HARVEY to Hold Benefit Performance for Education@Roundabout, 8/5

Roundabout Theatre Company has just announced a special benefit performance following the smash hit limited engagement of HARVEY on August 5th at 7PM. Roundabout Theatre Company's production of HARVEY, directed by Scott Ellis, was originally scheduled to play its final performance on Sunday, August 5th at 2PM.

Tickets for the benefit performance are on sale now. Each ticket purchased will support Education@Roundabout which brings over 3,500 NYC public school students to matinees each season.

ABOUT EDUCATION@ROUNDABOUT Every year, Roundabout Theatre Company spends over $1.6 million dollars in comprehensive education programs that impact over 6,500 New York City public school students and educators. Education@Roundabout targets underserved communities with programs ranging from in-school residencies, to after school programming, to educator workshops, to one of the most competitive career development programs in New York City's theatre community.

TICKET INFORMATION: For tickets to the benefit performance on Sunday, August 5 at 7pm, please call (212)719-1300 or go online at www.roundabouttheatre.org. Ticket prices range from $72-250. The contribution made with every ticket purchase funds the cost for a NYC public school student to attend to a student matinee next season. A portion of the ticket will be a tax-deductible contribution.

Tickets for regularly scheduled performances are available by calling Roundabout Ticket Services at (212)719-1300, online at www.roundabouttheatre.org or at the Studio 54 box office (254 West 54th Street). Regular performance ticket prices range from $37.00-140.00.

Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director) in association with Don Gregory, is thrilled to present the new Broadway production of Mary Chase's Harvey starring Jim Parsons (Elwood P. Dowd), Jessica Hecht (Veta Louise Simmons), Charles Kimbrough (William R. Chumley, M.D.), Larry Bryggman (Judge Omar Gaffney), Carol Kane (Betty Chumley), Peter Benson (E.J. Lofgren), Tracee Chimo (Myrtle Mae Simmons), Holley Fain (Ruth Kelly, R.N.), Angela Paton (Mrs. Ethel Chauvenet), Rich Sommer (Duane Wilson), Morgan Spector (Lyman Sanderson, M.D.) and directed by Scott Ellis.

Harvey was first brought to the Broadway stage in 1944 and was directed by Antoinette Perry. The play won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1944, and its initial run lasted for four years-1,775 performances. James Stewart assumed the role of "Elwood" from Frank Fay in the 1944 production and originated the role in the 1970 production as well as the film adaptation in 1950. Helen Hayes played "Veta" opposite Mr. Stewart in the 1970 production.

Parsons stars as one of modern theatre's most lovable characters, Elwood P. Dowd. Charming and kind, Elwood has only one character flaw: an unwavering friendship with a 6-foot-tall, invisible white rabbit named Harvey. In order to save the family's social reputation, Elwood's sister Veta (Jessica Hecht) takes Elwood to the local sanatorium. But when the doctors mistakenly commit his anxiety-ridden sister, Elwood - and Harvey-slip out of the hospital unbothered, setting off a hilarious whirlwind of confusion and chaos as everyone in town tries to catch a man and his invisible rabbit.

Performance Schedule Information: Harvey plays Tuesday through Saturday evenings at 8:00PM with a Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday matinee at 2:00PM through Sunday, August 5th. A special benefit performance has been added on Sunday, August 5th at 7PM.

Roundabout Theatre Company's 2011-2012 season features Simon Gray's The Common Pursuit, directed by Moisés Kaufman; Mary Chase's Harvey starring Jim Parsons, Jessica Hecht & Charles Kimbrough, directed by Scott Ellis. The 2011 Tony® Award winning Anything Goes will set sail on a National Tour at Cleveland's Playhouse Square in October 2012. Following its opening in Cleveland, Anything Goes will cruise into more than 25 other cities during the 2012/2013 season.

Roundabout Theatre Company's 2012-2013 season features Rupert Holmes' The Mystery of Edwin Drood starring Stephanie J. Block, Will Chase, Gregg Edelman, Jim Norton & Chita Rivera, directed by Scott Ellis; Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac, with a translation by Ranjit Bolt, starring Douglas Hodge, directed by Jamie Lloyd; William Inge's Picnic directed by Sam Gold; Nick Payne's If There Is I Haven't Found It Yet directed by Michael Longhurst; Clifford Odets' The Big Knife starring Bobby Cannavale, directed by Doug Hughes; Steven Levenson's The Unavoidable Disappearance of Tom Durnin directed by Scott Ellis.

Joshua Elias Harmon's Bad Jews directed by Daniel Aukin is a world premiere production that launches the sixth season of Roundabout Underground following five critically acclaimed seasons of world-premiere productions since its premiere in 2007. www.roundabouttheatre.org