Eden Espinosa to Headline First Bay Area Musicals! Benefit A TWIST OF LIMELIGHT

Bay Area Musicals!, the newest non-profit theatrical organization to join the vibrant San Francisco Bay Area arts community, presents its inaugural benefit fundraiser, A Twist of Limelight, on Monday, May 9, 2016 at the Castro Theatre (429 Castro St) in San Francisco. Stage and screen actress Eden Espinosa (Rent, Wicked, Brooklyn the Musical) - best known for playing Elphaba in the musical Wicked - will give a special performance. Proceeds from the benefit support upcoming productions by Bay Area Musicals!

The event begins at 6:30 p.m. with a cocktail reception. During this time, guests will be given a chance to win raffle prizes, as well as participate in the silent auction. Immediately after, Matthew McCoy - Bay Area Musicals' Founder and Artistic Director - will be announcing their second season with the help of local performers. There will also be a live auction featuring one-of-a-kind items including a packed wine selection from R&B Cellars, four Disneyland Park Hopper tickets and an overnight stay for two at Tiburon Tavern. At 8:45 p.m., guests will be treated to an hour-long concert by Eden Espinosa.

Individual tickets range in price from $40 - $100. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit bamsf.org/ or call 415-340-2207.

"With Bay Area Musicals! still in its first season, we are constantly looking to bring ourselves up to the next level," says Matthew McCoy. "I could not be more thrilled to share that at our inaugural benefit fundraiser, A Twist of Limelight, we will have the amazingly talented Eden Espinosa perform an hour-long concert. It only seemed right to invite Eden to perform at our benefit since she performed in San Francisco with Wicked for several months. With performances by local performers and Eden, it's going to be a night full of celebration for the musical theater arts and our second season!'

Bay Area Musicals! is a professional theater company that stimulates and inspires the San Francisco community through high-caliber musical theater ranging from familiar classics to challenging new works. Bay Area Musicals' mission is to produce professional musical theater at accessible ticket rates and to engage the community through performance, outreach, and educational opportunities.

Eden Espinosa was born and raised in Southern California. She is most recognized for her portrayal of Elphaba in the Broadway production of Wicked. She has also performed the role of the green witch in both Los Angeles and San Francisco to critical acclaim. Other musical theater accomplishments include originating the title character in Brooklyn the Musical from the original workshop through its Broadway run, starring as Flora in the Reprise Theater Company's production of Flora the Red Menace, and playing Maureen in the closing company of Rent, the final performance of which was filmed live for Sony, and is available on DVD and Blu-ray. Eden is also well recognized from her many television appearances on shows such as The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Good Morning America, The Today Show, The 2008 Tony Awards, The 2008 Alma Awards performing with Bebe Winans, Law and Order, and Ugly Betty. Her voice-over credits include several episodes of Robot Chicken, MAD TV, and Sasha Caylo in Titan Maximum. Known for her powerful and emotionally charged vocal style, she was the featured soloist in "Magical," the fireworks spectacular at the Disneyland Resort and can be heard on such recordings as Hair (BCEFA benefit recording), The Maury Yeston Songbook, Bright Lights, Big City, John McDaniel Live at Joe's Pub, and Scott Alan's Dreaming Wide Awake. Currently, Eden is touring in support of her award winning debut album Look Around that has made it onto the iTunes pop charts alongside many of today's most notable pop vocalists. Look Around includes several modern Broadway hits arranged with a pop sensibility aimed at pleasing both die-hard Broadway fans and mainstream pop music listeners alike.