Opening Night Celebration

About Ben Vereen
Few entertainers today are as accomplished as Ben Vereen.  He won a Tony Award for Pippin and starred in such phenomenal musicals as Jesus Christ Superstar, Fosse, Hair, Jelly’s Last Jam, Chicago, and Wicked, I’m Not Rappaport, to name a few.  He is remembered for films like ‘Sweet Charity’ and ‘All That Jazz,’ and he became a household name as the role of Chicken George in the groundbreaking television series ‘Roots.’

Recent projects include the TV series BULL and MAGNUM PI, both on CBS; FOX’s STAR produced by Lee Daniels; SNEAKY PETE with Bryan Cranston (Amazon), ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (20th Century Fox); TIME OUT OF MIND with Richard Gere and TOP FIVE with Chris Rock.  He is currently working on his new Broadway musical, REFLECTIONS, written by Joe Calarco, to be directed by Tony-nominee Josh Bergasse with music by Stephen Schwartz.

In 2016, Ben signed with Americans for the Arts, the largest advocacy group of the Arts in America and has spoken before Congress defending the National Endowment for the Arts against the proposed budget cuts.  For his humanitarian contributions, he has received a number of awards including Israel's Cultural and Humanitarian Award, three NAACP Image Awards, an Eleanor Roosevelt Humanitarian Award and a Victory Award. Ben has been inducted into The Theatre Hall of Fame and the Dance Hall of Fame and has received the Broadwayworld.com Cabaret Award for BEST CELEBRITY MALE VOCALIST.

About Frank DiLella
Frank DiLella is the Emmy Award winning host of “On Stage” on Spectrum News NY1, the news channel’s weekly half-hour theater program. DiLella’s celebrity interviews, along with his in-depth reporting of the theatrical scene, have helped make him a trusted friend and confidant within the theater and entertainment communities in New York City and around the globe. Since joining NY1 in 2004, DiLella has interviewed many legendary artists including Tom Hanks, Vanessa Redgrave, Bono, Nathan Lane, Elton John, Liza Minnelli, Patti LuPone, Bette Midler, Bernadette Peters, Hugh Jackman, Tom Stoppard, Lin-Manuel Miranda, James Earl Jones, Chita Rivera, Jane Fonda, Angela Lansbury, Lady Gaga, Tony Kushner and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Over the years, DiLella has acted as a contributing correspondent for the Tony Awards, the Olivier Awards at Royal Albert Hall, Playbill, MANHATTAN Magazine and Broadway Direct, and has given lectures on theater and journalism at Hofstra University and The American Theatre Wing. He has also appeared as a theater correspondent for the BBC, Sirius XM, “The Early Show” on CBS, CTV, and Al Jazeera TV.  A strong advocate of theater arts education, DiLella currently serves on the board of The Roger Rees Awards and is a part of the selection committee for the annual Clive Barnes Award and Foundation – which honors talented young professionals in the artistic fields of dance and theater.

About Uniondale Show Choir
Founded in 2010, Uniondale High School Show Choir Rhythm of The Knight, is in their 8th year competing on a national level in any show choir Competition. Uniondale Rhythm of the Knight won the 2019 Show Choir of America Competition in Orlando Fl. They are the 2018 Grand Champions of the Fame Show Choir National Championship Series. The Choir won 2018 Grand Champion in New York and 2018 Grand Champion at the Show Choir of America in Orlando, FL.  The choir was featured on NBC Today Show, Steve Harvey, CNN, Fox 5 and Friends, Good Day NY, ABC “Here and Now”, NY Times and local cable stations  just to name a few. They also performed with legendary Barry Manilow, Kenny Rogers and rock group Foreigner. Rhythm of the Knight has also performed at The NY Mets, and Brooklyn & Long Island Nets game. In December the choir performed the National Anthem at the NY Giants game.  The Rhythm of the Knight are known for their vibrant energetic style, that they bring to the stage passionately committed to inspiring and enlightening audience with some of the most commanding voices in music.