Academy and Golden Globe Award winner Melissa Leo and acclaimed film, television and theater star Zachary Quinto will star in a one night only benefit staged reading of celebrated playwright Warren Leight's Tony Award-winning play Side Man. Naked Angels presents the reading, which will take place on Monday, October 24, 2011 at 7PM at the Vineyard Theatre (108 East 15th Street), where the two theater companies will co-produce the World Premiere of Zayd Dohrn's Outside People later this winter. The Side Man reading, originally scheduled for Sunday, August 28 in East Hampton, was postponed due to Hurricane Irene. Proceeds from the evening will go towards Naked Angels' ongoing development of new work.
Naked Angels today announced that Leo, Quinto and the rest of the previously announced cast, including original Broadway cast members Jeff Binder, Kevin Geer, Michael Mastro, Angelica Torn, and Tony Award winner Frank Wood, will appear in the reading on October 24. Mastro, who originated the role of Ziggy in the 1998 premiere of Side Man, directs. Previously announced director Geoffrey Nauffts is currently in rehearsal for a West Coast production of his Tony-nominated play, Next Fall, which was developed and presented Off-Broadway by Naked Angels and transferred to Broadway in 2010.
Winner of the 1999 Tony Award for Best Play, Warren Leight's Side Man is a tender and poignant memory play about a jazz musician struggling to save both his fading career and troubled home life during the dawn of rock 'n roll in America. In addition to winning the 1999 Tony Award for Best Play, Side Man was honored with a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor (Frank Wood), and was nominated for the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and three Drama Desk Awards for Outstanding New Play, Outstanding Direction of a Play (Michael Mayer) and Outstanding Actress in a Play (Edie Falco).
Leo will play Terry, alongside Quinto as Clifford and original Broadway cast members Jeff Binder (Al), Kevin Geer (Jonesy), Michael Mastro (Ziggy), Angelica Torn (Patsy), and Frank Wood (Gene).
As a long-time company member of Naked Angels, Leight developed Side Man during its earliest stages in the company's various new play development programs before it became a widely-recognized and award-winning hit on Broadway and across the country. Currently celebrating its 25th anniversary this season as one of Off-Broadway's leading theater companies, Naked Angels is committed to strengthening a community of artists by developing and producing provocative new work like Side Man from within the founding ensemble as well as from the next generation of emerging theater artists.
Regular tickets for Side Man, including a post-show reception with the cast, are $100.00. For tickets, visit www.NakedAngels.com/SideMan or call (212) 343-7394.
