Frances Sternhagen, Estelle Parsons, Lois Smith, George Bartenieff, Marsha Warren, Director of the Paul Green Foundation, Wendy Smith, author of The Group Theatre book, Real Life Drama, are slated to join the 20 member ReGroup Ensemble in this one night benefit performance.For the first time ever, letters and stories from the Group members along with scenes/monologues from their 23 plays will be woven together into a 2 hr narrative celebrating the the country's most influential theatre group. The event is a fundraiser for the non-profit ReGroup Theatre Company and will take place October 10, 2011 at 7 PM. The tribute will be held at Peter Norton Symphony Space's Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theatre, 2537 Broadway at 95th St. Tickets can be purchased online at www.symphonyspace.org or by calling 212-864-5400.
For the most up to date list of guest artists and speakers, please check out www.regrouptheatre.org
Though The Group turned out some of the top actors, directors and teachers, including Harold Clurman, Lee Strasberg, Stella Adler, Elia Kazan, Sanford Meisner to name a very few, they also worked with some of the greatest dramatists. Most remembered for the 6 plays of Clifford Odets, such as Golden Boy and Awake and Sing, The Group presented works by John Howard Lawson, Paul Green, Dawn Powell, Sidney Kingsley, and many more. Though most of them have been forgotten over the years, many due to the blacklist, these Great Depression era stories are once again extremely relevant. Several of the plays that will be represented during the tribute, including Nellise Child's Weep for the Virgins, Robert Ardrey's Casey Jones, and Irwin Shaw's Retreat to Pleasure have never been published, so this is a rare chance to get a glimpse of a piece of American Theatre History.
Regular priced tickets for the fundraiser are available for $55 in advance, tickets will be $75 at the door. In an effort to re-educate the young as to the power of great playwrighting, student tickets are $25. There will also be a limited number of VIP tickets available for $100 that will include a private reception with the artists after the show.
The ReGroup artistic team includes Allie Mulholland, Emily Ciotti, Linda Glick, Maurya Scanlon, Alex Ristov, Kelsey Moore, Shelley Valfer, Angelo Angrisani, Pete McElligott, Stephen Dexter, Rachel Casparian, Emilio Tirado, Kate Warren, Selena C. Dukes, Timothy Weinert, Shaun Bennet Wilson, Ben Weaver, Zach Wegner, Alexander Carney, Joseph McDonnell, Jaclyn Biskup, José Angel Santana, and John Moletress.
The non-profit ReGroup Theatre Company burst onto the scene in 2010 and has since presented 7 gripping staged readings of the Group plays. The ReGroup recently published a collection of 3 of the Group's plays for the first time in over 75 years. It features a foreword by Estelle Parsons. The "Lost" Group Theatre Plays: Volume 1 will be available for sale at the tribute and on their website at www.regrouptheatre.org Volume 2 is already in the works and will feature several Group plays that have never been in print.
Tickets for the fundraiser can be purchased through www.symphonyspace.org
October 10, 2011 7 PM 2537 Broadway at 95th Street New York, New York 10025
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"The play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king."
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