Lin-Manuel Miranda, Josh Groban and Kristin Chenoweth will be featured on a new charity album conceived by Laura Benanti.
Stars Lin-Manuel Miranda, Josh Groban, Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth will be featured on a new charity album of children’s songs, Singing You Home - Children’s Songs for Family Reunification, conceived by Laura Benanti.
All proceeds from sales will benefit two organizations: Raices, a non-profit that provides free and low-cost legal services to underserved immigrant children and their families, will receive 85 percent of the proceeds, while the other 15 percent will be donated to ASTEP, which helps fight poverty.
Available digitally on Friday, Oct. 26 via Ghostlight Records, the album is co-produced by Benanti along with music producer Lynn Pinto and musical director Mary-Mitchell Campbell (Mean Girls), whom the actress first reached out to about helping undocumented children who have been separated from their families at the border. “I texted all my friends, ‘Do you want to do this?’ And everybody responded immediately,” she explains of how the album came together.
“These kids are still not living in conditions that are appropriate for children and most importantly they're away from their parents,” she continues. “I just want to really draw attention to the fact that this is still happening, that the number of children is increasing daily because the zero-tolerance policy is insane.”
Singing You Home will feature songs performed in English and Spanish, with three tracks being renditions of traditional Spanish songs. Benanti sings “Arrorró Mi Niño” with Isabella Preston -- ET has an exclusive preview on the record below.
Additionally, Audra McDonald (The Good Fight) performing a new record, “Singing You Home,” written by Jason Robert Brown (The Last Five Years). Cynthia Erivo (Widows), singer Ingrid Michaelson and Mandy Gonzalez (Hamilton) are also featured on the album.
“The music is really stunning,” says Benanti, a Tony Award-winning actress also known for her comedic portrayal of Melania Trump on Late Night With Stephen Colbert. She has been organizing the album at the same time as she’s preparing for her return to Broadway in My Fair Lady -- replacing Lauren Ambrose as Eliza Doolittle starting Oct. 23.
Benanti said in a statement,“We hope the music we have created can bring love and empathy into the hearts of everyone who hears it, and that the money raised will aid in reuniting children with their loved ones.”
The full track list for Singing You Home is as follows:
1. “Arrorró Mi Niño” -- Laura Benanti & Isabella Preston
2. “Singing You Home” -- Audra McDonald & Jason Robert Brown
3. “Cielito Lindo” -- Lin-Manuel Miranda & Mandy Gonzalez
4. “Lullaby” -- Josh Groban & Idina Menzel (written by Josh Groban, Dave Matthews & Jochem Van Der Saag)
5. “Beautiful Dreamer” -- Kristin Chenoweth (written by Stephen Foster)
6. “Si Pudiera Leer Tus Sueños” -- Cynthia Erivo (written by Luis Pescetti & Maria Pien)
7. “Twinkle Twinkle” -- Ingrid Michaelson & Ana Villafañe
RELATED CONTENT:
