Montego Glover, Jonathan Groff and Anika Noni Rose Join The Public's PIRATES OF PENZANCE Benefit; Meryl Streep and Sir Howard Stringer to Honor Nora Ephron

The Public Theater announced today that Public Theater alumna and Academy Award winner Meryl Streep and Sir Howard Stringer will honor their friend and colleague, the late Nora Ephron, a long-time Public Theater board member, at The Public's Gala on Monday, June 10 at the Delacorte Theater, where the benefit evening will culminate in a concert performance of THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE.

In collaboration with The Central Park Conservancy and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, The Public Theater will plant a flowering cherry tree in Central Park across from the Delacorte Theater in honor of Ephron, who was a consummate lover of The Public's free Shakespeare in the Park. A plaque will be mounted outside the Delacorte to memorialize the occasion and Ephron's dedication to The Public.

"Meryl Streep and Howard Stringer will share their history and bond with Nora Ephron," said Artistic Director Oskar Eustis. "And the flowering cherry tree will be a beautiful reminder, for generations to come, of Nora's generosity of spirit."

Meryl Streep and Nora Ephron have a long history of collaboration together, beginning in 1983 when Streep was featured in Nora Ephron's Silkwood, directed by Mike Nichols, and most recently the 2009 feature film Julie & Julia, written and directed by Ephron.

Howard Stringer and Nora Ephron's relationship goes back decades, when Stringer became friends with Nick Pileggi, Ephron's future husband. When the Stringers had children, Ephron was named the godparent to David Stringer, and Nick to Harriet Stringer. As CEO of Sony, Stringer, who has 11 Emmy Awards, paid close attention to its Hollywood studio, and among his joys was the knowledge that Ephron made her movies for Sony.

In addition to the previously announced Kevin Kline as The Pirate King, Glenn Close as Ruth, Eric Idle as the Sergeant, and Martin Short as Major-General Stanley, Montego Glover has joined THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE company as Kate, with Jonathan Groff as Frederick, Norm Lewis as Samuel, and Anika Noni Rose as Mabel. The cast will also include Sarah Bolt, Darius Nichols, Eliseo Roman, Martín Solá, Matthew Stocke, and Frank Vlastnik in the ensemble.

Directed by Ted Sperling, with musical staging by original choreographer Graciela Daniele, and music direction by James Moore, the benefit concert will be staged at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park where The Public's award-winning production originally premiered more than three decades ago. The Public has a long history of premiering new musicals at the Delacorte Theater that have made a strong impact on the landscape of musical theater and are still performed around the world today.

The evening will begin with cocktails at 5:00 p.m. followed by alfresco dinner in Central Park. The concert performance of THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE at 8:00 p.m. will be followed by a dessert reception under the stars. Tickets to The Public Theater's annual gala onMonday, June 10 start at $650 and are now available for purchase at www.publictheater.org/gala, by calling (212) 539-8634 or via email gala@publictheater.org. The evening will be co-chaired by Sir Howard Stringer, Arielle Tepper Madover, and Renée Beaumont.

Inspired to produce the classics for free in a more popular arena, Public Theater founder Joe Papp brought Gilbert and Sullivan's delightful pirate tale, THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE, to the Delacorte Theater in a groundbreaking, rock-infused, modern staging starring Kevin Kline, Linda Ronstadt and Rex Smith. It was an overnight sensation, moving to Broadway in 1981 where it won the Tony Award for Best Revival.

The Public Theater's free Shakespeare in the Park continues to be the bedrock of the Company's mission to increase access. Since the opening of The Delacorte Theater in Central Park in 1962, more than five million people have enjoyed more than 150 free productions of Shakespeare and other classical works and musicals at The Delacorte Theater.

Bank of America returns for the seventh year as season sponsor of Shakespeare in the Park supporting The Public in its mission to keep this valued program free for all.