The Civilians to Host Benefit Concert Celebrating the Late Michael Friedman
(© David Gordon)
The Civilians has announced a benefit concert, titled The Song Makes a Space, at Joe's Pub on Monday, June 4, celebrating the life and legacy of the late composer and lyricist Michael Friedman, who was the company's founding associate artist. The event will raise funds for the newly created Michael Friedman Legacy Fund.
The evening will include a special concert of songs from Friedman's catalogue, with performances by Civilians artists Marsha Stephanie Blake, Aysan Celik, Cindy Cheung, Michael Esper, Brad Heberlee, Nina Hellman, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Nedra McClyde, Jennifer R. Morris, Stephen Plunkett, Maria Elena Ramirez, Alison Weller, and Colleen Werthmann.
There will also be special-guest appearances by John Ellison Conlee, Greg Hildreth (Frozen), Celia Keenan-Bolger, Kristolyn Lloyd (Paradise Blue), Kevin Mambo, Luba Mason, Jessica Phillips, Britton Smith, Jill Sobule, Mary Testa (Women on Fire: Stories From the Frontlines), and Juson Williams.
The Michael Friedman Legacy Fund will archive Friedman's work, record and release cast albums of his previously unrecorded music, and help raise funds for the off-Broadway company itself. Friedman, whose credits include Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Pretty Filthy, Gone Missing, and many other musicals, died at the age of 41 in September 2017.
