Helping Hands Campaign and The Cast of THE LION KING to Perform City of Hope Charity Concert, 2/25

Cast members of the national tour of Disney's The Lion King, which is running currently at the Detroit Opera House, are performing in a benefit concert called City of Hope on Monday, February 25^th. The concert, a benefit for the Detroit School of Arts Music Technology Department, is arranged by The Helping Hands Foundation and will be an evening of jazz and spoken word.

Native Detroiter John Sloan III, who is currently performing with The Lion King, founded The Helping Hands Foundation in October 2011. He has been on road with the production for over five years, but the time has allowed him to start the out reach. "Being in a stable touring job for so long has allowed me to utilize this outreach in many places such as Minneapolis, Seattle, Buffalo, Denver, and now my hometown of Detroit," says Sloan. "Disney is also great with supporting the outreach and assisting us with whatever we need." Sloan and cast members of The Lion King are actually giving up one their days off to perform in the benefit concert.

The basic mission of outreach, as stated on their website, is "The Helping Hands campaign exists to unite artists in the effort to support the very communities that make our art possible." HHC has held many food drives, fundraising events, and performed community services. It is also currently working with the cast of Jersey Boys in New Orleans to do a home rebuilding.

City of Hope will be held at Cliff Bells in Detroit. There is a $20 cover that includes appetizers and drink specials with 100% of the proceeds being donated to Detroit School for the Arts. For more information on the outreach, visit www.helpinghandscampaign.org.

Disney's The Lion King is currently running now through March 10^th at the Detroit Opera House. For more information or tickets, visit www.broadwayindetroit.com.

Katie Laban is BroadwayWorld�s Detroit Contributing Editor and a freelance writer and photographer in the Detroit area. She also writes for Hear Magazine. She has a strong passion for all things creative, especially theatre, and loves to support Michigan arts.

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