North Carolina Theatre, the region's only producer of professional Broadway musical revivals, announces "Bringing Broadway Home," a spectacular benefit concert on Monday, June 21st at 8 PM in Raleigh Memorial Auditorium at the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Raleigh. This one-night-only event will celebrate 27 seasons of Broadway at North Carolina Theatre and will feature Clay Aiken, Lauren Kennedy, Sharon Lawrence, Terrence Mann and Quiana Parler.
Clay Aiken is a multi-platinum recording artist and is set to release his sixth album, Tried and True, this summer. Since his meteoric rise to fame on the hit TV show American Idol in 2003, Aiken has launched eight tours, authored a New York Times best-selling book called Learning to Sing: Hearing the Music in Your Life, starred on Broadway in Monty Python's Spamalot, and has guest starring roles in TV's Scrubs, 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live. Before all of these accomplishments and more, Aiken performed on the North Carolina Theatre stage in Shenandoah and 1776 in 1996.
Lauren Kennedy has numerous Broadway credits to her name since she moved to New York from Raleigh, her hometown. She starred as the Lady of the Lake in Monty Python's Spamalot, appeared in Sunset Boulevard with Glenn Close, and received acclaim as Fantine in the final year of Les Misérables. Kennedy has dazzled audiences in a number of NC Theatre productions, most recently starring alongside Country music singer Larry Gatlin in Annie Get Your Gun.
Sharon Lawrence is a four-time Emmy nominated actress and is known for many roles on the hit TV shows NYPD Blue, Desperate Housewives, Monk, Law & Order: SVU, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Grey's Anatomy. In addition to film and Broadway work, Lawrence has performed a myriad of roles on the NC Theatre stage and starred alongside Terrence Mann in the theatre's first production, Camelot, in 1984.
Terrence Mann currently stars on Broadway in The Addams Family. He made his Broadway debut in 1982 in the Tony Award-winning musical, Barnum, and has been a fixture on the Great White Way ever since. In 1987, his portrayal of Javert in Les Misérables earned him his first Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role, which he reprised years later. He originated the role of the Beast in Disney's Beauty and the Beast, earning another Tony Award nomination. Other Broadway credits include Rags, Jerome Robbins' Broadway, Getting Away with Murder, The Rocky Horror Show. Mann served as an actor, artistic director and director for many NC Theatre productions throughout the years.
Quiana Parler has shared the stage with an array of national artists, from Keith Sweat to Clay Aiken; Miranda Lambert to Kelly Clarkson. Her performances have been seen on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Today Show, The View, The Tyra Banks Show, Good Morning America, The Academy of Country Music Awards and Saturday Night Live. Additionally, her vocal talents have been sought out by recording industry leaders such as David Novik, Walter Afanasieff and David Foster. Her debut in 2008, as Effie, in NC Theatre's production of Dreamgirls became one of the most talked about performances of NC Theatre's 27 year history.
Tickets range from $50 to $100 with a VIP option of $150 that includes an exclusive, one hour pre-show reception and complimentary parking. Tickets are currently on sale to season subscribers and go on sale to the general public April 19th. For tickets, call the NC Theatre Box Office at 919-831-6941 x6943 or x6944. For more information on Bringing Broadway Home, please visit www.nctheatre.com.
