Joel Grey Set to Direct Staged Reading of 'Normal Heart' at the Walter Kerr Theatre, 10/18

 

According to the New York Times, Joel Grey is set to direct a staged reading of "Normal Heart," the semi-autobiographical drama written by Larry Kramer about the early years of the AIDS epidemic. The production is to celebrate the plays 25th anniversary.

The reading, presented by the producer Daryl Roth, is scheduled for Oct. 18 at the Walter Kerr Theater. Grey was a part of the 1985 production at The Public Theater and played Ned, the activist based on Mr. Kramer.

"It was the most profound work experience," Grey said to the NY Times. "Reading it again felt so fresh to me," he added. "I was startled at all the issues that still remain 25 years later."

Mr. Grey also directed a staged reading at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles in May, to raise money for an H.I.V./AIDS charity there. The New York reading help to will raise money for two organizations: the Actors Fund, which provides services to people in the performing arts, and Friends In Deed, which supports people with H.I.V./AIDS and other life-threatening illnesses. Casting has not been announced yet.

Among the countless highlights of Joel Grey's nearly sixty-year career is his starring role in the original production of The Normal Heart at The Public Theater, in which he played the central role of Ned, based semi-autobiographically on Mr. Kramer himself. This experience accords Mr. Grey an incomparable insight into the play, as well as a passionate commitment to the piece and to the issue it revolutionized: the AIDS epidemic.

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Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.