A one-night concert for fifty years of the Catskills theater camp that trained half a Broadway guest list, with all proceeds to the Entertainment Community Fund.
Nicholas Christopher and Ansel Elgort have joined Stagedoor 50, the one-night concert marking fifty years of Stagedoor Manor, at the Town Hall on September 28 at 7 PM. Every dollar goes to the Entertainment Community Fund.
They join a bill already carrying Erich Bergen, Michael Ian Black, Josh Charles, Jon Cryer, Sofia Hublitz, Shawn Levy, Julia Murney, Chris Olsen, Larry Owens, Adam Pascal, Shaina Taub and Jeanine Tesori, with something over sixty further alumni announced and surprise guests promised. Bergen directs. Producing are 6W Entertainment, Iris Smith, Tara Smith, Kaily Smith and Levy.
What makes the guest list worth reading twice is what it represents. Stagedoor Manor is a theater camp in the Catskills, founded in 1976, and for five decades casting directors have gone there to see teenagers work. Natalie Portman, Robert Downey Jr., Rachel Chavkin, Mandy Moore, Lea Michele, Sebastian Stan, Beanie Feldstein and Zach Braff all passed through it, as did Tesori, Taub, Christopher, Pascal, Owens, Cryer, Charles and Elgort.
The beneficiary is not incidental either. The Entertainment Community Fund, known as the Actors Fund until 2022, has been running health, career and housing services for people who work in performing arts since 1882. A benefit that hands it one hundred percent of proceeds, rather than a share after costs, is worth noting as such.
The evening is sponsored by Cindy and Debra Samuelson and Magic Park Media. Tickets and sponsorships are at stagedoor50.com. The Town Hall is at 123 West 43rd Street. Artists are subject to change.
