FULL LINEUP OF SHOWS AND SPECIAL GUESTS ANNOUNCED FOR THE CURTAIN UP! LIVE FROM BROADWAY FINALE CONCERT

AMBER RUFFIN AND JESSE TYLER FERGUSON TO HOST THE FREE OUTDOOR CONCERT FEATURING PERFORMANCES AND APPEARANCES FROM BROADWAY MUSICALS AND PLAYS

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2022
11:00am – 1:00pm, rain or shine
DIRECT FROM TIMES SQUARE AND AIRING LIVE ON WABC

The Broadway League, in partnership with Playbill and the Times Square Alliance, announce the full lineup of talent that will appear throughout The Curtain Up! LIVE from Broadway finale concert taking place on Sunday, October 2 at 11:00am in Duffy Square. This free outdoor concert marks the culmination of the three-day Curtain Up Broadway Festival, taking place throughout Times Square from September 30 -October 2 presented by title sponsor Prudential Financial; sponsored in part by Wagoneer and Audible Theater, with additional support from the NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment and The Music Performance Trust Fund.

For a full, detailed listing of all the events, please visit Playbill.com/CurtainUp .

Amber Ruffin and Jesse Tyler Ferguson will host this year’s Curtain Up! LIVE from Broadway finale concert which will include performances and special appearances from the following Broadway shows:A Beautiful Noise, The Neil Diamond Musical;A Strange Loop; Aladdin; & Juliet;Beetlejuice; Chicago;Death of a Salesman;Funny Girl; Hadestown;Harry Potter and the Cursed Child;Into the Woods; KPOP;The Lion King;MJ The Musical;Moulin Rouge! The Musical;The Music Man;The Phantom of the Opera; Six; and Wicked.

The Curtain Up! LIVE from Broadway finale concert will be directed bySammi Cannold with musical direction byDaryl Waters and live music provided by The Music Performance Trust Fund. The concert is a celebration of Broadway for all the world to enjoy and is a perfect way to usher in the new season. With the exhilarating energy of Times Square providing the setting, Curtain Up! LIVE from Broadway also honors the great city of New York, which is home to Broadway’s renowned 41 theatres. The concert will be broadcast live on WABC.

BIOS

Amber Ruffin is a writer, executive producer, and host of the WGA Award nominated series The Amber Ruffin Show on Peacock. She was recently nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Host in a Reality/Reality Competition, Game Show or Variety (Series or Special). She is an Emmy and WGA Award nominee writer and performer for NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers and was the first African American female to write for a late-night network talk show in the U.S. She wrote and performed on Comedy Central’s Detroiters and was a regular narrator on the cabler’s Drunk History. Ruffin was previously a performer at Boom Chicago in Amsterdam, the iO Theater, and the Second City in Chicago. In addition, she was a writer/performer for the 2018 and 2019 Golden Globe Awards and has written for the series A Black Lady Sketch Show. Ruffin is a New York Times bestselling author, along with her sister Lacey Lamar, of You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey: Crazy Stories of Racism , published by Grand Central Publishing. She is currently co-writing the Broadway musical Some Like it Hot, which will begin performances in 2022. In 2021, Ruffin was named to the 2021 TIME100 Next List,TIME's list of the next 100 most influential people in the world.

Jesse Tyler Ferguson won a Tony Award^® & Outer Critics Circle Award for his performance in Take Me Out. Broadway: On the Town, The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Drama Desk Award), Fully Committed (Drama Desk Award). In addition to numerous off-Broadway credits Ferguson has performed five seasons with The Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park as well as The Producers & Spamalot at The Hollywood Bowl. Most recent film/TV: Ivy + Bean (Netflix), Modern Family (5 Emmy Nominations, 4 SAG Awards, 4 People’s Choice Nominations), Cocaine Bear opposite Margo Martindale and Keri Russell (February 2023). Ferguson is the cofounder of Pronoun, a foundation fighting oppression in the LGBTQIA+ community.

Sammi Cannold is a theatre, film, and television director who is one of Forbes Magazine's 30 Under 30 in Hollywood & Entertainment, class of 2019, and has worked on and off-Broadway as well as for CBS, Nickelodeon, Paramount+, Cirque du Soleil, and TikTok and at some of the world's most prestigious venues, including The Kennedy Center, Royal Albert Hall, Radio City Music Hall, and Lincoln Center. Credits includeEvita (New York City Center), Endlings (NYTW, A.R.T.),How to Dance in Ohio (Syracuse Stage), Ragtime on Ellis Island, and Violet (A.R.T.). Recently, Sammi’s first documentary feature premiered at Broadway’s Majestic Theatre and on AppleTV. Upcoming projects include new musicals, revivals, feature films, and an opera. Sammi has also served as Artistic Fellow at the A.R.T., a member of Cirque du Soleil's Creative Cognoscenti, and a Sundance Institute Fellow. Outside of the arts, Sammi serves as Chief of Staff for Human First Coalition, an organization providing humanitarian aid in Afghanistan. B. A., Stanford University; M.A., Harvard University. www.sammicannold.com . @sammi.cannold

Daryl Waters’ Broadway credits include music supervision/orchestrations/arrangements forThe Cher Show (Drama Desk nomination for best orchestrations);Shuffle Along, or, the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921and All That Followed (Tony nom for best orchestrations);Holler If Ya Hear Me;Bring in ’da Noise, Bring in ’da Funk; and Street Corner Symphony. He was the music supervisor and conductor for After Midnight and dance music arranger for The Color Purple and Jelly’s Last Jam. He received the Tony and Drama Desk orchestration awards for Memphis. His composing credits include Noise/Funk (Tony nom for best original score) and Drowning Crow. Mr. Waters is a proud founding member of MUSE (Musicians United for Social Equity), an organization that promotes diversity in the music departments of theatrical productions.

Event organizers will continue to follow the city, state, and federal COVID-19 guidelines and will inform the public of any changes to the event protocols or schedule.

Join the conversation about Curtain Up Broadway Festival by following @Playbill, @TimesSquareNYC, and @BroadwayLeague and using #CurtainUpBway.

For photo and video assets from Curtain Up 2021, please click here .

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SUNDAY, OCTOBER 2

Concert: Curtain Up! LIVE from Broadway

Time: 11:00am – 1:00pm; rain or shine

Location: Mainstage on Duffy Square (Broadway between 45 ^th & 47^th Streets)

Admission: Free

A grand, outdoor event that marks the culmination of Curtain Up Broadway Festival, Curtain Up! LIVE from Broadway spotlights marquee talent from Broadway productions and showcases the new Broadway season. This concert will also be airing live on WABC.

Participating shows include:A Beautiful Noise, The Neil Diamond Musical;A Strange Loop; Aladdin; & Juliet;Beetlejuice; Chicago;Death of a Salesman;Funny Girl; Hadestown;Harry Potter and the Cursed Child;Into the Woods; KPOP;The Lion King;MJ The Musical;Moulin Rouge! The Musical;The Music Man;The Phantom of the Opera; Six; and Wicked.

Please note that performances and artists are subject to change.

Hosts: Amber Ruffin and Jesse Tyler Ferguson

Director: Sammi Cannold

Musical Director: Daryl Waters

Music Provided by: The Music Performance Trust Fund