On Sunday, October 6, beginning at 7 pm, a special one-night-only star-studded event was held at The Gerald W. Lynch Theater at CUNY’s John Jay College to benefit the national tours and education initiatives of The Acting Company, which reach tens of thousands of students and audience members in nearly two dozen states annually. Founded by John Houseman and Margot Harley in 1972, with the first graduating class of the Drama Division of The Juilliard School, the mission of the non-profit Company is to develop emerging actors (already having launched the careers of some 400, including Kevin Kline, Patti LuPone, Mary Lou Rosato, Keith David, Rainn Wilson, Lorraine Toussaint, Frances Conroy, Harriet Harris, Lisa Banes, Jeffrey Wright, Hamish Linklater, Jesse L. Martin, Roslyn Ruff, Jimonn Cole, and Kelley Curran) and to build enthusiastic and knowledgeable audiences for theater in towns across the US. The coming season, August Wilson’s Two Trains Running will be presented in repertory with Christina Anderson’s modern verse translation of The Comedy of Errors throughout the country.
Following opening remarks by Kent Gash, Artistic Director of The Acting Company, Tony Award winner Robert Falls (Death of Salesman; Aida) directed an all-star cast – featuring Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel; The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window), David Corenswet (Twisters), Ella Beatty (Appropriate), John Slattery (Mad Men; The Front Page), Chris Perfetti (Abbott Elementary; Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow), Carmen Zilles (Epiphany), John Behlmann (Tootsie; Significant Other), Lilli Cooper (The Cottage; Tootsie), Miriam Silverman (Junk; The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window), and Hiram Delgado (Take Me Out), with stage directions by Zoe Anastassiou – in the reading of a brand-new reimagined adaptation by Tony-winning playwright Richard Greenberg (Take Me Out; Three Days of Rain) of the 1928 romantic comedy Holiday by Philip Barry, known to many from its 1938 screen version starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant.
For sponsors and premium ticket holders, the evening also included a post-performance VIP cocktail reception with the artists at Harry’s Table by Cipriani. I spoke to members of the stellar cast, including Beatty, Brosnahan, Perfetti, Silverman, and Zilles, who were all as excited as the audience was about supporting The Acting Company with this fresh present-day adaptation, bringing a post-modern perspective, language, and humor to an American classic. Both Perfetti and Beatty (who said she had seen the film many years ago) told me they decided not to watch the 1938 movie in preparation for the reading, so they could craft their own current interpretations of the characters and the show’s didactic message. And though they all said they aren’t yet aware of any specific plans for a full-stage production of Greenberg’s hilarious and relevant version of the play, we can only hope that it’s in the works so more theater-lovers will be able to enjoy it. In the meantime, you can enjoy the photos below of the cast at The Acting Company’s fabulous fundraiser:
If you couldn’t make it to the live benefit, you can still make a tax-deductible donation to aid the important programs of The Acting Company here.
