Whoopi Goldberg, Maggie Gyllenhaal and James Earl Jones to Knock the Ball Out of the Park for Roundabout's DAMN YANKEES Benefit

Roundabout Theatre Company has just announced a special Benefit Concert Reading of Damn Yankees, the Tony award-winning musical comedy by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop with music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross.

The evening will bring three beloved stars of stage and screen back to the Broadway stage for one night only! Tony and Academy Award winner Whoopi Goldberg is set to star as "Applegate," Golden Globe winner Maggie Gyllenhaal will star as "Lola" and Tony and Academy Award winner James Earl Jones as "Mr. Welch."

Roundabout's Associate Artist Kathleen Marshall will direct this one-night only special event. Roundabout welcomes back Kathleen following her Tony Award-winning work directing and choregraphing Anything Goes and prior to that, her Tony-winning choreography for another Adler and Ross musical comedy - The Pajama Game (Tony Award, Best Revival). Ms. Gyllenhaal returns to following her acclaimed Broadway debut in The Real Thing and Roundabout is thrilled to welcome legendary actors Ms. Goldberg and Mr. Jones into the family of Roundabout artists.

The Benefit Concert Reading will take place on Monday, December 11, 2017 at 7:30 PM at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre.

Would you do ANYTHING to help your favorite baseball team win the pennant? In the Faustian baseball musical, Damn Yankees, Joe Boyd sells his soul to the devil to be the home run hitter that will guide his favorite team, the Washington Senators, to a win against those "Damn Yankees." Featuring the classical musical theatre standards, "Heart," "Two Lost Souls" and "Whatever Lola Wants", follow Joe in his quest to save his team...and his soul.

Proceeds from the Benefit Concert Reading of Damn Yankees support Roundabout Theatre Company's many programs and initiatives, including Education at Roundabout.

VIP, Benefactor and Producer tickets include admission to an exclusive cast party following the performance. Additional cast members and creative team will be announced soon. Generous underwriting support is provided by Michael T. Cohen, Colliers International NY, LLC.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Whoopi Goldberg (Applegate). Whoopi Goldberg is one of an elite group of artists who have won the Grammy, the Academy Award, the Golden Globe, the Emmy and Daytime Emmy and a Tony Award. Born and raised in New York City, Whoopi worked in theatre and improvisation in San Diego and the Bay Area, where she performed with the Blake Street Hawkeyes theatre troupe. It was there that she created the characters which became "The Spook Show" and evolved into her hit Broadway show, Grammy Award-winning album and the HBO special that helped launch her career. Whoopi made her motion picture debut in Steven Spielberg's film version of Alice Walker's "The Color Purple," for which she earned an Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe Award. Her performance in "Ghost" earned her the Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress and she has starred in such films as "Jumpin' Jack Flash," "Clara's Heart," "The Long Walk Home," "Soapdish," "Sister Act," "Made in America," "Boys on the Side," "Ghosts of Mississippi," "How Stella Got Her Groove Back," "Girl, Interrupted," and "The Lion King," among many others. Whoopi has also produced numerous series, specials and movies for television, as well as theatrical productions on Broadway and around the world, including the Tony Award-winning "Thoroughly Modern Millie" and the Tony-nominated "Sister Act: The Musical." Whoopi's Broadway credits include "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" and "Xanadu" and she made her West End stage debut in a special limited run as Mother Superior in "Sister Act: The Musical" in 2011. She is a best-selling author and currently moderates ABC's Emmy Award-winning "The View," for which she has won a Daytime Emmy Award. Whoopi was recently elected to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Board of Governors, which sets the Academy's strategic vision, preserves the organization's financial health and assures the fulfillment of its mission. She was also honored in 2017 with the Disney Legends Award, which celebrates artists whose work has significantly contributed to Disney's enduring reputation for creative excellence.

