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Singer, Actor And Dancer Ben Vereen Celebrates 50 Years In Show Business

A veteran of Broadway, Ben Vereen is performing his own one-man show of classic hits.
Courtesy of Isak Tiner

Ben Vereenmade a name for himself on Broadway in the late 1960s with performances in hit productions like “Sweet Charity” and “Hair.” He later won a Tony award in 1973 for his role in “Pippin.” Since then, he has also acted in more than a dozen television shows, including the 1977 hit miniseries “Roots.”
 

In his one-man show “Steppin’ Out with Ben Vereen,” Vereen performs hit songs from Broadway and pays tribute to iconic performers Sammy Davis Jr. and Frank Sinatra.

Host Frank Stasio talks with Vereen about his life in the spotlight and Vereen’s persistence to perform despite personal setbacks. Vereen performs “Steppin’ Out with Ben Vereen” with the North Carolina Symphony at Meymandi Concert Hall in Raleigh at 8 p.m. on Friday, March 17 and Saturday, March 18.

Charlie Shelton-Ormond is a podcast producer for WUNC.
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.