Kevin Spacey To Sing In 1-Night-Only Concert In DC

Two-time Academy Award winner Kevin Spacey will take time out from filming the third season of the Netflix hit series to show off his vocal talents at a one-night-only gala concert Sept. 29 at the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C. The concert will benefit scholarships and grants for emerging artists.

Spacey, who played singer Bobby Darin in “Beyond the Sea,” promises some Billy Joel songs, some Simon & Garfunkel, a bit of Sinatra, plenty of swing, a few stories and a surprise guest or two, all backed by a 40-piece orchestra. “You never know what I might come up with,” he said. Tickets, still available, are $104.

Proceeds from the show will help fund the Kevin Spacey Foundation, which recently chose Pace University in New York to be the first institution of higher education in the United States to receive its scholarships and funding support.

Five Pace students will be awarded scholarships and 10 others will receive funds to support travel expenses to perform abroad. Spacey’s foundation, with $500,000 in scholarships and $200,000 in grants, also helps students at Regent’s University London.

“We’re hoping to expand these scholarships in lots of universities and drama schools around the country. Our intention is to continue to grow and expand our reach,” Spacey said. “In large measure it’s because I’m a recipient of these kinds of things.”

Spacey, who won Oscars for the movies “The Usual Suspects” and “American Beauty,” was also the star of “Pay It Forward,” and the Juilliard-trained actor said he remembers as a middle-class student struggling to pay tuition.

“I was on a couple of scholarships. I had a job in the school administrative office. I had a job as a hat-check boy in a restaurant. I had another job as an assistant to a casting director. It took a lot to get myself enough money to put myself through Juilliard,” he said. “I know how difficult it can be. I know what this means to young students who are trying to get training.”