Free Broadway Meets the Beach concert series returns to Seaside Heights boardwalk

You need to travel no farther than the Seaside Heights boardwalk to enjoy some of Broadway's biggest names.

And did we mention the concerts are free?

The popular Broadway Meets the Beach series returns to the Shore starting Friday, July 12.

The series, produced by Joseph John Brunetti, kicks off with a tribute to Glenn Slater, the Grammy and Emmy award-winning lyricist behind Disney's "Tangled," Broadway's "Sister Act," "School of Rock" and "The Little Mermaid," television's "Galavant" and more. The East Brunswick native is a frequent collaborator with Andrew Lloyd Webber and Alan Menken.

Meet Glenn Slater:The man behind the music

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The concert on July 12 will feature Broadway favorite Christy Altomare, star of Broadway's "Anastasia," and Toms River native John Cudia, who has played some of musical theater's biggest roles, including being the only actor to play both the Phantom in "Phantom of the Opera" and Jean Valjean in "Les Miserables" on Broadway.

A concert on Friday, Aug. 2, will be a tribute to Academy Award-nominated actor and writer Chazz Palminteri ("A Bronx Tale," "Bullets over Broadway.") The event will feature members of the original Broadway cast of "A Bronx Tale."

The series wraps up on Friday, Aug. 30, with members of the Broadway casts of "Cabaret" and "& Juliet," as well as stars from "America’s Got Talent" and more.

All concerts begin at 6:30 p.m. on the Franklin Avenue Stage on the Seaside Heights boardwalk. Audiences are encouraged to arrive early and bring a folding chair.