The concert, hosted by Laurence O'Keefe, featured songs by Tony nominee Jeff Blumenkrantz (Urban Cowboy), Richard Rodgers Award winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (A Christmas Story, Dogfight), Jonathan Larson Award winner Joshua H. Cohen, Jerry Bock Award winner Andy Monroe, Jonathan Reid Gealt, Noel Carey, Andre Catrini, Rob DelGaudio, J Sebastian Fabal, Blake Pfeil and Zoe Sarnak.
Broadway Charity Songs, according to press notes, "has paired a group of award-winning musical theatre composers with a group of outstanding charities and tasked them with composing an original piece that each prospective charity could use for fundraising purposes. The result is a group of songs gifted to the charities – with the hope that the songs 'go viral' while increasing awareness for these outstanding organizations."
Performers included Adam Chanler-Berat (Next to Normal, Peter and the Starcatcher), Blumenkrantz, Alysha Umphress (American Idiot, On A Clear Day…), Nick Cearley (All Shook Up, The Skivvies), Jason Gotay (F*cking Up Everything, Bring It On), Nic Dromard (Mary Poppins), Tommy McDowell (American Idiot national tour), Shawna M. Hamic (Les Misérables national tour), Emma Hunton (Spring Awakening, Off-Broadway's Rent), Natalie Gallo (Mamma Mia!, Jersey Boys), Morgan McCann (Oklahoma! national tour), Marc Winski (Grease national tour), Brian Walters (Titanic national tour), James Bullard, Sally Eidman and Kevin Reed.
The 7:30 PM concert was directed by Tom Wojtunik with musical direction by Jonathan Pollack Breit. All of the proceeds from the concert directly benefit the charity organizations. The charitable causes include Ben Affleck's Eastern Congo Initiative, Dress for Success, Make a Wish, Clay Aiken's National Inclusion Project, GLAAD, the ASPCA, The Soldiers Project, Seeds of Peace, Candlelighters NYC, Charity: Water and the Ryan Waldheger Research Memorial.
