Dick Latessa to Join Zach Grenier and Genevieve Angelson in GLORIA Benefit Reading at Playwrights Horizons, 1/6

The Wild Root Company, a new production endeavor committed to developing new works from emerging playwrights and screenwriters, announced today full casting and creative team for its one-night-only benefit reading of Gloria, a brand new screenplay adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece The Beautiful and Damned. All profits raised from the evening, which will take place at The Mainstage at Playwrights Horizons on Monday January 6, 2014 at 8:00 pm, will go to the Ali Forney Center for Homeless LGBTQ Youth. Broadway legend, Tony and Drama Desk Award winner Dick Latessa (Broadway's The Lyons, Promises, Promises, Brighton Beach Memoirs) will star in the reading directed by two-time Drama Desk Award nominee Ed Sylvanus Iskandar (Restoration Comedy, These Seven Sicknesses).

Gloria, which has been cleverly adapted from Fitzgerald's celebrated novel by rising young writer Daniel Mitura, tells the provocative story of a young man's struggle to survive in an unforgiving world, and the love of a lifetime that made it all worth fighting for. Audiences who attend the evening will be the first to experience the new work. Mitura's stage adaptation of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray premiered to critical acclaim at Theatre Row in 2010.

Also leading the cast of Gloria are Tony Award nominee Zach Grenier (Broadway's Man and Boy, 33 Variations; CBS' "The Good Wife"), Genevieve Angelson (Broadways Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike; Showtime's "House of Lies") and Zachary Spicer (Broadway's Wit). Rounding out the cast are Josh Banks, Jean Brassard, Rachel Annette Helson, Sean Hudock ('Private Romeo'), Brad Makarowski, Ed Malone, Daniel Mitura, Lauren Schaffel, Douglas Taurel and Leigh Wade. Lorraine Reyes is the Associate Producer.

Ticket prices range from $25 - $50 and may be purchased online at www.WildRoot.org and at the door on the night of the event. Those who are unable to attend the event can make a donation to the Ali Forney Center for Homeless LGBTQ Youth via the event's ticketing page and all donations and ticket purchases are tax-deductible. The Mainstage Theater at Playwrights Horizons is located at 416 West 42nd Street (between 9th and 10th Avenues).

Photo by Walter McBride