Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ is pleased to announce that the Tony Award-winning stage and screen actor Ben Platt will be the special guest at Live365, its largest community-wide event of the year, on Monday, December 11. The event, which will be held at the Hilton Parsippany, is chaired by Shari Berman of Westfield; Neeli and Michael Margolis of Livingston; and Jessica and Ari Wise, also of Livingston.
“Live365 is an exciting new Federation event,” said Neeli Margolis. “Live from Greater MetroWest has been our large event each year, bringing out hundreds of people to celebrate our Jewish community, hear an interesting speaker and raise money for our Federation. Our Women’s Philanthropy division has hosted a similar event, Choices, each year to appeal to the women in our community. This year we decided to combine the events into one, bringing everyone together in a true community-wide extravaganza.”
Ben Platt, at just 23 years old, was the winner of the 2017 Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a musical, among numerous other awards, for his riveting performance in “Dear Evan Hansen” on Broadway. For some, he may be best known for starring as Benji Applebaum in the smash hit “Pitch Perfect” and last year’s “Pitch Perfect 2.”
“I have seen “Dear Evan Hansen” three times and was blown away by Ben’s awe-inspiring performance,” said Berman. “I love that he credits his summers spent at Jewish sleepaway camp in California with helping shape who he is today. The fact that he called his parents his ‘heroes’ during his Tony acceptance speech, and recognized his dad for teaching him to be a ‘decent human being in order to be a decent artist’ says a lot about his family and upbringing. I’m thrilled that he’s coming to Greater MetroWest to inspire us.”
The evening begins at 6:30 with cocktails and a light dinner buffet and concludes with a dessert reception. Live365 benefits Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ. A minimum gift of $365 per person to the 2018 UJA Campaign enables attendance at the event. The couvert is $100 per person.
“We are all so excited to be involved with the planning of this mega-event,” said Ms. Wise. “It’s going to be an incredible opportunity for members of our Greater MetroWest Jewish community to come together, meet new people, show our support for Federation and have a great time!”
To register for the event, visit www.jfedgmw.org/live365. For more information contact Sofya Iosiovich at [email protected] or 973-929-3042.
