Academy and Golden Globe Award winner Melissa Leo will join the cast of the one night only benefit staged reading of celebrated playwright Warren Leight's Tony Award-winning play Side Man, presented by Naked Angels in association with the Guild Hall. As previously announced, the reading will also star acclaimed film, television and theater star Zachary Quinto and original Broadway cast members Jeff Binder, Kevin Geer, Michael Mastro, Angelica Torn, and Tony Award winner Frank Wood. The reading will take place at Guild Hall in East Hampton, NY on Sunday, August 28 at 7pm. Proceeds will go towards Naked Angels' ongoing development of new work.
Winner of the 1999 Tony Award for Best Play, Warren Leight's Side Man is a tender and poignant memory play about a jazz musician struggling to save both his fading career and troubled home life during the dawn of rock 'n roll in America. In addition to winning the 1999 Tony Award for Best Play, Side Man was honored with a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor (Frank Wood), and was nominated for the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and three Drama Desk Awards for Outstanding New Play, Outstanding Direction of a Play (Michael Mayer) and Outstanding Actress in a Play (Edie Falco).
Leo will play Terry, joining the previously announced
Zachary Quinto as Clifford and original Broadway cast members
Jeff Binder (Al),
Kevin Geer (Jonesy),
Michael Mastro (Ziggy),
Angelica Torn (Patsy), and
Frank Wood (Gene).
As a long-time company member of
Naked Angels, Leight developed Side Man during its earliest stages in the company's various new play development programs before it became a widely-recognized and award-winning hit on Broadway and across the country. Currently celebrating its 25th anniversary this season as one of Off-Broadway's leading theater companies,
Naked Angels is committed to strengthening a community of artists by developing and producing provocative new work like Side Man from within the founding ensemble as well as from the next generation of emerging theater artists.
Regular tickets for Side Man are $30.00; VIP Prime Orchestra tickets, which include a post-show reception with the cast, are $100.00. For tickets, visit Guild Hall, 158 Main Street, East Hampton, New York 11937; go online at
GuildHall.org or Theatermania.com; or call the Box Office 631-324-4050 or 1-866-811-4111 .
Melissa Leo (Terry) received an Academy Award, Golden Globe and SAG Award for her tour de force performance in The Fighter. She also received Oscar and SAG nominations for her starring role in Frozen River, for which she won an Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead and a Spotlight Award from the National Board of Review, among countless other accolades. Leo shared a Best Ensemble acting award from the Phoenix Film Critics Society for her outstanding work in 21 Grams opposite Benicio del Toro and
Sean Penn. Her most recent films include Conviction opposite
Hilary Swank and
Sam Rockwell and Welcome to the Rileys opposite
James Gandolfini and
Kristen Stewart. Other notable film work includes The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, in which she starred opposite Dwight Yoakam and
Tommy Lee Jones, and Hide and Seek, in which she starred opposite
Robert De Niro. Leo can be seen in the upcoming films Red State, written and directed by
Kevin Smith, and Seven Days in Utopia opposite
Robert Duvall, and in "Mildr
Ed Pierce," the HBO miniseries directed by
Todd Haynes, in which Melissa stars opposite
Kate Winslet. Leo's television credits include the current HBO series "Treme" from executive producer David Simon, and she is known for her groundbreaking portrayal of Detective Kay Howard on "Homicide: Life on the Streets." Leo studied Drama at Mount View Theatre School in London, England and later at the SUNY Purchase Acting Program.
SINCE 1986,
Naked Angels has been committed to strengthening a community of artists through the development and production of provocative new work. The company has played a role in developing critically acclaimed new plays including The Substance of Fire, Side Man, Tape, Fault Lines and most recently the Tony Award-nominated Next Fall. From New York to LA, they inspire artists to generate fresh voices and create new work through their popular Tuesdays@9 (cold readings of plays, screenplays, stories and music in early development), 1st Mondays (public readings of new plays), and Angels in Progress (weeklong workshops). Their newest venture, Naked Radio, brings the work of talented new writers from the stage to the digital airwaves through weekly blogs and podcasts.
Naked Angels is led by
Andy Donald (Artistic Director) and
Renee Blinkwolt (Interim Managing Director).
Founded 80 years ago, Guild Hall is the year-round visual and performing arts center wholly dedicated to serving the residents, members, families, and artists of the East End and offering them, as well as visitors and tourists, enriching experiences by presenting relevant and meaningful programs and events, working in collaboration with artists, and providing a meeting place for the community. For more information and to become a member, visit www.GuildHall.org.
Photo Credit: Walter McBride/WM Photos
Photo Credit: Walter McBride/WM Photos
