This coming March, Broadway will play host to Self Help Africa to bring together some of Broadway’s biggest stars for a night of song and celebration benefiting Self Help Africa at Le Poisson Rouge in New York.

Broadway for Self Help Africa, produced by Andy Jones, will feature musical direction by Will Van Dyke (Kinky Boots, Rent, Adams Family, Wicked).

All proceeds from the benefit will go directly to Self Help Africa, a non-profit with a pro-profit approach to rural Africa.Through nurturing entrepreneurship and providingeconomic opportunities, Self Help Africa helps to lift some of the poorest communities out of poverty.

Over 30 years, the organization has provided nearly 2 million people with the opportunity to make a sustainable income through their own initiatives: A help up, not a hand-out.

For almost thirty years Self Help Africa has worked with rural communities to help them improve their farms and their livelihoods.

Their mission is to empower rural Africa to achieve economic independence — and on a continent where up to 75% of people rely on small-scale agriculture for their survival, we believe that it is only by tackling the challenges faced by rural farming communities that real and sustained economic progress can be made across sub-Saharan Africa.

Speaking ahead of the event musical director Wil Van Dyke said " When Katie asked me if I would be interested in participating in creating the event I jumped at the chance.  I first encountered Self Help Africa this past fall when I played the piano at their annual gala in New York City. 

"It was a wonderful event and I learned a lot about the organization and all it does.  As a music director I get asked to do all sorts of events, but evenings like the one we are putting together for March 3rd are the ones I get the most excited about, because they mean something more than just the music.  It is a group of people coming together to create something for a bigger idea than just the music itself. 

"That said, anyone who comes on March 3rd should expect and amazing evening of music and heart.  Each performer has picked a song that means something to them and you can tell that in their performance."

Self Help Africa seeks to strengthen agricultural systems, improve access to services and inputs, and provide rural African communities with the opportunities to market and sell their produce.

Self Help Africa works with local staff and partners in nine countries, supporting communities to grow more food, diversify their farm production, develop new off-farm enterprise, and sell their surpluses.

They support rural micro-finance programs, assist producers to organize into farmers associations and co-operatives, enable farm families to access markets and add value to their produce. With climate change posing further challenges, we promote low cost sustainable solutions to the management of land and water resources.

A majority of the farmers we work with are women. Gender inequality remains an obstacle to improving agricultural output across sub Saharan Africa.

Self Help Africa was founded in 2008 by the merger of two like minded charities; Self Help Development International, based in Ireland, and Harvest Help from the UK. Both organizations were originally established in 1984, in response to to the Ethiopian famine and other food crises in sub Saharan Africa.

The concert will feature Matt Doyle (Book of Mormon, War Horse), Lesli Margarita
(Matilda), Maia Wilson (Book of Mormon, Frozen), Katie Rose Clarke (Wicked), Michael James
Scott (Aladdin, Book of Mormon), Natalie Weiss (Everyday Rapture) Joey Taranto (Kinky
Boots)and more

For more information on the event click here