PLAY/MATE Benefit Performance Announced At The Green Room 42

PLAY/MATE: An Entanglement 42 Production, a benefit concert supporting birthing bodies' reproductive rights, occurs Sunday, January 22nd, 9.30pm at The Green Room 42.

Entanglement 42 presents a benefit performance of selections from a new musical theatre work, PLAY/MATE, on Sunday, January 22nd at 9:30pm at The Green Room 42. The piece examines Bobbie Arnstein, Mildred Hefner and Barbi Benton, three women who inspired Hugh Hefner to create the Playboy media empire, his complex relationship with women, and his role as a galvanizing force in the women's and civil rights movements of the 1960-70s.

January 22, 2023 will be the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision on Roe vs. Wade, the first such anniversary since the Supreme Court stripped away those protections. The benefit raises money for WRRAP: Women's Reproductive Rights Assistance Project, an organization that supports reproductive rights and provides access for birthing bodies in need. Hugh Hefner and his foundation (Hugh M. Hefner Foundation for American Rights & Civil Liberties) have supported Planned Parenthood since its inception, and Hugh was directly invested in the ratification of Roe vs. Wade. Now, at a time when reproductive bodies are being marginalized and criminalized, we can use music, theatre, and art to support people in need and invest in avenues of change.

The concert will be performed by Olivia Griffin (Griswolds' Broadway Vacation, 5th Avenue Theatre), Nadia Vynnytsky (Bring It On: The Musical, nat'l tour), Tripp Fountain (Hair, Broadway), Mar'Shon Dalton, Brooke Ishibashi (Into the Woods, Broadway), and Elijah Caldwell (The Devil Wears Prada, pre-Broadway/Chicago), who also serves as music director and pianist. The music will be supported by Sklyer Volpe on bass and Wen-Ting Wu on percussion. The music and lyrics are by Justin S. Fischer, and the benefit will be directed by Bethany Christine Elkin with support from Tommy Scrivens.

Entanglement 42 is a new theatrical production company based in New York City dedicated to creating new musical theatre work with a focus on representation, atypical and innovative collaboration, and telling untold stories in authentic ways. As we entwine, we create.