Patch Winners Off to See Idina Menzel

They’re off to see the Wicked. More accurately, Patch contest winners are off to see the Wicked, Rent, Glee veteran, and Tony-Award winning performer Idina Menzel in Musical Moments for MS at NJPAC on Thursday. Broadway powerhouse Menzel will perform her repertoire of classic pop and musical theater favorites including hits from her starring roles in Wicked and Rent, along with songs from her album, I Stand, and other selections chosen especially for the event. Musical Moments for MS is a benefit concert to raise money for the NJ Metro Chapter of the National MS Society.

Lucky Patch contest winners include Katherine Evans (South Orange Patch), Eileen Leff (Livingston Patch), Patricia Haney (Clark - Garwood Patch) and Michele Benas (Caldwells Patch). Each winner answered a trivia question correctly and was then chosen in a drawing.

Musical Moments for MS was launched in 1998 by philanthropists Lee and Murray Kushner of Livingston, N.J. They envisioned a high profile event that would raise awareness about Multiple Sclerosis, as well as funds to find a cure for the disease. Lee Kushner was diagnosed with MS in the mid-1990s. To date, Musical Moments for MS has grossed over $10 million and has funded two endowed chairs at University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ), both dedicated to advancing MS research and treatment. “We are grateful to our supporters whose generosity has improved and or spared the lives of so many,” says Murray Kushner. “We look forward to another successful event.”

The last Musical Moments event, in 2009, supported much needed research and funded all of the MS Centers in the State of New Jersey: CentraState Medical Center, Holy Name Hospital, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, St. Barnabas Medical Center, and UMDNJ. “Musical Moments is a spectacular evening that has an enormous impact on people who are living with Multiple Sclerosis,” says Jim Roberts, President of the New Jersey Metro Chapter of the MS Society. “Advances in research are moving us closer to stopping the disease, restoring function and ending MS forever.  It has moved from being an untreatable disease in 1993 to a treatable one today for the vast majority of people now diagnosed, thanks to funds raised from events like Musical Moments.”

Musical Moments for MS will also honor several individuals who have made significant contributions in supporting the 14,000 people in New Jersey living with MS. Honorees this year will include Christopher Martin of Wall Township, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer The Provident Bank (Corporate Excellence Award); Thomas J. Sullivan of Princeton, President and Chief Executive Officer Symmetry Medical Inc. (Humanitarian Award); and John R. Richert, M.D. of Boston, MA Vice President & Senior Neurology Fellow Biogen Idec (Medical Excellence Award).

Menzel received the 2004 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical and a Drama Desk nomination for her role as Elphaba in Wicked. She premiered this role in the West End in London in 2006, for which she received the Theatregoers’ Choice Award for Best Actress in a Musical. She also received a Tony nomination for her Broadway debut performance as Maureen in the original production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Rent. Other theater credits include The Wild Party (Drama Desk nomination), See What I Wanna See (Drama Desk and Drama League nomination), Hair, Aida, and The Vagina Monologues.  

Menzel has most recently appeared on the FOX television smash hit Glee!. Her other television credits include Private Practice, the concert version of Chess: The Musical, as well as her own concert, which was part of the Mastercard Soundstage series and aired on PBS.  Her film credits include Disney’s Enchanted, the film version of Rent, and Ask the Dust.

Patch winners all describe themselves as “thrilled” and “excited” to see Menzel at NJPAC. We wish them a great night for a worthy cause!

To learn more or to inquire about tickets for MUSICAL MOMENTS FOR MS, click here.