(MILLBURN, NJ) -- Paper Mill Playhouse will be one of a select group of nonprofit arts organizations participating in a livestream concert event, Christopher Jackson: Live from the West Side on Saturday, August 15 at 8:00pm. Jackson is a Grammy- and Emmy-winning songwriter/composer and a Tony Award–nominated actor best known for originating the role of George Washington in Hamilton.  

Tickets for Christopher Jackson: Live from the West Side are $40 per household and are available at PaperMill.org. Tickets include access to the livestream performance plus an additional 72 hours of on-demand viewing of a video recording of the livestream, available beginning one hour after the live broadcast ends. Proceeds from ticket sales will support Paper Mill Playhouse.

Accompanied by a live band, Jackson will perform songs from his favorite musicals, pop standards, and some of his original material, and he will share stories from his time affiliated with two of the most important musicals of the last decade, In the Heights and Hamilton. Audience members will also be invited to text in questions, some of which will be answered during the live event.

“Nonprofit arts presenters are the lifeblood of the performing arts industry and a pipeline for young talent. Without them there is no Broadway,” said Jackson. “While everything is shut down during this terrible pandemic, I am delighted to be able to help spread some joy and help raise some much-needed support for these deserving organizations.”

The livestream, which is a co-production of Dallas Summer Musicals and Entertainment Benefits Group, is being shared by a number of nonprofit arts presenters around the country. The event will take place at New York’s New World Stages, the off-Broadway venue that has housed productions of Jersey Boys, Avenue Q and many others.

Christopher Jackson is a Tony Award–nominated actor as well as a Grammy- and Emmy-winning songwriter/composer who is best known for starring as George Washington in the critically acclaimed, award-winning musical Hamilton on Broadway. He can currently be seen starring in the hit CBS drama Bull and has recently finished Freestyle Love Supreme on Broadway for a limited run. He also starred in Ava DuVernay’s Netflix miniseries When They See Us with Michael K. Wiliams, Vera Farmiga and John Leguizamo.

In December 2018, “One Last Time (44 Remix)” was released as a part of the Hamildrop series, which featured Chris alongside President Obama and BeBe Winans.

His Broadway credits also include Holler If Ya Hear Me, After Midnight, Bronx Bombers (Derek Jeter), In the Heights (Benny), Memphis (Delray Farrell) and The Lion King (Simba). Off Broadway includes Bronx Bombers (Primary Stages), The Jammer (Atlantic Theater Co.), Lonely, I’m Not (Second Stage), In the Heights (37 Arts), and Cotton Club Parade (Encores at City Center).

In film and TV, he has appeared in Freestyle Love Supreme (Pivot Network), Person of Interest, A Gifted Man, Fringe, Gossip Girl, Tracers, and After.Life.

Christopher recorded an original song written by Lin-Manuel Miranda for the Disney film Moana and was also the composer/songwriter for Sesame Street (six Emmy nominations and one win), and co–music supervisor and writer for The Electric Company (PBS).

Chris won an Emmy Award for his song with Will.I.Am, “What I Am.” In 2010 he released his first solo album, titled In the Name of Love, with Yellow Sound Label Records, and he is currently working on his second album. Chris performed at the 2018 Kennedy Center Honors celebrating Lin-Manuel Miranda and the Hamilton creative team. He also has several musical projects in development for the stage, and he has sold out concerts at Carnegie Hall and The Kennedy Center.

PAPER MILL PLAYHOUSE, a not-for-profit arts organization under the direction of Mark S. Hoebee (Producing Artistic Director) and Michael Stotts (Managing Director) and recipient of the 2016 Regional Theater Tony Award, is one of the country's leading regional theaters.  Paper Mill Playhouse programs are made possible, in part, by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. Paper Mill Playhouse is a member of the National Alliance for Musical Theatre, the Council of Stock Theatres, and the New Jersey Theatre Alliance.