Jenn Colella, Chilina Kennedy, Ariana DeBose, and More Participate in All-Female Reading of 12 ANGRY MEN

An all-star cast of leading Broadway women will lend their impassioned voices to a reading of the classic play, Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose, producer Lauren Class Schneider announced today. "Rose wrote the original teleplay in1954, some 19 years before women could serve on juries in all 50 states. The female voices remind us how much change there's been and how much more change is still needed," Schneider said.

The reading will take place at 8:00 PM on Sunday, September 16, 2018 at Theatre Row's Acorn Theater (410 W 42nd Street, NYC). A limited number of tickets are available for $60 on 12WomenNYC.com.

The cast currently includes (in alphabetical order):

• Geneva Carr - Tony Award nominee and Theater World Award winner, Currently Marissa Morgan on CBS' "Bull"
• Lynn Cohen - Mags in "The Hunger Games," "Munich," Magda in "Sex and the City," Recipient of Richard Seff Award from Actors' Equity Association
• Jenn Colella - Tony Award nominee/Drama Desk winner for Come From Away. Original Broadway productions of If/Then, Chaplin, Urban Cowboy.
• Ariana DeBose - Tony Award and Drama Desk Award nominee, Currently Disco Donna in Summer: The Donna Summer Musical
• Cady Huffman - The Producers, Chicago, The Nance, Tony, Drama Desk & Outer Critics' Circle Award winner
• Amber Iman - Peggy in the national tour of Hamilton, Nina Simone in Soul Doctor, Shuffle Along (Broadway)
• Chilina Kennedy - Carole King in Beautiful Toronto/Broadway, Jesus Christ Superstar (Broadway), Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder(Broadway)
• Caitlin Kinnunen - Upcoming: The Prom on Broadway, Original Broadway cast of The Bridges of Madison County
• Jill Paice - Milo in the Original Broadway Cast of An American in Paris, two-time Helen Hayes Award winner
• Dale Soules - Frieda in "Orange is the New Black," Hair, Hands on a Hardbody, The Magic Show, The Crucible on Broadway

Additional performers will be announced soon. All performers are subject to change.

"An all-female cast of this play, at this time, is relevant on so many levels," said Schneider, who has served as campaign staff on several presidential campaigns along with her experience as a Broadway producer. "The play also makes a powerful statement for the value of civic involvement. It's also exciting that seeing a play can motivate action" she said.

Following the staged reading on September 16, audience members, cast, and staff will have the opportunity to update their voter registration in anticipation of the November 6 midterm elections. Information will also be given about how to increase voter registration and voter turnout.

Karen Azenberg, Pam Berlin, Sammi Cannold, Mary B. Robinson and Lynne Taylor-Corbett serve as Artistic Advisors for the reading.

The play was adapted from Reginald Rose's 1954 teleplay of the same name for the CBS Studio One television series. The success of the made-for-television courtroom drama resulted in a film adaptation directed by Sidney Lumet. Twelve Angry Men was Lumet's first feature film, and the only producing credit for Henry Fonda (who also starred in the film). Viewed as a classic, the film was nominated for three Academy Awards, including "Best Director," "Best Picture," and "Best Screenplay." The Broadway debut of Twelve Angry Men came 50 years after CBS aired the play, opening on October 28, 2004 at the Roundabout Theatre Company's American Airlines Theatre where it ran for 328 performances and was nominated for three Tony Awards, including "Best Revival of a Play," "Best Actor in a Play," and "Best Direction of a Play."

In the story, a 19-year-old man has just stood trial for the fatal stabbing of his father. It looks like an open-and-shut case - until one of the jurors begins opening the others' eyes to the facts. Sequestered in a small room, each juror reveals their own character as the various testimonies are re-examined, the murder is re-enacted and a new murder threat is born before their eyes. Tempers get short, arguments grow heated, and the jurors becomeTwelve Angry Men.

For tickets and information: www.12WomenNYC.com

Photo Credit: Jennifer Broski