The evening, “Moments in the Woods” featured appearances by notable French Woods alumni and committed French Woods community members including Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton, In the Heights, Mary Poppins Returns), Todrick Hall (RuPaul’s Drag Race, Kinky Boots, Waitress, The Color Purple), Jason Alexander (Seinfeld, Disney’s Cinderella, The Producers), composer/lyricist Marc Shaiman (Hairspray, SMASH, Mary Poppins Returns), Mandy Gonzalez (Hamilton, Wicked, In the Heights), composer/lyricist Jason Robert Brown (Honeymoon in Vegas, 13, Parade, Songs for a New World), Andréa Burns (On Your Feet!, In the Heights, Songs for a New World), Melissa Errico (My Fair Lady, White Christmas, Amour), Seth Rudetsky (Disaster!, The Ritz, SiriusXM), James Wesley (Concert for America, Stars in the House), Nya (Caroline, Or Change), Max von Essen (An American in Paris, Anastasia), Kathryn Allison (Aladdin, Wicked, Company), Eve Lindley (Dispatches from Elsewhere, All We Had), Ryan Silverman (Side Show, Chicago, The Phantom of the Opera), Georgia Stitt & Family (Snow Child, Samantha Spade), Doug Shapiro (Once Upon A Mattress), Caitlin Kinnunen (The Prom, The Bridges of Madison County), Caesar Samayoa (Come From Away), Max Crumm (Disaster!, Grease, Emojiland), Tiger Brown (Elf, Beauty and the Beast), Talia Suskauer (Be More Chill, Wicked), Fergie L. Philippe (Hamilton), Olivia dei Cicchi (Les Misérables), Anthony Nunziata, Michael Kushner (Dear Multi-Hyphenate, The Dressing Room Project), Gabe Greenspan (Dinner with Dad, Solve it Squad), Will Bellamy (Finian’s Rainbow), Justin Albinder (Jersey Boys), Josh Freilich (The Alien Logs of Super Jewels), Victor Legra (The People's Court), Tucker (Saturday Night Live), Kirrilee Berger (Billy Elliot, Mary Poppins), Paloma Aisenberg, Danny Feldman (HIDE AND SEEK), Alé Lopez, Mariana Goldlust, D. Steele Hamme, Ben Caplan, Adrian Ruz (Jungle Book), Devan Hibbard and more to be announced shortly. The night featured a special appearance by the 2008 camp cast of ‘Spelling Bee and the 2019 camp cast of Violet. Moments in the Woods is produced by Michael Kushner, Cameron Stefanski, Rose Robinson, Victor Legrá, and Brian Worsdale. Moments in the Woods is directed by Michael Kushner.
Moments in the Woods - aired on Sunday, August 16 at 7 pm ET/4pm PT and featured a full length telethon putting the spotlight on a roster of notable French Woods alum and committed French Woods Community Families coming together to raise money for an emergency relief fund benefitting financially in-need college students committed to the arts.
Funds raised by calling (607) 637-8400 during the event greatly supported the HFWAA's growth after the impact of COVID-19. We thank everyone who contributed to this monumental event for the HFWAA.