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Broadway fans look forward to ‘One Night Only’ event

The night of Dec. 10 will be every avid theatre fan’s dream come true. Tina Fey, the mastermind behind the conception of the hit movie and hit musical “Mean Girls,” will be hosting “One Night Only: The Best of Broadway” on NBC. 

The two-hour, Broadway-celebrating special will feature outdoor performances from several of its most popular shows affected by closures and postponements from the pandemic.

Fey, who herself was nominated for a Tony Award to honor her aforesaid “Mean Girls,” will host the casts of “Ain’t Too Proud—The Life and Times of the Temptations,” “Chicago,” “Jagged Little Pill,” “Diana: The Musical,” “Jersey Boys,” “Mean Girls,” “Rent” and “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.” 

Six of the shows in that lineup were on Broadway (or off-Broadway) at the time of the area’s unfortunate shutdown on March 13, whereas, one show (“Diana: The Musical”) has yet to grace a Broadway stage, and “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” is a long-running play rather than a musical.

Along with selections from those wonderful shows, the special will also offer viewers never-before-seen sneak peeks at the upcoming shows that were initially planned to close out the 2019-2020 Broadway season. 

Given that this is the first year when the Tony Awards were not broadcast on the rivaling CBS, this special on NBC promises to deliver audiences the thrill of live entertainment they have craved since early March.

To help performers and other personnel, donations raised during the “One Night Only” special will benefit the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS organization. The organization typically receives most of its funding through Pride Month and a spring fundraiser on the Great White Way, but now relies on individual donations to continue financially assisting those in the Broadway community who are struggling from lack of work.

In the performances listed above, there will be a star-studded lineup of performers who have, at one time or another, graced the stage of a Broadway house. Those performers include Kelly Clarkson, Brett Eldredge, Kristen Bell, Josh Groban, Jake Gyllenhaal, Alanis Morissette, Leslie Odom Jr., Billy Porter, John Stamos, Aaron Tveit and many more. 

When interviewed about the upcoming event, Doug Vaughan, the executive vice president for the Special Programs subdivision of NBCUniversal, said, “With Broadway being crippled by current events, it’s never been more vital to showcase these incredible performers and remind audiences of their extraordinary talents for when they return to the stage. We’re proud to partner with Broadway Cares and do our part to help those in that tight-knit community during these difficult times.”

The one-night-only performance, “One Night Only,” will premiere on NBC at 7 p.m. CST.

 

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