Wayne Brady

Tuesday March 12                                 Content Guideline: CLN

5:30p                                                         $250 (Reserved Seating)

DeVos Place-Steelcase Ballroom

Join Emmy Award winning actor, recording artist, improvisationalist, dancer, and television personality Wayne Brady (and his friends!) for a night full of fun, laughter, prizes, and more! Best known for his Emmy-winning stint on Whose Line is it Anyway? and as TV host of popular shows Don’t Forget The Lyrics and Let’s Make a Deal!, Wayne hosts this once in a lifetime event created uniquely for Grand Rapids and LaughFest. The evening will include dinner, the show, and a wealth of unexpected surprises!

All proceeds from this evening will benefit the free cancer and grief support program offered to children and adults through Gilda’s Club Grand Rapids.

A portion of each ticket to this event is considered a tax deductible donation to Gilda’s Club Grand Rapids.

Featuring:

Wayne Brady

Wayne Brady is an Emmy Award winning actor, recording artist, improvisationalist, dancer, and television personality. His work can be seen on television or film, in the theater, or heard on the radio.

In 1998, Brady’s career took off with Whose Line Is It Anyway? for which he won a 2003 Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety, Musical, or Comedy Series. Brady went on to host his own syndicated talk/variety show, The Wayne Brady Show for two years. He picked up two Emmys for Outstanding Talk Show Host and the show also won an Emmy for Outstanding Talk Show. Brady has also hosted Don’t Forget the Lyrics on Fox. Currently, Brady can be seen everyday on CBS as the host of the daytime classic Let’s Make A Deal, for which he’s been nominated two years in a row for a Daytime Emmy for Best Game Show Host. Guest-starring roles include The Dave Chappelle Show, 30 Rock, How I Met Your Mother, Dirt, and Everybody Hates Chris.

In film, Brady starred in the Screen Gems feature, Crossover, and the independent feature The List, a romantic comedy with Sydney Tamiia Poitier and Illeana Douglas. Brady was also featured in Fox Searchlight’s Roll Bounce.

In 2005, Brady took the opportunity to return to his first love, musical theatre, and starred in the Broadway production of Chicago, playing the role of Billy Flynn. In August 2010 he joined the all-star cast as Angel in the musical Rent, performed at the Hollywood Bowl and directed by Neil Patrick Harris. This one-weekend event opened to sold out performances and outstanding reviews.

After conquering television and theatre, Brady took on the recording industry and earned a 2008 Grammy nomination for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance for his single A Change is Gonna Come off his debut musical album A Long Time Coming. He also released a children’s album entitled Radio Wayne with Disney Records in May 2011, which reached the number one position on iTunes and Amazon Kids charts. Currently he is working on his third album.

Brady made a big splash in Vegas in 2009 with his hit stage show Makin It Up. The show was met with critical acclaim and has been heralded as pure genius, hysterically funny and amazing. Wayne has taken the show to venues across the country and overseas to South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and India.