Before her new musical Kinky Boots hits Broadway, Cyndi Lauper will make a splash in New York with her second annual concert Cyndi Lauper & Friends: Home for the Holidays, benefitting homeless lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youths. Lauper is enlisting the help of some famous friends for her one-night-only concert at the Beacon Theatre on December 8.
Joining Lauper for the event are Adam Lambert, Whoopi Goldberg, Rosie O’Donnell, Sarah McLachlan, Roberta Flack, St. Vincent, Terri Nunn, Emily West, Rita Coolidge, Alexis Krauss (of Sleigh Bells), Hunter Valentine and Andy Cohen. Additional special guests will be announced soon. Carson Kressley will host the event.
“When I first learned that up to 40 percent of all homeless youth in this country identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender I was shocked and saddened,” said Lauper in a statement. “For far too long homeless youth have not received the attention, resources and funding necessary to bring an end to this epidemic. My hope is that through this inspiring evening of music and comedy we can raise awareness and much needed funds to help these young people through our newly launched Forty to None Project.”
In 2008, Lauper co-founded the True Colors Fund, which in turn created the Forty to None Project, which was established to raise awareness for homeless LGBT youths. Last year’s inaugural concert featured performances by Norah Jones, Lou Reed, Wanda Sykes, Cassandra Wilson, Alan Cumming and Clay Aiken.