Award-winning Broadway performer, pop/R&B singer, model, actress and entrepreneur Vanessa Williams will be performing live at Lindenwood on April 1.

Students who attend the concert can expect to see her perform Broadway songs and hits from her music career, said Peter Colombatto, director of marketing and communications for the School of Arts, Media and Communications.

The box office will be offering free tickets to the first 100 students to arrive with valid student IDs, Colombatto said in an email. The tickets will be available two hours before the show, at 6 p.m.

According to her website, Williams is a multi-faceted performer who has a clothing line called “V. by Vanessa Williams,” and has performed on Broadway, appeared in TV and film and released over a dozen music albums. She has won awards and received numerous nominations, including being the first black winner of the Miss America contest in 1983.

Some of her more recent work includes screen time on TV shows like “Desperate Housewives” and “Ugly Betty.” She also performed the Emmy-, Oscar- and Golden Globe-winning song “Colors of the Wind” in the 1995 Disney animation “Pocahontas.”

Colombatto worked with other faculty to bring Williams to Lindenwood. He said they chose Williams because she, as an artist with a career spanning multiple industries and genres, is a unique performer who appeals to a large audience.

“[Williams] was popular on Broadway, and she was also popular in some TV [shows] and movies,” Colombatto said. “She had a respectable R&B career as well.”

The program tries to book a variety of different successful acts each year, from comedians to singers, including solo artists like Williams.

“We have an idea of what works and what doesn’t, so we try to bring in artists and events that will please a large section of our campus community and St. Charles and St. Louis communities,” he said.

Williams has already performed at colleges and performing halls in five states this year and in Washington D.C., according to her website. Colombatto said the J. Scheidegger Center have had people flying in to see their shows from as far away as Virginia, California and Texas.

“It’s a really good opportunity for people outside of the state to learn about what Lindenwood does,” Colombatto said.

The show starts at 8 p.m. on Saturday, April 1, in the Lindenwood Theater in the J. Scheidegger Center.

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