| Marlo Thomas, Sara Bareilles, Gloria Steinem, Harry Belafonte, Audra McDonald, and More To Appear on 'Free To Be...You and Me' 'Stars In The House' Benefit Special | |
| Posted by: Official_Press_Release 05:00 pm EDT 06/24/20 | |
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| MARLO THOMAS, SARA BAREILLES, HARRY BELAFONTE, DREW BARRYMORE, AUDRA MCDONALD, BENJ PASEK, DEBRA MESSING, GLORIA STEINEM, MICHAEL MCELROY, AND MORE TO APPEAR ON A VERY SPECIAL "FREE TO BE…YOU AND ME" CELEBRATION EPISODE OF "STARS IN THE HOUSE" ON JUNE 26 Episode Will Showcase Groundbreaking, First-Ever Cover of "Free to Be…You and Me" Single from Bareilles, and "Sisters and Brothers" from Michael McElroy and the Broadway Inspirational Voices Proceeds from the Songs, and "Stars In The House" Episode, Will Go To The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund NEW YORK (June 24, 2020) - Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley announced today that they will host a very special "Free To Be…You and Me" episode of "Stars In The House" on Friday, June 26 at 8PM ET on the Stars In The House YouTube channel and on starsinthehouse.com. Actress and activist Marlo Thomas created the award-winning album, book, and television special in the early 70s, that was the first anti-racist, anti-sexist entertainment for children. Thomas will join Seth and James to talk about the legacy of "Free to Be…You and Me," which inspired children around the world to dream big, and break away from gender and racial stereotypes, to become whatever they could be, not what they should be. The three will be joined by friends and fans of "Free to Be…You and Me," including Sara Bareilles, Harry Belafonte, Drew Barrymore, Audra McDonald, Benj Pasek, Debra Messing, Free to Be Foundation co-founder Gloria Steinem, Michael McElroy, and others who will talk about the tremendous impact that "Free to Be…You and Me" had on their lives as a groundbreaking project that celebrated individuality. Fans tuning in will be able to interact with guests in real time, ask questions, and donate to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. The episode will showcase a new version of the 1972 Grammy and Emmy Award-winning song, "Free to Be...You and Me," from Bareilles, which will be released earlier that day through Warner Music Group's Arts Music division. This marks the first time that the iconic song will be covered and released since its premiere nearly 50 years ago! Fans of the original song, which served as the title track to the album and television special, will notice the new version of the song includes two lyric changes. The word "children" has been changed to "people" in one of the song's main refrains. "During this turbulent time of quarantine and social injustice," Thomas explained, "freedom for children as well as adults is on the line like never before. Also, in order to better embrace the non-binary community, we changed a lyric that referred to 'boys' and 'girls' growing up to be 'men' and 'women.'" The line now proclaims, "Every child in this land, may you all understand, that you're proud and you're strong and you are right where you belong." A newly released version of "Sisters and Brothers" from Michael McElroy and the Broadway Inspirational Voices will also play an important role in the episode. "Sara's soulful voice and personal connection to the original title song made her the ideal artist to bring it back into the world," Thomas said. "And the choir's uplifting rendition of 'Sisters and Brothers' is the perfect unifying anthem at a time we need it most." Both songs were written by Stephen Lawrence and Bruce Hart. Proceeds from the project will go to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, whose mission is critical in these current times. "We are so excited to finally share this amazing project with everyone," said Rudetsky and Wesley. Rudetsky recalled, "I first became obsessed with 'Free To Be…" when I was 9 and played the role of William, who wants a doll , in my fourth grade class play… and James has often told me about falling in love with 'Free To Be…' after hearing it in his kindergarten class and making his Mom drive all over Dallas to buy the album!" Added Wesley, "As 'Free to Be' kids ourselves, working with Marlo over the past couple of months has been an absolute dream come true. It's such an honor to collaborate and put a small piece of ourselves into these iconic songs that still give us so much hope and joy during these uncertain times." As the creators and executive producers of "Stars In The House," Seth and James bring a masterful combination of music, storytelling and community to each episode, ensuring that the show goes on in viewers' homes even while performance venues across the world are closed. This "Free to Be…You and Me" special is produced in association with the Free to Be Foundation and Free to Be Media, under advisement from Michael Barra of Lively McCabe Entertainment on behalf of the Free to Be Foundation. Sara Bareilles first achieved mainstream critical praise in 2007 with her widely successful hit "Love Song," which reached No. 1 in 22 countries around the world from her debut album "Little Voice." Since then, Sara has taken home a Grammy Award, received seven Grammy nominations, two Tony nominations, and three Emmy nominations. Her book, "Sounds Like Me: My Life (So Far) in Song," was released in the fall of 2015 by Simon & Schuster and is a New York Times best seller. Making her Broadway debut, Sara composed the music and lyrics for "Waitress," and made her Broadway acting debut in 2017 by stepping into the show's lead role. On April 5, 2019 Sara released her fifth full-length and first album of original material since 2013, entitled "Amidst The Chaos,". For this latest body of work, she joined forces in the