Sheryl Lee Ralph’s ‘DIVAS Simply Singing’ To Feature Cynthia Erivo, Jordin Sparks, Lisa Ann Walter And More [Exclusive]

Shadow and Act has exclusively learned that Sheryl Lee Ralph and her nonprofit org, The DIVA Foundation, have unveiled the first performers and presenters for the star-studded line-up for this year’s DIVAS Simply Singing! Raising Awareness.

The benefit concert will be filmed in front of a live audience at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles on Nov. 19. For the show’s 33rd year, performances will come from Wayne Brady, Dianne Reeves, Jordin Sparks, Lisa Ann Walter and Saycon Sengbloh. Making her first appearance at the event will be Phylicia Pearl Mpasi, who plays Young Celie in the fall’s The Color Purple. Cynthia Erivo will be one of the event’s presenters.

Adam Blackstone will be the musical director, fresh off winning the Emmy for outstanding music direction for his work on the Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show. Emmy nominee Jonathan X will helm the concert with Shelly Goldstein on board as writer.

DIVAS Simply Singing! Raising Health Awareness is a health awareness initiative of Ralph’s The DIVA Foundation, founded initially as a memorial to friends she lost during the AIDS crisis. The longest-running health awareness benefit concert in the U.S. “raises awareness and funds for programs that empower and educate audiences to own and advocate for their health and the health of others.”

DIVAS Simply Singing! is executive produced and hosted by Ralph and producing partners Norman Lee and Stephanie Lilly Smith. Past participants include Whoopi Goldberg, Jennifer Hudson, Jennifer Holliday, Loretta Devine, Jenifer Lewis, Patti LaBelle, Deborah Cox, Faith Evans, Tisha Campbell, Michelle Williams, Chaka Khan, Jody Watley, Oleta Adams and Raven Symoné.

Tickets are on sale now.