5th Annual 'Broadway Beauty Pageant' Presented 3/21

March comes in like a lion for the 5th Smash Year of The Broadway Beauty Pageant! This event will be on Monday, March 21st, 2011 at 8:00 PM, benefiting The Ali Forney Center, NYC's primary emergency housing resource for homeless LGBT youth. The annual show will again be at the Peter Norton Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway (at 95th Street). Conceived by Jeffery Self and directed by Ryan J. Davis, The Broadway Beauty Pageant is musically directed by Christopher Denny. The evening is produced by Wil Fisher, Ryan J. Davis, Jeffery Self and Matthew Oberstein. The event will be bigger and better than ever! Ticket prices are : $150 - VIP (includes gift bag and after party); $50 - Orchestra & $25 - Balcony. Until February 14th there is a Special advance price for the Orchestra tickets for only $40. Tickets are on sale at the Box Office and on line at http://www.symphonyspace.org/event/6590-the-5th-annual-broadway-beauty-pageant. For Gala information please contact Wil Fisher at 212.400.0282. The Event Website is http://aliforneycenter.org/beauty/.

The past winner - Charlie Williams (pictured) - Mr. Memphis 2010 will be in the upcoming revival of How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying. The other previous winners are: Anthony Hollock (Mr. Hair 2009), Marty Thomas (Mr. Xanadu 2008), Frankie James Grande (Mr. Mamma Mia 2007). The past judges have included: Charles Busch (acclaimed award-winning actor, playwright), Christine Ebersole (Tony and multiple award winner actress, cabaret star), Ana Gasteyer (Saturday Night Live, "Wicked"), Beth Leavel (Tony Award winner "The Drowsy Chaperone", "Young Frankenstein"), Michael Musto (Village Voice), Scott Nevins (host, TV/radio personality, comedian, interviewer), Seth Rudetsky ("Rhapsody in Seth", Chatterbox, "The Ritz"), "title of show" stars & creators: Susan Blackwell, Hunter Bell, and Jeff Bowen. Past hosts have been Tovah Feldshuh and Anthony Rapp. 

The Ali Forney Center (AFC) was started in June 2002 in response to the lack of safe shelter for LGBT youth in New York City. They have grown quickly to become the nation's largest and most comprehensive organization dedicated to homeless LGBT youth. They are committed to providing LGBT youth with safe, dignified, nurturing environments where their needs can be met and where they can begin to put their lives back together. The center provides short and long term housing, plus free medical care, HIV testing, mental health services, showers, food, computer access and job training and placement at its drop-in centers in Chelsea and Brooklyn. Honorary Board Members are Sandra Bernhard, Tovah Feldshuh, Tim Gunn, Carson Kressley, Keith Olbermann, Ally Sheedy, Rufus Wainwright, and BD Wong. The Ali Forney Center main headquarters is at 224 West 35th St., Suite 1102 New York, NY 10001 (212) 222-3427 and the fax is (212) 222-5861. www.aliforneycenter.org.

Ali Forney was a homeless queer teen who was forced to live on the streets of New York during the 1990s. Ali was dedicated to the safety of other homeless queer youth; he was a committed HIV prevention worker, and aggressively advocated that the NYPD investigate a series of murders of the homeless queer youth he had befriended. Ali was an inspiration to those who knew him. In December of 1997, Ali was murdered on the streets. His tragic death called attention to the atrocious conditions for homeless LGBT youth in New York. Ali's murderer has never been identified.

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