Memorial for Christopher Evan Welch Set for 2/17 at Pershing Square Signature Center

A memorial to celebrate the life and career of actor Christopher Evan Welch will take place on Monday, February 17 on the Irene Diamond Stage of The Pershing Square Signature Center (480 W. 42nd Street). The event is open to the public and will begin at 3:00 with doors opening at 2:30PM. Mr. Welch died Monday, December 2 in Santa Monica, California from complications related to cancer. He was 48.

Some of the speakers taking part will include: Jefferson Mays, Reg Rogers, Tony Shalhoub, Bruce Norris, Theresa Rebeck, Doug Hughes and Guthrie Artistic Director Joe Dowling. Those attending the event are invited to gather afterwards at the Signature Café and Bar. Inquiries may be addressed to rememberingchrisw@gmail.com.

Christopher Evan Welch, the Obie-award winning actor, made his New York stage debut in 1997 in a Roundabout Theater production of Scapin, directed by and starring Bill Irwin. He gave other memorable performances as Mitch in the 1999 New York Theater Workshop revival of A Streetcar Named Desire, as Reverend Parris in the 2002 Broadway revival of The Crucible starring Liam Neeson and Laura Linney, as Mercutio in the 2007 Shakespeare in the Park production of Romeo And Juliet, as Boo in the 2008 Roundabout Theater revival of Christopher Durang's The Marriage Of Bette And Boo, in Playwrights Horizons' 2006 production of Bruce Norris' The Pain And The Itch, and in Woody Allen's 2003 Writer's Block at the Atlantic Theater Company.

He worked again with Mr. Allen in 2008 narrating the director's film Vicky Cristina Barcelona and in the 2009 released Whatever Works with Larry David. Welch's other film credits include roles in Steven Spielberg's Lincoln, Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master, and Charlie Kaufman's Synecdoche, New York.

On television, Mr. Welch played the intelligence analyst Grant Test on the AMC drama "Rubicon" and appeared on "The Sopranos," "Nurse Jackie," "The Good Wife" and all three incarnations of "Law And Order."

At the time of his death, he was completing work as a series regular on the upcoming HBO comedy "Silicon Valley."

Photo by Walter McBride