Tony Award Winner Lea Salonga Invites You to A "Summer Benefit Soiree"
An Evening of Music Celebrating
Diversity in the Theater Featuring a Star-Studded Roster of Leading Broadway Artists Including
The Little Mermaid's Norm Lewis

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Lea Salonga

Dear Friends,

Two years ago I made my Carnegie Hall debut to benefit Diverse City Theater, a theater company whose work promoting diversity in the theater I believe is important. The concert, as well as the after party, was an evening that I will never forget. But more importantly, my concert produced two critically acclaimed seasons of original theater that celebrate the diversity we all live in. Last year, Diverse City Theater’s season of plays about women was wildly acclaimed by audiences and critics and was in the NewYork Times Critics Choice for “new and noteworthy” calling it “gutsy! ... a quality not often seen in NewYork theatre.”

One of the many reasons I support Diverse City Theater is their advocacy for non-traditional casting. This year, the company was honored by Actors Equity with the prestigious Rosetta Lenoire Award nomination for “outstanding contributions made to the universality of the human spirit in the American theatre.” By the time you receive this invitation, I will have been out of the country to begin rehearsals in June for a production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella in which I play the title role. Yes, an Asian actor playing Cinderella! That's non-traditional!

To help Diverse City Theater continue to produce relevant and thought-provoking theater, I’ve asked my Broadway friends and cohorts to sing a few songs at “An Evening of Music Celebrating Diversity in the Theater” on Monday, June 23 at 6:30PM at The Helen Mills Event Space & Theater in NewYork City:

Allison Blackwell (Les Miz), Nikki Renee Daniels (Aida, Beauty & the Beast), Angel Desai (Company), Ali Ewoldt (Les Miz), Rona Figueroa (Nine, Miss Saigon), Norm Lewis (currently starring in Disney’s The Little Mermaid), Jose Llana (Flower Drum Song, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), Julie Danao Salkin (Lennon), Amy Spanger (The Wedding Singer, Chicago).

I hope you can join my friends at Diverse City Theater on this special night ... I will be there in spirit.

All the best,

Lea Salonga

THE HELEN MILLS EVENT SPACE & THEATRE is located at 137 West 26th Street (between Sixth and Seventh Avenues) in New York City. Tickets can be purchased by calling (212) 916-0508 or martha@diversecitytheater.org. Limited tickets at $250 and VIP $500 (includes a post-performance VIP Champagne reception).

About Diverse City Theater Company

Diverse City Theater Co. Inc., is an independent not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization-run by artist playwrights, directors and actors - that focuses on promoting diversity and multiculturalism in the theater arts. Its mission is to commission, develop and produce powerful and though-provoking original plays that explore and examine diversity issues in our national culture, create multiculturally fluent theater audiences and advocate the non-traditional casting of actors.

Formed in 2003, Diverse City Theater Co., Inc. is based in New York City. For more information, visit the organization's website at www.diversecitytheater.org.