Mint Theater Co Holds Reading Of SO HELP ME GOD! With Kristen Johnston 6/8

Mint Theater Company will present a reading of the backstage farce, So Help Me God! by Maurine Dallas Watkins on Monday, June 8th at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street). Kristen Johnston, three-time Emmy Award winner for her performance in "Third Rock from the Sun" will read the leading role of Lily, a fabulous dramatic diva who must fend off a challenge from her ambitious but naïve understudy. Watkins play was written nearly 20 years before Mary Orr wrote her story about Eve Harrington - the basis for the famous film, All About Eve.

So Help Me God! will be directed by Martin Platt. In addition to Ms. Johnston, the cast will also include Sheffield Chastain, Catherine Curtin, Amy Fitts, Roderick Hill, Shannon Koob, Jeremy Lawrence, Paul O'Brien, Mark Pinter, Allen Lewis Rickman, Gareth Saxe, Kraig Swartz, Jeff Steitzer, Peter Van Wagner, John C. Vennema, and Margot White

Maurine Dallas Watkins was a journalist with the Chicago Tribune in the 1920s, covering the crime beat - but her real aspiration was to write plays. She studied playwriting at Yale in George Pierce Baker's famous 47 Workshop and wrote the play Chicago for a class assignment. Originally titled The Brave Little Woman, Chicago made a great sensation on Broadway in 1927 under the direction of George Abbot. Watkins' play was the basis for the wildly successful Broadway musical, now at the Ambassador Theatre. Shortly after the success of Chicago, Watkins went to Hollywood where she became a successful screenwriter. Her credits include Libeled Lady and Roxie Hart, based on her play, Chicago.

So Help Me God! circled New York in October of 1929 but did not land on Broadway, thanks in no small part to the Stock Market Crash. The comedy tried out "out-of-town" on the "Subway Circuit" including Werba's Flatbush Theater and the Boulevard Theater in Queens.

Kristin Johnston has recently been tapped to star in the Fox series "Absolutely Fabulous." Johnston's New York stage credits include The Women, Aunt Dan and Lemon and The Skin of Our Teeth.

Mint Theater Company, "that truffle hound of half-buried treasures from the past" (Village Voice) has a celebrated reputation for re-discovering worthy but neglected gems and has brought new vitality to timeless but timely plays since 1992. In 2001, the Mint was awarded an Obie for "combining the excitement of discovery with the richness of tradition." Mint was awarded a special Drama Desk Award for "Unearthing, presenting and preserving forgotten plays of merit."

A limited number of tickets from $40 to $250 are available by calling the Mint box office at 212/315-0231 or go to www.minttheater.org <http://www.minttheater.org> . The Lucille Lortel Theater is located at 121 Christopher Street. The reading begins at 7:30 PM.