CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD's Joshua Jackson and Lauren Ridloff to Speak at TEDxBroadway

Organizers announce today the complete lineup for TEDxBroadway, the one-day event exclusively dedicated to asking, "What's the Best Broadway Can Be?" Included in the panel are stars of the upcoming Broadway run of Children of a Lesser God Joshua Jackson and Lauren Ridloff.

The 7th annual TEDxBroadway will once again showcase a wide variety of experts from an even wider variety of backgrounds, industries and perspectives. Each talk is curated by TEDxBroadway organizers to create one-of-a-kind narratives, drive important conversations, and inspire all who have a stake in the future of Broadway.

TEDxBroadway 2018 will be held Tuesday, February 27 at New World Stages in New York City and will feature newly announced speakers:

Joshua Jackson makes his Broadway debut in Children of a Lesser God after earning rave reviews -- The New York Times hailed Jackson 'a revelation' -- at last summer's production in The Berkshires. He currently stars in Showtime's The Affair and was recently seen in the National Geographic Channel's Years of Living Dangerously. He previously starred on Fringeand Dawson's Creek.

Lauren Ridloff received a Best Actress nomination by the Berkshire Theater Critic Awards for her portrayal of Sarah Norman in the Tony Award-winning Children of a Lesser God playing opposite of co-star Joshua Jackson. She will reprise her role with her Broadway debut at Studio 54. She's in the Palme D'Or nominated film Wonderstruck, directed by Todd Haynes and starring Julianne Moore and Michelle Williams.

· Staci Slaughter serves as Executive Vice President, Communications and Senior Advisor to the CEO for the San Francisco Giants, one of the nation's premier sports and entertainment franchises.

· Daniel and Ken Trush are the co-founders of Daniel's Music Foundation, a nonprofit organization that provides free music programs for people with disabilities from 3-year-olds to adults in the NYC area.

· Julie Stroud is a Master Integrative Life Coach, corporate consultant and trainer, and President and Chief Operating Officer of The Ford Institute, a premier transformational training company.

· Edward Poteat is a leading developer of affordable housing in the New York City metropolitan area. Currently, he is the Founder and President of Carthage Advisors, an affordable housing real estate firm that specializes in the redevelopment of older government subsidized properties.

· Angel Rich, once named the "Next Steve Jobs" by Forbes, founded The Wealth Factory with a mission to provide equal access to financial literacy across the world.

Previously announced speakers for TEDxBroadway 2018 include:

· Shakina Nayfack plays Lola on the Hulu comedy series Difficult People and is the Founding Artistic Director of Musical Theatre Factory, where she has supported the development of over 100 new musicals, including an autobiographical rock musical about her gender confirmation, Manifest Pussy.

· Michael Riedel is the theater columnist for The New York Post and host of On the Town with Michael Riedel on AM 970. His New York Times best-selling book, Razzle Dazzle: The Battle for Broadway, won the Marfield Prize for non-fiction writing about the arts in 2016. Michael is a frequent guest on Imus in the Morning, The Mark Simone Show on WOR and The Tom Shillue Show on Fox News Radio. He's at work on a sequel to Razzle Dazzle.

· Shaina Taub is a New York-based songwriter and performer. Winner of a Jonathan Larson Grant and Ars Nova's 2012 Composer-in-Residence, she made her Lincoln Center solo concert debut in their 2015 American Songbook series and is currently an artist-in-residence at Joe's Pub.

· David Yazbek's varied career as a recording artist, Emmy-winning TV and film writer, music producer, and pianist has led him to become one of Broadway's preeminent composer-lyricists. His three shows, The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, have all been nominated for Best Score Tony Awards. He's also received three Grammy nominations and a Drama Desk Award. His most recent musical, The Band's Visit, was a sold-out hit Off-Broadway and opened on Broadway last fall.

· Karen Brooks Hopkins was BAM's president (where she worked since 1979) from 1999 until her retirement in June 2015. She is the author of the widely read book, Successful Fundraising for Arts & Cultural Organizations.

· Jim Joseph is currently the Theatre Manager at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, the Broadway home of Manhattan Theatre Club.

· Melissa Anelli is the CEO of Mischief Management and Co-Founder of BroadwayCon. She wrote The New York Times-bestselling book, Harry, A History: The true story of a boy wizard, his fans, and life inside the Harry Potter phenomenon, which featured a foreword from J.K. Rowling.

· Ron Simons is an actor of stage, film and television. Ron is also the Founder and CEO of SimonSays Entertainment.

· Ryan Chang is founder of academic services company, Ivy Consulting Group, and restoration artists, Residential Arts Group. He is a member of the Broadway League, serves on the Board of Directors for Broadway for All, and works as an executive producer on theater and film projects.

TEDxBroadway was co-founded by Damian Bazadona of Situation Interactive and Jim McCarthy, CEO of Goldstar.

TEDxBroadway is sponsored by Jujamcyn Theatres, Broadway.com, The Shubert Organization, The Nederlander Organization, Disney Theatrical Productions and EBG (Entertainment Benefits Group). With additional support provided by The Brazen Tavern.

Registration for the TEDxBroadway conference will begin at 1:15pm on February 27, 2018. Tickets are $100.

Interested attendees can purchase tickets at https://www.goldstar.com/events/new-york-ny/tedxbroadway-2018

Follow TEDxBroadway on Twitter: @TEDxBroadway

About TEDx, x = independently organized event
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TED Talks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized. (Subject to certain rules and regulations.)

About TED
TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or fewer) delivered by today's leading thinkers and doers. Many of these talks are given at TED's annual conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, and made available, free, on TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Sal Khan and Daniel Kahneman.

TED's open and free initiatives for spreading ideas include TED.com, where new TED Talk videos are posted daily; the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as translations from thousands of volunteers worldwide; the educational initiative TED-Ed; the annual million-dollar TED Prize, which funds exceptional individuals with a "wish," or idea, to create change in the world; TEDx, which provides licenses to thousands of individuals and groups who host local, self-organized TED-style events around the world; and the TED Fellows program, which selects innovators from around the globe to amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.

Follow TED on Twitter at http://twitter.com/TEDTalks, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TED or Instagram at https://instagram.com/ted.

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