Sixth annual event raises funds for homeless LGBT youth
There may be a current cultural divide going on in America, but in Cyndi Lauper’s world, diversity, acceptance and equality for all is part of her everyday normal. To that end, she’s returning to host her sixth annual Home for the Holidays benefit concert that will be happening on Dec. 3 at Manhattan’s Beacon Theatre. One hundred percent of the net proceeds from the concert will support the True Colors Fund’s programs that aim to raise awareness about youth homelessness in the LGBT community. Not surprisingly, the bill that Lauper is headlining has quite the intriguing mix of talent and performers.
“Billy Corgan [of Smashing Pumpkins] is playing as is Aloe Blacc, Kate Bornstein—she’s going to be with us and perform. She’s awesome. Teresa Caputo—the Long Island psychic. C’mon. Pretty exciting. And Carson Kressley [of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy is hosting],” Lauper explained. “[We’re also going to have] Mary Lambert and Sharon Von Etten. Judy Gold—we’ve gotta laugh. Oxymorons, Tyler Glenn, May Jupiter and Grace VanderWaal—you know the kid from America’s Got Talent? The kid with the ukulele? She’s going to play. She’s pretty awesome. People can expect diversity, fun and a good night out. And you’ll be helping out some kids who don’t have a home to eventually have a home. We’ve done a lot and you should go on www.truecolors.org to check out what we’ve been doing.”
While the recent turn of events regarding the presidential election may seem surreal given the fact that Lauper appeared on the president-elect’s reality show The Apprentice back in March 2010, she’s quick to wave off any questions regarding her opinion on how the electorate went. Instead, she’s prouder of the upshot of appearing on the show.
“Who cares what I think? We worked on that show, got money to start the Give a Damn campaign. From that, we started doing these Home For the Holidays shows, which we’ve been doing for the past six years,” she said. “We’re trying to help the homeless kids a lot and we’ve made it even that the shelters that rejected these kids that were government-funded can no longer do that because of who these kids identify as. We also work and have a big webpage you can connect to that other providers or caregivers can go on and learn from each other and bring all the agencies together including the philanthropists to help these kids. We do this concert every year and it’s an interesting show.”
Cyndi Lauper headlines Cyndi Lauper & Friends on Dec. 3 at the Beacon Theatre, 74th Street & Broadway, NYC. For more information, visit www.beacontheatre.com or call 866-858-0008.
