recent newlyweds Chris Wood (Supergirl) and Melissa Benoist (Supergirl herself!), Emmy Award winner Wayne Brady (Let’s Make A Deal), Liz Callaway (singing her Oscar-nominated song from the film Anastasia), Marcia Cross (Desperate Housewives), Kate Flannery (The Office), Grant Gustin (singing Pasek & Paul’s “Running Home To You” from The Flash), Cheyenne Jackson (American Horror Story), Tony Award winner Rachel Bay Jones (Broadway’s Dear Evan Hansen), Emmy Award winner Jane Lynch(The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), Emmy and Tony Award winner Laurie Metcalf (The Conners), Grammy Award winner Melissa Manchester, Emmy Award winner Eric McCormack (Will & Grace), Caroline Rhea (Disney channel’s Sydney To The Max), Gina Torres (Pearson), and more!
Proceeds from the event will benefit the National Immigration Law Center, an organization whose mission is to defend and advance the rights and opportunities of low-income immigrants and their families. CONCERT FOR AMERICA is co-presented by Greg Berlanti, Robbie Rogers, and their Berlanti Family Foundation.
“A concert of amazing performers belting up a storm or being hilarious, combined with information on how every person watching, can help this national crisis is my idea of a perfect evening!” says Rudetsky.
Wesley adds, “Seth and I feel that the best way to achieve social justice is through art. We are also honored to announce that Dr. Colleen Kraft, the immediate past president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, will be joining us at Royce Hall to discuss the continuing crisis at our southern border and her informed medical opinion that ‘even short periods of detention can cause psychological trauma and long-term mental health risks for children’ and ‘the effects can be long -lasting’.”
Tickets are available for purchase now at ConcertForAmerica.com. For those unable to attend CONCERT FOR AMERICA in person, it will be broadcast via Facebook Live and at ConcertforAmerica.com, beginning at 6pm PDT on Saturday, September 21.
A concert of songs, comedy, and commentary, CONCERT FOR AMERICA has been hailed by the New York Times as “striking for its emphasis on the importance of faith in the United States and optimism about its future.” Created and hosted by SiriusXM’s Seth Rudetsky and his husband, producer James Wesley, who also organized the Broadway For Orlando/What the World Needs Now is Love recording in 2016.
CONCERT FOR AMERICA debuted on January 20, 2017, and toured the country, benefitting five national organizations fighting for civil, human, and environmental rights. This will be the 13th CONCERT FOR AMERICA benefit, the most recent one taking place last summer in NYC starring Idina Menzel, Audra McDonald Tina Fey, Patrick Wilson, among others.
CONCERT FOR AMERICA is created and organized by Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley, in association with Your Kids, Our Kids, as well as with the generous support of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
