Wait . . . What? comedy benefit show featuring Erin Hill set to benefit Dubois County Humane Society
Jasper — Will Read and Sing For Food spinoff benefit show “Wait . . . what?” will raise money for the Dubois County Humane Society on Thursday, June 6, at the Thyen-Clark Cultural Center Black Box Room in Jasper.
The show includes local actors performing comedic dialogue penned by humor columnist Scott Saalman and will feature dog lover and renowned harpist/vocalist Erin Hill, who demonstrated her comedic actress chops on Comedy Central’s Chappelle’s Show and scored a number-one album on Billboard’s World album charts.
Contact Saalman for reserved seats at scottsaalman@gmail.com or leave a message at 812-827-9911. You can also message him on the Will Read and Sing For Food Facebook page or on his personal Facebook page. Admission: $15 donation per seat. You can also get tickets at the door while the limited seating lasts, but it’s advisable to make reservations.
The multitalented Hill has played/sung with/opened for Cyndi Lauper, Enya, Kanye West, moby, Sinead O’Connor, Peabo Bryson, Levon Helm, a-ha, Al Jardine of The Beach Boys, Judy Collins, Josh Groban, Jewel, and for Martha Stewart, Presidents, First Ladies, and royalty. She’s played solo at The Royal Albert Hall and is known as “The Pretty White Girl Who Sings Dave’s Thoughts” on Chappelle’s Show.
Local actors Jasmine Bosler, Chris Dixon, Heath Kluemper, and Kyle Rupert, along with Saalman, fill out the June 6 show’s cast.
Saalman co-founded the popular WRASFF, which, along with Wait . . . What? has raised more than $170,000 for dozens of charities, mainly in Dubois County.
Hill’s cover of “Eleanor Rigby” has been heard on SiriusXM The Beatles Channel, and its music video has won awards in over 50 film festivals around the world. Erin was in the Original Broadway casts of Titanic, Urinetown, and Cabaret, and originated the role of Ilse in Spring Awakening with Duncan Sheik. She has been featured in the HBO documentary Taylor Mac’s 24-Decade History of Popular Music, on the new Gossip Girl, Bravo’s Million Dollar Listing, The Chris Rock Show, PBS’s American Masters, The Tony Awards, Late Night with David Letterman, in Tim Robbins’ film Cradle Will Rock, and by HBO in a Game of Thrones promo playing the Game of Thrones theme on her harp.
Her Girl Inventor album features Erin’s original harp-based sci-fi pop songs, such as “Giant Mushrooms” and “Lookout, Science,” whose video was premiered by USA Today. The album also won an Independent Music Award. Erin’s album Harp Town features her innovative harp & vox arrangements of pop and rock songs, from Radiohead, Roxy Music, and Rihanna to Edith Piaf, Smashing Pumpkins, and Frank Sinatra.
Erin’s tribute shows with her 10-piece band include: Total Eclipse of the Harp: The 80’s!, Harp Oddity: The Music of David Bowie, The Music of Kate Bush: Night-Scented Harp, Harp Tripper: The Music of The Beatles, and That 70’s Harp.
She performs her original sci-fi songs as a house band at Dragon Con; she played harp several years for the US Open Tennis Championships; and she sang & played regularly at The Peninsula Hotel, The Plaza Hotel, and the Ritz-Carlton on Central Park South in NYC. Her wide range of styles includes pop, rock, jazz standards, country, Celtic/Irish (her Celtic album hit #1 on the Billboard world chart), and opera.
Erin toured with the Lincoln Center South Pacific as harpist and pianist and is the harpist on the new soundtrack for The Fantasticks, on Martha Wainwright’s self-titled debut album, and on MTV2’s Wonder Showzen. She’s a singer, songwriter, and musician (harp, electric bass, keyboards) on the Dream Jam Band’s major label debut on EMI. As a voice-over artist and jingle singer she’s been heard on commercials from Coca-Cola, Comcast, Tide and Match.com to Play-Doh, Walmart and Dunkin’ Donuts.
In the film Clear Blue Tuesday, she is a composer, screenwriter, and actor. The New York Times said: “Erin Hill, as a giddy, harp-playing Trekker, is a standout… The best and funniest scene in the film is Ms. Hill’s, a first date that looks promising until the conversation turns to the relative merits of Star Trek: Voyager…..”
In addition to her Broadway shows, Erin has twice been part of the Sundance Theater Lab in Utah and was in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Classic Stage Company in NYC alongside Bebe Neuwirth and Christina Ricci (Newsday called her “the dangerously enjoyable Erin Hill”). Erin was the musical director for Lil’s 90th at Long Wharf Theater, and she also did original music and sound design for the Drama Desk Award-nominated “That Play: a Solo Macbeth.”
Lastly, she also juggles and is an expert at walking on her hands, as demonstrated on The Rosie O’Donnell Show, the 52nd Annual Tony Awards, and Late Night with David Letterman.