Photo Flash: Broadway Unites for Hysterical Womxn's Society's VOICE FOR CHOICE Benefit

The Hysterical Womxn's Society brought together stars of stage and screen stars to help raise more than $55,000 at their first-ever benefit event "Voice for Choice" last night at The Cutting Room. Award-winning comedian, writer and activist Judy Gold hosted the one-night-only event in partnership with the ACLU of New York, that assembled strong voices from womxn and allies in the Broadway community and beyond. All proceeds from the event supported the ACLU of New York and the National Network of Abortion Funds.

More than a dozen acclaimed performers lent their voices to the evening, sharing performances, personal testimonials and more. Maybe Burke, Betty Gilpin, and Daniel J. Watts performed original works, with Tony Award winner Celia Keenan-Bolger performing a new monologue from Award-winning playwright Sarah Ruhl. The vocal performances were all about strength, choice and empowerment. Caissie Levy kicked things off, returning to "Hair" roots with "Easy to Be Hard."Morgan James belted out Stevie Wonder's "Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing," while Ali Stroker brought the house down with "Here's Where I Stand." Original Broadway "Mean Girls" Erika Henningsen and Ashley Park got the audience singing along to "Sit Still, Look Pretty," while Denée Benton kept up the empowerment with "Sister" from "The Color Purple."Alysha Umphress left the audience in awe with Beyonce's "If I Were a Boy," while Storm Lever sent a powerful message with Aretha Franklin's chart-topping hit "Respect." Drew Gehling and Jarrod Spector hit the high notes on Queen's "Under Pressure." Actress and Playwright Ana Nogueira brought the room to tears when sharing her personal story and struggle to make a choice to be a mother and braving the personal and public stigma that comes along with the decision. NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman, Dr. Linda Prine, and Dr. Meera Shah shared how they are fighting every day for the protection of reproductive rights and access to reproductive health programs to a crowd of more than 300 guests.

A live auction with once-in-a-lifetime experiences sparked a lot of excitement in the audience. A top item of the night was tickets to Broadway's pop culture hit "Mean Girls" and a post-show meet 'n' greet with the show's Award-winning creator Tina Fey, which sold after a lively bidding war for $2,500. A silent auction with many more once-in-a-lifetime experiences is live through August 5, 2019, with exclusive items like two tickets and a backstage tour to the Award-winning phenomenon "Hamilton" on Broadway with a one-night stay at the Marriott Marquis hotel in Times Square; tickets and backstage tours to "Beautiful: The Carole King Musical," and "The Cher Show" on Broadway; an all-inclusive, one-month membership to LA PALESTRA Center for Preventative Medicine with eight private training sessions included; pampering treatments from Cap Beauty; signed memorabilia and Playbills from casts of hit Broadway shows; and much more: https://www.32auctions.com/HWSVoiceforChoice.

Individual donations can be made through The Hysterical Womxn's Society page on crowdrise.

The Hysterical Womxn's Society is a society of womxn and allies whose individual talents and strengths are uniting to protect womxn and human rights. Through various fundraising and activation events, the group aims to bring together more engaged, motivated and fighting spirits to support those in need. For more information, follow on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter and visit https://www.hystericalwomensociety.org/.

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