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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE

EMMY AND TONY AWARD-NOMINEE
AMBER RUFFIN
AND
“RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE” SEASON 16 STAR
PLASMA
TO HOST BENEFIT CABARET
“INSTEAD OF EUROVISION”

AT THE GREEN ROOM 42
SATURDAY, MAY 16 AT 3PM ET

FEATURING NEW, ORIGINAL SONGS FROM COMPOSERS
ARI AFSAR
CHEEYANG NG
FOUAD DAKWAR
JAKE SCHROEDER
JOE ICONIS
JORIAH KWAMÉ
JULIAN HORNIK
RONA SIDDIQUI
AND
ZENIBA NOW

ALL NET PROCEEDS TO BE DONATED TO
BROADWAY CARES/EQUITY FIGHTS AIDS

TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

To download art, click here.

New York, NY (April 22, 2026) – Producer Benson Drive Productions (George Strus, CEO) announced today that Emmy and Tony Award-nominee, New York Times Best-Selling Author, and Late Night icon Amber Ruffin and “RuPaul’s Drag Race” season 16 star Plasma will host a benefit cabaret, Instead of Eurovision, at The Green Room 42 (570 10^th Ave) on Saturday, May 16 at 3pm ET.

Occurring at the same time as the live finals of the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest, Instead of Eurovision parodies the Eurovision format by showcasing new, original songs ‘from’ fictional countries written by theatre composers and performed by your favorite Broadway stars. Produced by Benson Drive Productions (George Strus, CEO), all net proceeds will be donated to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

The benefit will feature new, original songs from composers Ari Afsar, Cheeyang Ng, Fouad Dakwar, Jake Schroeder, Joe Iconis, Joriah Kwamé, Julian Hornik, Rona Siddiqui, and Zeniba Now. Performers will be announced at a later date. To download headshots, click here.

Amber Ruffin stated, “I am so excited to bring you our own version of everyone’s favorite annual tradition! Instead of Eurovision will bring you all the fun of the actual event except our songs will be ridiculous on purpose!”

The one-time-only event will also be livestreamed. Tickets are available starting at $25 with no food or beverage minimum. Tickets, livestream tickets, and more information are available at www.thegreenroom42.com.

BIOGRAPHIES

AMBER RUFFIN (Co-Host) is an Emmy, Tony and WGA Award nominated writer and performer for “Late Night with Seth Meyers” and “Have I Got News For You.” She has written and performed on many TV shows including “The Amber Ruffin Show,” “Detroiters,” “A Black Lady Sketch Show” and “Drunk History.” Ruffin has written for the Emmys, Golden Globes and Tonys. Ruffin is a New York Times bestselling author of “You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey”and “The World Record Book Of Racist Stories.” She co-wrote Broadway’s Some Like It Hot and wrote the Broadway revival of The Wiz. She most recently co-wrote the book and music for off-Broadway’s BIGFOOT!

PLASMA (Co-Host) is a NYC-based actor, singer, and drag artist best known for her work on Season 16 of MTV’s “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” Last year, she toured her debut live-sung cabaret show All That Plazz across the country. She also released a cover of “Don’t Rain On My Parade” from Funny Girl, along with an accompanying music video that has since gone viral across social media. Most recently, Plasma released her debut album “Is Miss Thing On?” featuring Tony & Grammy Award winner J. Harrison Ghee, recorded live at the iconic Joe’s Pub in New York City and available to stream on all music platforms. This summer, she will debut an all-new, live-sung theatrical event Plasma as Bernadette Peters at the Pilgrim House in Provincetown, MA. @plasmanyc

ARI AFSAR (Composer). Ari Afsar’s musicals: I & You (Lauren Gunderson; McCarter Theatre premiere 2025, copro with Olney Theatre 2026), That Girl (Rehana Lew Mirza; O’Neill NMTC 2025, Berkeley Rep Groundfloor 2024), Lyle Lyle Crocodile (Pasek & Paul; Alliance Theatre 2027, Pasadena Playhouse 2025, Sony Original Movie), Silhouettes (Jordan Ealey; BabelFest at Redhouse Arts Center 2025, University of Rochester), Jeannette (Lauren Gunderson & Jordan Ealey; LMU, TX State, Signature Theatre, O’Neill NMTC, WMPAC). Afsar originated Eliza in Chicago’s Hamilton, starred in LJP’s world-premiere of Bhangin’ It, and starred in Netflix’s Wedding Season. She’s opened for Michelle Obama, Kamala Harris, Gloria Steinhem, and Hillary Clinton. Awards: 2025 ASCAP’s Harold Adamson Musical Theater Award, 2019 Georgia Bogardus Holof Lyricist Award, AAUW Development Grant, Miss California, Top 10 Miss America, American Idol Top 36, 2024 Artivism Fellow at BAC, 2024/2025 DGF Fellow, NYU MPA graduate. @ariannaafsar www.ariafsar.com

CHEEYANG NG (Composer) (they/them) is a Fred Ebb, Princess Grace, and Jonathan Larson Award-winning singer-songwriter from Singapore. Their work blends Western musical theatre with Chinese folk, Mandopop, and Asian influences, centering queer, Asian, and immigrant stories. Musicals include Legendary, Māyā, Eastbound, The Phoenix and The Ballad Of Mulan. www.cheeyang.com IG/TT/YT: @cheeyangmusic

FOUAD DAKWAR (Composer) is a multimedia artist and 2025 Jonathan Larson Grant recipient whose subversive comedy channels his Palestinian immigrant upbringing (with a punk-rock twist). His semi-autobiographical musical, Fouad Of Nazareth, has been featured on the Playbill Songwriter Series, which aptly described him as “a darkly comic pop-punk composer on the rise.”

