Curtain Up Broadway Festival Announces Host Eric Mccormack For Curtain Up! Live From Broadway Finale Concert

Eric McCormack

Details Announced for ¡Viva! Broadway® Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration on Saturday, September 9th at 5:00 PM

All Events are Live and Free in Times Square September 8 – 10, 2023

Playbill, The Broadway League, and the Times Square Alliance, announce lineup of Broadway shows to be included in the Curtain Up! LIVE from Broadway finale concert which will conclude the third-annual Curtain Up Broadway Festival, a three-day outdoor experience in Times Square presented by title sponsor Prudential Financial, with additional support from the NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, Music Performance Trust Fund, The Film Fund, Open Jar Studios, and Hotel Edison.

The Curtain Up! LIVE from Broadway finale concert will be a grand, outdoor event taking place rain or shine on Sunday, September 10 from 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM in Duffy Square. Hosted by Eric McCormack (The Cottage), this FREE outdoor concert spotlights marquee talent and showcases current Broadway musicals and plays and will be aired live on WABC TV. Participating shows include: & Juliet; A Beautiful Noise, The Neil Diamond Musical; Aladdin; Back To The Future: The Musical; The Book of Mormon; Chicago; The Cottage; Hadestown; Harmony; How to Dance in Ohio; Jaja’s African Hair Braiding; Kimberly Akimbo; The Lion King; Moulin Rouge! The Musical; The Shark Is Broken; Shucked; SIX: The Musical; Some Like It Hot; Spamalot; Wicked; and more to be announced. Curtain Up! LIVE from Broadway features musical direction by Andrew Resnick with live music provided by The Music Performance Trust Fund and The Film Fund and is written by Eric Ulloa. The WABC finale broadcast is directed by Michael J. Moritz Jr. 

From Friday September 8 – Sunday September 10, 2023, Curtain Up Broadway Festival brings Broadway to the streets, in the heart of New York City: Times Square. Stretching between 45th and 47th Streets, the festival will include interactive events and performances that are all live, free, and open to the public. #CurtainUpBway

The Curtain Up Broadway Festival will kick off on Friday September 8 at 2:30PM. The Curtain UpBroadway Festival kicks off with guest speakers from Playbill, The Broadway League, Times Square Alliance, & Prudential Financial, with Broadway guest hosts Arielle Jacobs and Melody Butiu from Here Lies Love, live performances from Patti Murin (Frozen), Colin Donnell (The Shark is Broken), Jelani Remy (Back To The Future: The Musical) and Eric Krop (Godspell, TV: I Can See Your Voice), as well as special guests from The NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME), Hotel Edison, Open Jar Studios, The Entertainment Community Fund, and more. The event will ignite excitement on the mainstage and include a celebratory countdown to the official event start!

The Prudential Stages on Broadway Brought to You by Playbill contest hosted by Brittney Johnson, an acclaimed Broadway star who made history playing the title role of “Glinda” in the smash-hit musical Wicked, will take place on September 9th and gives aspiring and emerging artists across the country the opportunity to capitalize on their “Now What?” moment. The winning artists will have the opportunity to network with theatre professionals – like host Brittney Johnson and contest judges Tara Rubin and Allen René Louis – and could walk away with a monetary prize of up to $10,000 plus an opportunity for financial advice from a Prudential Advisor.

¡Viva! Broadway returns in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month with a special concert presentation of Aquí y Allá (Here and There) on Saturday, September 9th from 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM in Duffy Square. Conceived and directed by Luis Salgado, the concert is a celebration of history from the inspiration of early songwriters to the authentic voices and stories of Broadway today and features musical direction by Jaime Lozano and is written by Eric Ulloa.

Additional events include: Broadway Sing-Alongs throughout the festival on the ‘Belt It Out on Broadway’ stage, Curtain Up After Dark events featuring Broadway Sings and Rockers On Broadway, Ailey’s Revelations dance workshop, multiple Dueling Piano events at the ‘Belt It Out on Broadway’ stage, Broadway Block Parties presented by the NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME).  

For a full list of events, please see the event schedule below. Visit Playbill.com/CurtainUp for Curtain Up Broadway Festival details (as they are announced). 

“What better way to kick off a new Broadway season than to celebrate the Curtain Up Broadway Festival in Times Square. This incredible three-day festival will host special concerts, sing-alongs, and workshops, just to name a few of the many exciting events planned,” said Charlotte St. Martin, President of The Broadway League. “Last season, Broadway had a total attendance of 12.3 million indicating just how much live theatre means to so many and its pivotal role in NYC’s economic development. We’ll wrap up the weekend with the Curtain Up! LIVE from Broadway finale concert on Sunday, September 10th and thank WABC for returning to live broadcast the star-studded show.” 

“We at Playbill are extremely excited to help bring the Curtain Up Broadway Festival to Times Square once again with our friends and partners at Prudential, the Times Square Alliance, and The Broadway League,” said Alex Birsh, Chief Operating Officer, and Vice President of Playbill.  “It brings us so much excitement to welcome all patrons of Times Square to celebrate Broadway in such a fabulous way. Join us in the fun as we celebrate Broadway’s new season during our three days in Times Square, culminating in our finale concert on Sunday.”

“At Prudential, we recognize that Broadway and local theatres help drive inclusion and expand access to the arts for millions of people in New York City and across the globe,” said Susan Somersille Johnson, Prudential’s Chief Marketing Officer. “We are proud to be partnering once again with Playbill, The Broadway League & the Times Square Alliance to help stimulate the local economy and positively impact the industry while giving aspiring and emerging artists the opportunity to capitalize on their “Now What?” moments.” 

“Broadway is the beating heart of Times Square and New York City, and we are thrilled to join our great partners at The Broadway League, Playbill, and Prudential to kick off the new season with Curtain Up Broadway Festival,” said Tom Harris, President of the Times Square Alliance.  “We continue to see regularly over 400,000 people pass through Times Square each day, and our hope is that throughout the three-day festival we will see Broadway fans from near and far enjoying this free programming in the heart of Times Square.”

“We are so proud to support live theatre in NYC by once again partnering with Playbill, The Broadway League, and the Times Square Alliance to present the Curtain Up! Broadway Festival,” said Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, Pat Swinney Kaufman. “This year our involvement will include a special presentation of the Broadway Block Party, which will provide festival goers multiple opportunities to dance and sing throughout the weekend in NYC’s iconic center of cultural activity, Times Square.”

“Thanks to The Film Fund’s Trustee, Bob Jaffe for joining with the recording industry’s Music Performance Trust Fund in supporting the musicians who make Curtain Up! and all Broadway musicals such a treasured New York experience.” Dan Beck Trustee, Music Performance Trust Fund.

Join the conversation about Curtain Up Broadway Festival by following @Playbill, @TimesSquareNYC, and @BroadwayLeague and using #CurtainUpBway.  

The three-day celebration will include the following events below. For a full, detailed listing of events taking place, please visit Playbill.com/CurtainUp.