AN EVENING BENEFITING EPIC THEATRE ENSEMBLE’S NATIONALLY-RECOGNIZED HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION PROGRAMS
Wednesday, May 23: 7:00 pm
Epic Theatre Ensemble, is excited to announce that Tony Award Nominee for Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, and former star of Hamilton, Ariana DeBose, will be the new headliner of “Epic Duets.”
Ariana Debose currently stars in Summer: The Donna Sumer Musical, she recently wrapped up her run as Jane in Chazz Palminteri’s A Bronx Tale directed by Jerry Zaks and Robert De Niro. Her other credits include Hamilton (Off-Broadway and original Broadway cast), Leading Player in the Tony Winning revival of Pippin, Mary Wilson of the Supremes (Diana Ross cover) in Motown, Nautica in Andy Blankenbuehler’s Bring It On the Musical and Sondheim’s Company with the NY Philharmonic. Her TV credits include: “Blue Bloods” (CBS), “The Breaks” (VH1), “SYTYCD” top 20 season 6 (Fox) & “OLTL” Star Crossed Lovers Series.
“We are beyond grateful with Ariana DeBose to accept our invitation. Our students are extremely excited to be able to perform alongside such an accomplished artist.” said Ron Russell, Executive Director of Epic Theatre Ensemble.
Due to an unforeseen conflict, Tony Award Winner, Donna Murphy will not be able to be part of Epic’s benefit night. All members of the Epic family send their best wishes to Donna and look forward to working with her in the near future.
Epic Duets is an exclusive one-night-only event featuring fabulous duets of Epic’s students alongside renowned Broadway stars like Ariana DeBose (Summer: The Donna Summer Musical), Gizel Jimenez (Miss You Like Hell), Daphne Rubin-Vega (Rent), Jacob Ming-Trent (Shrek: The Musical), and many more surprise guests. Epic Duets evening is a gorgeous celebration of the work and passion of every student and their mentors creating original pieces based on social justice issues affecting their communities.
The event will also showcase a special live performance of Epic’s original hit song “#TimesUp,” a powerful student composition inspired by the #MeToo movement.
This exciting night will also feature a live auction of:
– House seats to THE BAND’S VISIT on Broadway and backstage tour with an actor from the production.
– House seats to MY FAIR LADY on Broadway at Lincoln Center with a backstage tour with an actress from the production.
– Viewing party: Private NYC screening of Showtime’s hit series BILLIONS with Kelly Aucoin, who plays “Dollar” Bill Stern on the show, and other cast members.
“Epic Duets” is a unique opportunity to experience first-hand the impact Epic has in empowering young voices, helping them become successful students ready for college and beyond while meeting some of the most beloved members of the Broadway community.
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Epic Duets
5:30 PM Doors Open; Cocktails
6:00 PM Dinner
7:00 – 8:10 PM Program
At Epic, we believe in the voices of young people. We believe that their optimism, energy, and insightfulness, can, when harnessed, lengthen the arc of social justice and provide massive uplift to their communities. We also believe that participation in theatre is a uniquely powerful tool to help young people discover their voices, especially for those who have long lacked access in under-resourced communities and under-funded schools.
The Epic theatre experience goes beyond self-expression; it is a young person’s Epic story of “firsts”. For most, Epic is the first time they join a group, collaborate on a project, adhere to a schedule, raise their voice, tell their story and create beauty, not to mention set foot on a stage and act in a play they built.
Epic’s impact doesn’t stop there. In fact, the Epic magic stays with our students as they leave the high-school stage and begin a life of new firsts – from that first day of college, to the first day of a new job – and then onto to becoming employees, supervisors, parents and citizens of the world, often relying on their Epic “firsts” as a foundation. Epic provides the stage where firsts can emerge, giving students the confidence, perspective, experience and opportunity for a more successful future. Young people who work with Epic over four years of high school have a stunning college attendance and retention rate of 98%, more than double that of their peers. It costs Epic only $1,250 to empower a young person for four years inside and beyond high school, ultimately helping these students matriculate into college. We are proud to report that the average Epic alumnus receives over $25,000 in merit-based financial aid towards their higher education, yielding a 20x return on investment.