Maggie Gyllenhaal (Lola). Maggie Gyllenhaal is one of the great young actresses of today. In 2014, Gyllenhaal headlined the BBC/Sundance TV original series The Honorable Woman garnering a 2015 Golden Globe Award, a SAG Award nomination, and an Emmy Award nomination. She also gained critical acclaim and an Oscar nomination for "Best Supporting Actress" for her portrayal of Jean Craddock in Crazy Heart alongside Jeff Bridges, further exemplifying her talent and versatility as an actress. After receiving rave reviews out of the 2002 Sundance competition for her starring role opposite James Spader in Lion's Gate's Secretary, she went on to receive a Golden Globe nomination for "Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical", an Independent Spirit Award nomination for "Best Actress," a Chicago Film Critics' Award for "Most Promising Performer," A Boston Film Critics' Award for "Best Actress," a National Board of Review Award for "Breakthrough Performance" and an IFP/Gotham "Breakthrough Performance"Award. Gyllenhaal made her feature film debut in 1992, alongside Jeremy Irons and Ethan Hawke in Waterland. This was followed by a memorable performance as "Raven", the Satan-worshipping make-up artist in John Waters' quirky Hollywood satire, Cecil B. Demented, which led her to a co-starring role in Donnie Darko, a fantasy-thriller about disturbed adolescence. Years later, back at Sundance in 2007, Gyllenhaal starred in Sherrybaby; she played a female convict struggling to overcome her drug addiction and regain custody of her daughter. The film was well-received by critics and garnered her second Golden Globe nomination, this time for Best Actress in a Motion Picture-Drama. Gyllenhaal was also nominated for a 2006 Independent Spirit Award for her role in Don Roos' Happy Endings, opposite Lisa Kudrow and Tom Arnold. She was Rachel Dawes in the Warner Bros. box office hit Dark Knight directed by Chris Nolan. She was also seen in Sam Mendes's Away We Go. Also accomplished on stage, Gyllenhaal starred as "Alice" in Patrick Mauber's award-winning Closer at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles for director Robert Egan, and previously at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre. She has also appeared in Anthony and Cleopatra at the Vanborough Theatre in London. In 2004, Gyllenhaal starred in Tony Kushner's play Homebody/Kabul, which ran in both Los Angeles and at B.A.M. Next, Gyllenhaal will be seen alongside Peter Sarsgaard and Mamie Gummer in Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov. In August 2010, Gyllenhaal was seen in Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang with Emma Thompson. In 2011, Gyllenhaal appeared in the Anton Chekhov play 'Three Sisters' alongside Peter Sarsgaard, Jessica Hecht and Josh Hamilton and also starred alongside Hugh Dancy in the romantic comedy, Hysteria. In 2012, Gyllenhaal starred in the drama, Won't Back Down alongside Viola Davis and directed by Daniel Barnz. On the silver screen, Gyllenhaal was seen in Lenny Abrahamson's Frank, co-starring Michael Fassbender and in White House Down, directed by Roland Emmerich alongside Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx. In 2014, Gyllenhaal made her Broadway debut in Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing, opposite Ewan McGregor and Cynthia Nixon. Gyllenhaal produced and is starring in David Simon's HBO drama The Deuce, currently airing its first season on HBO to rave reviews. She recently wrapped filming on The Kindergarten Teacher, an independent film of which she is also producing and starring, in New York.

James Earl Jones (Mr. Welch). In 1957 James Earl Jones made his Broadway debut. Since that time he has performed on stage, television, and in films and continues to receive accolades from every corner of the entertainment industry. In addition to having won two Tony Awards for his work on Broadway in The Great White Hope and Fences, Jones has garnered much praise for more recent stage roles including those he performed in the Broadway productions of On Golden Pond, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Driving Miss Daisy, The Best Man, You Can't Take It With You and The Gin Game. Among his numerous and distinguished awards, Jones has received the National Medal of Arts, The John F. Kennedy Center Honor and most recently in 2011, The Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented him with an honorary Oscar. James Earl Jones' voice is known by people of all ages and walks of life, from Star Wars fans who have long recognized him as the voice of Darth Vader, to children for whom he is Mufasa from Disney's The Lion King.

Kathleen Marshall (Director). Broadway credits include In Transit, Nice Work If You Can Get It; Anything Goes; The Pajama Game; Wonderful Town; Living on Love; Grease; Little Shop of Horrors; Follies; Seussical; Kiss Me, Kate; 1776; and Swinging on a Star. Off-Broadway and regional: Two Gentlemen of Verona (NYSF); Saturday Night (Second Stage); Love's Labor's Lost (Old Globe); My Paris (Long Wharf); Ever After (Paper Mill); Diner (Signature Theatre); The Unsinkable Molly Brown (Denver Center Theatre); The Band Wagon, I'm Getting My Act Together..., Bells Are Ringing, Carnival and Babes in Arms (City Center Encores!). TV: "Once Upon a Mattress," "The Music Man" (Emmy nomination) and "2 Broke Girls." She has received three Tony Awards (out of nine nominations), three Drama Desk Awards, three Outer Critics Circle Awards, the Astaire Award, the George Abbott Award, the Smith College Medal (her alma mater) and the Pennsylvania Governor's Award for the Arts. She is a member of the Executive Board of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.

Tax-deductible benefit tickets are available by calling Roundabout's Development Office at 212-719-9393 ext. 369. General tickets are on sale now.

Gold Sponsor Package at $50,000 ($47,640 tax-deductible) - Includes eight premium house seats in center orchestra; listing as an Underwriter on all posters, programs and press materials below show title; invitation to exclusive pre-show event for all eight guests; invitation to attend post-show cast party; a complimentary cocktail at intermission; limited edition, framed show poster signed by the company.

Silver Sponsor Package at $25,000 ($23,220 tax-deductible) - Includes six premium house seats in center orchestra; listing as an Underwriter on all posters, programs and press materials below show title; invitation to exclusive pre-show event for all six guests; invitation to attend post-show cast party; a complimentary cocktail at intermission; limited edition, framed show poster signed by the company.

Producer Ticket(s) at $5,000 ($4,720 tax-deductible) - Includes premium house seat in center orchestra; complimentary cocktail at intermission; invitation to attend post-show cast party; limited edition, framed show poster signed by the company.

Benefactor Ticket(s) at $2,500 ($2,220 tax-deductible) - Includes premium house seat in center orchestra; complimentary cocktail at intermission; invitation to attend post-show cast party; limited edition, framed show poster signed by the company.

VIP Ticket(s) at $1,000 ($740 tax-deductible) - Includes premium house seat in center orchestra; complimentary cocktail at intermission; invitation to attend post-show cast party.

To purchase tickets at the VIP level and above, or to learn more about Underwriter Packages, please contact Natalie Rohr at 212-719-9393 ext 369; natalier@roundabouttheatre.org.

Select orchestra and mezzanine tickets ($150-$500) are also be available to the general public by calling Roundabout Audience Services at (212) 719-1300 or online at roundabouttheatre.org/damnyankees.