S. Epatha Merkerson, BD Wong and Blythe Danner Join Actors Fund's Benefit Reading of OUR TOWN; Full Cast Announced!

Casting is complete for The Actors Fund's upcoming benefit reading of the American classic Our Town on Monday, March 4, 2013 at 7:30 p .m. at The Gerald R. Lynch Theatre at John Jay College (524 West 59th Street). Tony Winners Blythe Danner, BD Wong and two-time Tony Award nominee S. Epatha Merkerson will share the role of the Stage Manager for this one night benefit.

The star studded cast includes Tony Award nominee Celia Keenan-Bolger (Peter and the Starcatcher) as Emily Webb, three-time Tony nominee Rebecca Luker (Mary Poppins, The Music Man) as Mrs. Webb, Tony Award winner Adriane Lenox (Doubt, Chicago) as Mrs. Gibbs, Martin Moran (All the Rage, Spamalot) as of Simon Stimson, Julia Murney (Falling, Wicked) as Mrs. Soames and Leslie Odom, Jr. (Smash, Leap of Faith) as George Gibbs, two-time Tony Award nominee Howard McGillin (Anything Goes, The Mystery of Edwin Drood) as Mr. Webb, Jerry Dixon (Once on This Island) as Dr. Gibbs, Wally Dunn (Gypsy w/ Bernadette Peters, Spamalot) as Professor Willard/Joe Stoddard, Philip Hoffman (Into the Woods, A Catered Affair) as Constable Warren, Daniel Jenkins (Golden Boy, Big River) as Howie Newsome, Jose Llana (...Spelling Bee, Flower Drum Song) as Sam Craig, Wolfgang Scheitinger as Wally Webb and Tyrah Skye Odoms (Annie) as Rebecca Gibbs.

Also featured in the cast are Will Boyajian, Brandon Contreras, Talya Groves, Chelsea D. Harrison, John-Michael Lyles, Melissa Mickens, Ade Otukoya, and Cailan Rose

The evening will be directed by Peter Flynn (Chess and On the 20th Century for The Actors Fund).

The creative team includes Scenic Design by Ken Goldstein, Lighting Design by Cory Pattak, Sound Design by Patrick Weaver, Costume Supervisor is Jennifer Caprio, Musical Supervisor is Mark Fifer, Make-up by Nathan Johnson and Hair by James Corbett. Jason Quinn is the Production Stage Manager and casting by Stephanie Yankwitt.

This Pulitzer Prize-winning drama of life in the small village of Grover's Corners, an allegorical representation of all life, has become an undisputed stage classic. Our Town is Thornton Wilder's most renowned and most frequently performed play.

Described by Edward Albee as "...the greatest American play ever written," Our Town won the 1938 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Tappan Wilder, nephew and literary executor of the playwright stated, ""My uncle loved actors--he was an actor himself, you know--and he was mighty proud to have written a popular large-cast play that provided his fellows with so many jobs! What a great pleasure it is to partner with the Actor's Fund, which Thornton Wilder supported throughout his life, on the occasion of a major milestone in the history of his most famous work."

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