Celebrating Broadway!
With Fall officially here, it is time to usher in the exciting new season on Broadway and the Curtain Up Broadway Festival will do just that.
The festival is a 3-day extravaganza taking place right in the heart of Broadway. With over 15 events on stages in the Duffy Square area, all interactive events and performances are free. It all kicks off at 2 PM on Friday Sept. 30, with speakers and a performance by the fabulous Norm Lewis. Later that day, you can participate in a Broadway Block Party at 5 pm featuring a live DJ, sing-alongs and guest performances. The party continues at 6:30 with performances by Broadway mainstays.
On Saturday morning, you can participate in a dance workshop, with many more activities to follow. Later that evening, enjoy a concert beginning at 6:30 featuring Broadway songs and rock hits.
And then the big concert happens on Sunday. The Curtain Up! Live from Broadway finale concert, an exciting annual outdoor event, begins at 11 am in Duffy Square, with casts from many shows taking the stage, celebrating the new season. This year, the free concert will be broadcast live on ABC TV. (You may just recognize the voice doing the announcing 🙂)
For a full list of activities and performers go to: Playbill.com/CurtainUp
Valerie Smaldone is a 5-time Billboard Magazine Award winner and is well known for her unprecedented success holding the #1 on-air position in the New York radio market on 106.7 Life-FM, an iHeart station. She has hosted, produced, and created several award-winning nationally syndicated programs featuring in-depth interviews with stars like Paul McCartney, Celine Dion, Rod Stewart, Elton John and Mariah Carey among others. Her radio talk show "Bagels and Broadway" highlighted theatre and food personalities. She is an accomplished interviewer and voice artist heard on commercials, narrations, promos and audiobooks, as well as a sought after live announcer.
Most recently, Valerie produced and directed a film, The Thursday Night Club, featuring pop diva Gloria Gaynor in her movie acting debut. She is one of the creators and producers of a docu-series, Divine Renovation, starring Erik Estrada, on streaming networks soon.
