Broadway superstar Audra McDonald, Tony Award winner Chuck Cooper, multi-faceted performer and star of The Trip to Bountiful Vanessa Williams, and Newsies star Capathia Jenkins will trade in their plush linens and bedding for a piece of cardboard and a sleeping bag on a concrete sidewalk to raise funds for homeless youths. These stars, and many other members of the theatrical community, will participate in the third annual Sleep Out: Broadway Edition, a one-night-only event sponsored by Covenant House International on August 17.
Want me 2 sing 2 u? Or have hot chocolate w/me? All while helping @CovenantHouse kids? Check out my sleep out page! http://t.co/Mc3otMO7iT
— Audra McDonald (@AudraEqualityMc) July 30, 2015
In addition to McDonald, many other Broadway actors will sleep out, including Lisa Dawn Clark, Terren Wooten Clark, Eddie Cooper, Lilli Cooper, Aisha de Haas, Darius de Haas, Dionne Figgins, Kevin R. Free, Dana Marie Ingraham, Tamika Lawrence, Miguel Edson, Maurice Murphy, John Eric Parker, and Todd Pettiford. All participants are stars of Broadway, Off-Broadway, or Broadway tour productions.
http://t.co/0yI5r8JORD https://t.co/VnYREeiL1i
— Mr Chuck Cooper (@Ebonyactor) July 30, 2015
This is McDonald’s second year participating in the event. Although Sleep Out: Broadway Edition takes place on August 17, she will sleep outside in solidarity with homeless youth on November 19, following the annual Candlelight Vigil for Homeless Youth in Times Square. McDonald serves on the executive committee and the board of Covenant House International. Jenkins (Newsies, Caroline, or Change) and Darius de Hass (Kiss of the Spiderwoman, Carousel (revival), Rent) are both third-year participants in the event and serve on the executive committee as well.
To see the impact that Sleep Out has, Jenkins takes viewers on a tour through the neighborhood of “The Cov,” the reality of the night, and the impact of the Sleep Out.
Covenant House is the largest privately funded agency in the Americas providing food, shelter, immediate crisis care, and essential services to homeless youth in 27 cities throughout the United States, Canada and Latin America. According to the organization, the funds raised by Sleep Out participants are put to work immediately, keeping the lights on and the doors open for more than 57,000 kids who will seek help this year.
For more information and to donate to your favorite Broadway star, visit www. sleepout.org.