studio with legendary Academy Award-winning producer T Bone Burnett. Most recently, Sara teamed up with Apple as an executive producer for "Little Voice," a 10-episode series, for which she will create the original music. Sara Bareilles appears courtesy of Epic Records, a Division of Sony Music Entertainment. "Stars In The House" airs new episodes daily on its YouTube channel and starsinthehouse.com. For more information and to see upcoming guests, please visit starsinthehouse.com and follow @StarsInTheHouse, Seth (@SethRudetsky) and James (@JamesWesleyNYC) on Twitter and Instagram. ### ABOUT STARS IN THE HOUSE "Stars in the House," which officially kicked off on March 16th, is a Drama Desk Award-winning daily series that features stars of stage and screen singing or performing plays live (from home!) to promote support for The Actors Fund's services for those most vulnerable to the effects of Coronavirus (COVID-19). Joining Seth and James for the shows is Dr. Jon LaPook, chief medical correspondent for CBS News. Visit starsinthehouse.com to donate, watch previous episodes, learn about upcoming guests and more. Since the first show, "Stars in the House" has raised more than $352,000 to benefit The Actors Fund and other charities - and continues to do so thanks to a generous donation from the Berlanti Family Foundation. Seth, James, and Dr. LaPook also received a special Drama Desk Award for keeping the theatre community connected, informed, and uplifted during the pandemic. In addition to its regular twice-a-day streaming and ability for viewers to watch it on their own time, "Stars in the House" has teamed up with SiriusXM. SiriusXM is the exclusive audio broadcasting partner delivering the show to listeners daily on Volume (channel 106) and On Broadway (channel 72). SiriusXM subscribers can catch "Stars in the House" weekday mornings at 9:00 a.m. ET on Volume channel 106, with favorite program excerpts airing throughout the day on SiriusXM's On Broadway channel 72. Listeners can also follow Seth on Seth Speaks and Seth's Big Fat Broadway, two regularly scheduled programs that air on SiriusXM's On Broadway channel and his brand-new podcast "Seth Rudetsky's Back To School" where he interviews celebrities like Tina Fey and Allison Janney to find out hilarious and moving stories from their high school years. "Stars in the House" will air commercial-free on SiriusXM. The program is available to subscribers nationwide on SiriusXM radios, and those with streaming access can listen on demand on the SiriusXM app, and at home on a variety of connected devices. For more info to activate your streaming access or to sign up for a trial subscription, go to www.SiriusXM.com/AtHome. ABOUT ARTS MUSIC Arts Music is Warner Music Group's umbrella of labels focused on signing, developing and marketing artists and projects across genres such as classical, musical theater, jazz, kid's & family music, soundtracks and film scores. Arts Music is the home of the Warner Classics and Erato labels for classical music and Ghostlight Records and First Night Records for musical theater. In the kids & family music genre, Arts Music has relaunched Sesame Street Records, formed partnerships with Mattel and Fred Rogers Productions and started new labels with Build-A-Bear Workshop and Cloudco Entertainment. ABOUT BROADWAY INSPIRATIONAL VOICES Broadway Inspirational Voices (BIV), the 2019 Tony Award Honoree for Excellence in Theatre, was formed in 1994 by Tony-nominated Broadway performer Michael McElroy. His vision was to bring inspiration to the Broadway community during a time when the AIDS epidemic had ravaged an entire generation of artists. Over the past twenty-five years, BIV has served the Broadway community whenever needed. In 2007 BIV became a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization to make it easier to give back to the greater community in service to its mission. Outreach programs are created for children in underserved populations, focusing on BIV's mission to provide HOPE to INSPIRE and TRANSFORM youth in need through music and the arts. Currently, BIV has annual programs with The Ronald McDonald House New York, Mosaic Preparatory School in Harlem, and the Covenant House in the heart of NYC's theater district. In 2004, BIV was nominated for a Grammy Award for their first holiday CD: Great Joy! A Gospel Christmas. BIV has performed live with Elton John, Mariah Carey, Jason Mraz, Sting, Gloria Estefan, Harry Connick Jr, Patti LuPone, Jennifer Nettles, Eartha Kitt, Patti LaBelle, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Vanessa Williams, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Billy Porter and Heather Headley. Their web series, "Broadway Our Way", is in its third season on YouTube. Over eighty members strong, BIV's diverse membership has represented over 140 Broadway shows since its inception. For more information - and for ways to DONATE to support its ongoing outreach initiatives - go to www.BIVoices.org. You can also find them on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at @BIVoices. ABOUT THE NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND, INC The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. is America's premier legal organization fighting for racial justice. Through litigation, advocacy, and public education, LDF seeks structural changes to expand democracy, eliminate disparities, and achieve racial justice in a society that fulfills the promise of equality for all Americans. LDF also defends the gains and protections won over the past 75 years of civil rights struggle and works to improve the quality and diversity of judicial and executive appointments. |
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| Link | http://starsinthehouse.com |
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