JAKE SCHROEDER (Composer) is a puppet, a pauper, a pirate, a poet, a pawn and a king. Just kidding. He’s a 24-year-old who posts funny songs on the internet. He’s collaborated with Malala Yousafzai, Jeremy O Harris, Melissa Barrera, Riz Ahmed, the United Nations, Frankie Grande, and his cousin Chloe.

JOE ICONIS (Composer) is a Tony Award®-nominated musical theater writer and performer. His musical Be More Chill played Broadway, West End, and Tokyo, and his new show The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical, directed by Christopher Ashley, is currently plotting its world domination. Joe is Artist in Residence at 54 Below.

JORIAH KWAMÉ (Composer) is an award-winning musical theatre writer best known for penning “Little Miss Perfect,” the viral song and upcoming stage musical. He co-wrote “Top of the World” for Sony’s Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile with Pasek and Paul, and is developing a Trolls musical through DreamWorks Theatricals, MTI, and NBCUniversal.

JULIAN HORNIK (Composer) is a composer/lyricist based in Brooklyn. Shows include Assisted with Adam Chanler-Berat and Annie Tippe (developed with MCC, The Civilians, Berkeley Rep, and Rhinebeck Writer’s Retreat); Weekend with Mark Sonnenblick, Khiyon Hursey, and David Cromer; The Painter and the Thief with Ngozi Anyanwu and Ryan Dobrin (NYSAF). He is a songwriter for the animated musical series “Helluva Boss” (soundtrack on Atlantic Records). Recipient of the Jonathan Larson Grant from the American Theatre Wing and The Lucille & Jack Yellen Award and The Sammy Cahn Award from the ASCAP Foundation. Alum of the Joe’s Pub Working Group and Yale’s Shen Curriculum for Musical Theater.

RONA SIDDIQUI (Composer) is a Grammy-nominated NYC-based composer/lyricist. Musicals: THE BROWN MUSICAL: A New Brown Musical, Hip Hop Cinderella. Awards: Kleban Prize, Jonathan Larson Grant, Mark O’Donnell Prize, Billie Burke Ziegfeld Award, ASCAP Foundation Harold Adamson Lyric Award, Mary Rodgers/Lorenz Hart Award, and Max Dreyfus Scholarship. Music Director of Tony Award-winning musical A Strange Loop on Broadway.

ZENIBA NOW (Composer) is an award-winning artist who does all the things. If you’re into weird essay-poem-type things, slightly offensive comedy, music that is released very, very slowly, multimedia stuff, or massive dance musicals, then omg—you’re going to shit yourself over whatever she’s doing next. www.zenibanow.com

BENSON DRIVE PRODUCTIONS (Producer) is a New York-based production company developing projects from the mind of George Strus (they/them), who grew up on Benson Drive dreaming of making theatre. Benson Drive Productions’ New York premiere of Amber Ruffin’s BIGFOOT! was praised by The New York Times as “ecstatically silly and irresistibly charming” and ends its extended run at New York City Center on April 26, 2026. BDP recently produced Trisha Paytas’ Big Broadway Dream starring Trisha Paytas, Sutton Foster, Ben Platt, Joy Woods, and Rachel Zegler, raising over $150,000 for the Entertainment Community Fund; a reading of Mathilde Dratwa’s A Play About David Mamet Writing A Play About Harvey Weinstein directed by Leslye Headland and starring Abbi Jacobson, Billy Eichner, and Helené Yorke, raising over $15,000 for NYCLU; and a developmental run of Kevin Zak’s A Kidman Carol starring Marla Mindelle and Josh Sharp, raising over $3000 for New York Cares. Projects in development include David Wise’s Fight Back, a musical adaptation of The Danish Girl, a revival of Neil Simon’s Rumors and over 15 other projects in various stages of development. Strus’ independent co-producing credits include Stephen Sondheim’s Here We Are (off-Broadway), Illinoise (Broadway – Tony nomination), Oh Mary! (Broadway – Tony nomination), Romeo + Juliet (Broadway), Evita (West End – Olivier nomination), Oh Mary! (West End – Olivier nomination) Liberation (Broadway), Cats The Jellicle Ball (Broadway), Proof (Broadway), and End Of The Rainbow starring Jinkx Monsoon (UK). George founded the Obie Award and two-time GLAAD Media Award-winning Breaking the Binary Theatre, was the 2024 recipient of the prestigious Prince Fellowship, is a member of the 2025 Shubert Organization Artistic Circle, and was recently inducted into the Forbes 30 Under 30 Class of 2026 in Hollywood and Entertainment. www.bensondriveprods.com.

THE GREEN ROOM 42 opened in 2017 and has since become one of New York City’s most celebrated destinations for live performance, dining, and special events. Rising above Times Square, The Green Room 42 brings together a Cabaret, Rooftop, and Supper Club under one dynamic brand—offering nightly shows, all-day dining from breakfast through dinner, and a vibrant seasonal rooftop bar that showcases the city from above. Since its debut, The Green Room 42 has redefined the modern cabaret experience in NYC. The venue has hosted more than 5,000 artists—including icons such as Lillias White, Josh Groban, Sara Bareilles, Tina Fey, Katharine McPhee, Bowen Yang, Bette Midler, and Judy Kuhn—cementing its status as a powerhouse home for Broadway’s biggest stars and the industry’s most exciting emerging talent.

Guests enjoy inspired dishes, signature cocktails, craft beer, and a curated wine list—served table-side to elevate every performance. With flexible, beautifully designed spaces across the Cabaret, the Supper Club, and the Rooftop, The Green Room 42 stands as a premier destination for unforgettable nights out, social gatherings, and private events of any size. Tickets and reservations are available at www.TheGreenRoom42.com. The Green Room 42 is located at 570 Tenth Avenue inside YOTEL New York City. @TheGreenRoom42

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