ONLINE: Christopher Jackson

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Emmy Award-winning composer and Tony Award-nominated actor Christopher Jackson.

Overture Center is hosting a concert — not in-house, but still a pretty hot ticket nevertheless. And it’s a fundraiser for the arts center which, like all venues, is struggling due to the COVID-19 lockdown. Christopher Jackson (pictured at top), who played George Washington in the musical hit Hamilton, will be accompanied by a live band in this livestream performance. Tickets are $40 per household and allow purchasers to view the concert for an additional 72 hours with an on-demand video recording. The Grammy- and Emmy-winning songwriter/composer will be performing pop standards and songs from his favorite musicals. He’ll also talk about his work in both Hamilton and In the Heights. Audience members can text questions for Jackson. After the show, Overture’s Tim Sauers and Karra Beach will host a post-show conversation on Zoom.

press release: Overture Center for the Arts is excited to announce that we have a show! Not a show in one of our beautiful theaters, but a show just the same. Overture Center is one of a select group of nonprofit arts organizations participating in a livestream concert event, Christopher Jackson: Live from the West Side on Saturday, Aug. 15 at 7 p.m. CST. Jackson is a Grammy- and Emmy Award-winning songwriter/composer and a Tony Award-nominated actor best known for originating the role of George Washington in the cultural phenomenon Hamilton. Tickets for Christopher Jackson: Live from the West Side are on sale at overture.org.

Tickets are $40 per household. Tickets include access to the livestream performance plus an additional 72 hours of on-demand viewing of a video recording of the livestream, available beginning one hour after the live broadcast ends, so you can watch it again and relive favorite moments or pick up on what you missed in the first viewing.

Accompanied by a live band, Jackson will be performing songs from his favorite musicals, pop standards and some of his original material, and will share stories from his time affiliated with two of the most important musicals of the last decade: In The Heights and Hamilton. Audience members will also be invited to text in questions, some of which will be answered during the live event.

Proceeds from ticket sales will support Overture Center.

“Nonprofit arts presenters are the lifeblood of the performing arts industry and a pipeline for young talent. Without them, there is no Broadway,” said Jackson. “While everything is shutdown during this terrible pandemic, I am delighted to be able to help spread some joy and help raise some much-needed support for these deserving organizations.”

The livestream, which is a co-production of Dallas Summer Musicals and Entertainment Benefits Group, is being shared by a number of nonprofit arts presenters around the country. The event will take place at New York’s New World Stages, the off-Broadway venue that has housed productions of Jersey Boys, Avenue Q and many others.

Stay after the show for a “Nightcap with Tim & Karra,” a post-show conversation with Overture’s Vice President of Programming and Community Engagement Tim Sauers and Programming and Community Engagement Manager Karra Beach. A Zoom meeting link will be provided in advance to ticketholders.

Overture Center is grateful to our local sponsor Cedric Ellis for underwriting our portion of the event.

ABOUT CHRISTOPHER JACKSON: Christopher Jackson is a Tony Award-nominated actor as well as a Grammy and Emmy Award-winning songwriter/composer best known for starring as George Washington in the critically acclaimed, award-winning musical, Hamilton, on Broadway. He can currently be seen starring in the hit CBS drama "Bull" and has recently finished Freestyle Love Supreme on Broadway for a limited run. He also starred in Ava DuVernay’s Netflix mini-series When They See Us with Michael K. Wiliams, Vera Farmiga and John Leguizamo.

In December 2018, “One Last Time (44 Remix)” was released as a part of the Hamildrop series, which featured Jackson alongside President Obama and BeBe Winans.

His Broadway credits include Holler if Ya Hear Me, After Midnight, The Bronx Bombers (Derek Jeter), In The Heights (Benny), Memphis (Delray Farrell) and The Lion King (Simba). Off Broadway includes Bronx Bombers (Primary Stages), The Jammer (Atlantic Theater Co.), Lonely, I’m Not (Second Stage), In the Heights (37 Arts) and Cotton Club Parade (ENCORES at City Center).

In film and TV, he has appeared in Freestyle Love Supreme (Pivot Network) Person of Interest, A Gifted Man, Fringe, Gossip Girl, Tracers and Afterlife.

Jackson recorded an original song written by Lin-Manuel Miranda for the Disney film “Moana” and was also the composer/songwriter for “Sesame Street” (6 Emmy nominations and 1 win) and co-music supervisor and writer for “The Electric Company” (PBS).

Jackson won an Emmy Award for his song with Will.I.Am, “What I Am”. In 2010, he released his first solo album titled, IN THE NAME OF LOVE with Yellow Sound Lab Records and is currently working on his second album. Recently, Jackson performed at Kennedy Centers Honors Gala, celebrating Lin-Manuel Miranda. He also has several musical projects in development for the musical stage and has sold out concerts at Carnegie Hall and The Kennedy Center.