Theater News

Honoree Laura Benanti to Perform at ASTEP Color Ball

The event will celebrate Benanti’s leadership and advocacy in the creation of the benefit album ”Singing You Home: Children’s Songs for Family Reunification”.

Laura Benanti will be honored at ASTEP's upcoming gala.
Laura Benanti will be honored at ASTEP's upcoming gala.
(© David Gordon)

Artists Striving to End Poverty (ASTEP) has announced that it will honor Tony Award winner Laura Benanti (My Fair Lady) at its annual gala and dinner, the ASTEP Color Ball 2019 on Monday, April 29 at Feinstein's/54 Below. She will join Mary-Mitchell Campbell, founder and co-executive director of ASTEP, onstage to celebrate Benanti's leadership and advocacy in the creation of the benefit album Singing You Home: Children's Songs for Family Reunification.

Dr. Keith Bell (chair), Steven Farkas, Sheryl FitzGerald, Jaimie Mayer, Stephen Oremus, Cynthia Princi, Susan Vargo, and 2018 ASTEP artist/activist honoree Georgia Stitt will serve as host committee for this special evening.

The 2019 ASTEP Color Ball is a night to honor the artists/activists who inspire ASTEP students, the sponsors who make our work possible and the partners who join our efforts in giving children from underserved communities access to the power of the arts. The evening is conceived by Campbell and will allow ASTEP to give audience members an in-depth look into our programs and the exciting work we have ahead of us.

ASTEP was conceived by Broadway musical director Mary-Mitchell Campbell and Juilliard students to transform the lives of youth using the most powerful tool they had — their art. With programs as local as New York City and as global as India and South Africa, ASTEP Volunteer Teaching Artists deliver after-school workshops and summer camps in schools and community organizations that serve youth affected by immigration status, homelessness, gun violence, incarceration, the justice system, HIV/AIDS, systemic poverty, and the caste system.