Bill Cosby, Ramsey Lewis Performing at SCSU

On Friday evening, legendary comedian Bill Cosby and renowned jazz artist Ramsey Lewis will be performing at the John Lyman Center for the Performing Arts at Southern Connecticut State University in order to raise money for a local nonprofit organization.

Tickets range from $65 to $150 and benefit the Southern Academy, described by organizers as an “an innovative educational effort that tackles the achievement gap in the developmental years by ensuring New Haven school children have the tools they need to succeed at an early age.”

Cosby, a pop culture icon, is best known for his self-titled sitcom. Composer and pianist Ramsey Lewis is, according to organizers, “the great performer” and his style displays “his early gospel playing and classical training, along with his love of jazz and other musical forms.”

Later this month, New Haven University will be offering a comedy show of its own.  The theatre program’s fall production, "Stepping Out," will run Nov. 17-19 at 7:30 p.m. and November 19-20 at 2 p.m. at  Dodds Theater, UNH Main Campus, 300 Boston Post Road in West Haven. The comedy by Richard Harris is about “working class people who attempt to overcome their inhibitions and left feet in a low-rent tap dance studio.”