Next Monday, November 29th, I’ve been asked to present an award to my best friend, and I couldn’t be more excited. The 2nd Annual Broadway Speaks OUT! A Very Mary Holiday Concert will benefit the Ali Forney Center for LGBT homeless youth, and I’m giving the Hero Award to Tony Award-Winner Laura Benanti.
Laura in The Secret Garden World AIDS Day Concert
Not to give away too much (not as if I’ve written a speech yet), but just to give you a little history…I’ve known Laura for 8 years now and while she’s not the girl you see screaming in the streets for equality, she has quietly made a difference in a lot of people’s lives – especially mine. By being a supportive friend, by always agreeing to perform in every LGBT or HIV/AIDS benefit I’ve ever produced and by helping educate her friends and family on LGBT issues and equality, Laura has proven to be the type of ally we need to win this fight.
Please join Talk About Equality and Broadway Speaks OUT! next Monday night for a bevy of Broadway stars and performers singing out for equality!
A Very MARY Holiday will be presented Monday, November 29 at 8pm, being held at Dixon Place. The starry benefit will be hosted by Marti Gould Cummings, and boasts the ferocious talents of Kate Shindle (Legally Blonde) , John Arthur Greene (West Side Story), Matt Doyle (Bye Bye Birdie, “Gossip Girl”), Matt Shingledecker (West Side Story), Danny Calvert, The Broadway Dolls, Annie Golden (The Full Monty), Michelle Dowdy (Hairspray), Brian Charles Rooney (Three Penny Opera), Tracy McDowell (Rent), Malan Breton (Project Runway), Chase Davidson (Spring Awakening), Krystina Alabado (Spring Awakening), Scott Nevins (truTV’s The Smoking Fun Presents), Kate Pazakis, Megan Reinking, Alex Ellis, Taylor Mac, Marcus Simione, Composer Scott Alan, The Broadway Boys and Ryan Nickulas and TJ Kelly (Logo’s A-List NY) . Orfeh (Legally Blonde) and other broadway stars will film special video messages for the evening. Author, political strategist, and civil right’s activist, David Mixner will be the night’s Keynote Speaker.
Drexel D. Heard II, serves as the evening’s Director, with Kristen Lee Rosenfeld (Music Director), Brad
Laura, Me (with more hair) and her Mom, Linda at the Embrace Concert for the Matthew Shepard Foundation
Gardner (BSO’s Music Director), and John Murdock (Production Stage Manager).
Tony Award winner Laura Benanti, currently appearing on Broadway in Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, will be this year’s Broadway Speaks OUT! Hero Award Honoree.
The evening is being Produced by Broadway Speaks OUT! and Broadway Cares/ Equity Fights Aids, and sponsored by Gay City News, GIVEN Liqueur, Dixon Place, Ferality Show, and Talk About Equality.
*Performers are performing with special permission from Actors Equity Association*
Tickets can be purchased at https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/pe/8505685
For more information please visit www.broadwayspeaksout.com
Talk About Equality 
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