Paul Hecht, Roberta Maxwell and More Join Cornelia Street Cafe's HAPPY BIRTHDAY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE!, 4/22

Curated by veteran actor Paul Hecht, this series celebrates the birthdays of famous poets with an hour-long evening of poetry and music. The Happy Birthday Poetry series, started about 7 years ago to reflect Mr. Hecht's love of poetry and belief that poems should be read out loud and by actors. Dates are determined by the poets' birthday months.

Cornelia Street Café provides the perfect setting - a casual intimate space where the audience is close to the actors and where they can drink while listening. The music gives the listener a moment to reflect on the words just spoken and to get ready for the next 'onslaught'. Over the years, some programs have been so popular that they have become an annual event.

The celebration is set for Monday, April 22, 2013 at 6pm at Cornelia St. Café, 29 Cornelia Street, New York, NY. Admission: $15 cover includes one drink, Reservations Recommended: 212-989-9319 or www.corneliastreetcafe.com

Paul Hecht, Actor :Paul Hecht has starred on Broadway opposite such actors as Rex Harrison and Maggie Smith, was a Tony nominee for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead and received an OBIE for the title role in Pirandello's Henry IV. He has a long and varied career in film and television and has directed and appeared in many literary events in NYC, including at least a dozen at Cornelia Street including last year's Shakespeare celebration and, in an inspired stroke of typecasting, God in Milton's Paradise Lost.

Barbara Feldon, Actress: Barbara Feldon is best known as "99" - the secret Agent on the TV series, Get Smart. She has performed in television, variety shows, and motion pictures, (only one of which she wishes to recall: the Michael Richie film Smile). Off Broadway: Past Tense, Cut the Ribbons, and her one woman show, Love for Better or Verse. Over the years she has developed a number of poetry and prose readings: Great Love Poetry, Pablo Neruda in His Own Words, Jane Austin, and Virginia Woolf. Her book of essays, Living Alone - and Loving It! was published in 2003 by Simon and Schuster.

Roberta Maxwell, Actress: Roberta Maxwell has appeared on Broadway in Our Town, Equus, Othello, Henry V. Off-Broadway with CSC, The Public Theater, MTC. Regional: all over the country. Film: Dead Man Walking, Brokeback Mountain, Popeye, Philadelphia, Last Night, Sudden Disclosure, Scar Tissue. Every conceivable TV Series. Awards: Obies for Whistle in the Dark, Ashes, Drama Desk (Slag), Villager (Mary Stuart), Carbonell (Lettuce and Lovage).

Richard Easton, Actor: Richard Easton won the Tony for Best Actor for The Invention of Love and in 2008 was inducted into the Broadway Hall of Fame. Broadway: Back to Methusela , The Country Wife, School for Scandal, Noises Off, Henry IV, The Rivals, The Coast of Utopia. Off-Broadway: New Jerusalem; Entertaining Mr. Sloane; Bach at Leipzig; Echoes of the War; Observe the Sons of Ulster; Hotel Universe; Waste; Give Me Your Answer, Do!; Salad Days. Lots of Shakespeare at all three Stratfords, The Old Globe in San Diego, APA at the Lyceum.

Jolle Greenleaf, Soprano: Hailed as a "golden soprano" and called "a major force in the New York early music-scene" by the New York Times, JOLLE GREENLEAF is one of the leading voices in the field. She is a much sought-after soloist in music by Bach, Buxtehude, Handel, Purcell and, most notably, Monteverdi. The New York Times called her "An exciting soprano soloist... beautifully accurate and stylish..."

Hank Heijink, Lutenist: Lutenist HANK HEIJINK has played all over the world with leading ensembles such as the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, European Union Baroque Orchestra, Orchestre d'Auvergne, TENET, Mark Morris Dance Group and the Wooster Group. He is in high demand as an accompanist on theorbo, lute and guitar, and his playing has been described as "eloquent" (Wall Street Journal) and "deft and sensitive" (New York Times).