The Acting Company Announces Holiday Benefit With John Rando and Rainn Wilson

The Acting Company (Ian Belknap, Artistic Director; Margot Harley, Founder) today announces they will celebrate the holiday season with a virtual benefit performance of songs, readings, holiday traditions, and hijinks that will feature alumni and friends of the company. Styled as a variety show and hosted by company alum, Rainn Wilson and directed by John Rando, the event will feature performances from actors who have performed with The Acting Company during its storied 48-year history. The virtual fundraiser will stream live on December 17th at 8pm, EST and is free for all to enjoy. Donations to this benefit are highly encouraged.

This fundraiser reunites Rainn Wilson and director John Rando, whose careers both began on tour with The Acting Company in 1990. From 2005-2013 Wilson played the icon Dwight Schrute on the NBC sitcom The Office, which earned him three consecutive Emmy Award nominations . Rando, who won the Tony Award for Best Director of a Musical for Urinetown, has a new production of Back to the Future scheduled to open in London's West End in 2021. Wilson and Rando's shared sense of humor and zany imaginations will breathe new life into favorite holiday memories drawn from children's stories, holiday poems, and music, providing laughter for the whole family this holiday season.

Joining Wilson will be alumni and friends of The Acting Company including: Oscar and three-time Tony Award winner, Kevin Kline; Harriet Harris (Tony Award, Thoroughly Modern Millie. Phantom Thread); Lorraine Toussaint ( The Glorias, Orange is the New Black); Jesse L. Martin ( Rent and Law and Order); Sara Mearns (principal with New York City Ballet), Lisa Banes ( The Niceties, Gone Girl); Steven Skybell (Lortel Award, Fiddler on the Roof); Tatiana Wechsler ( X: or, Betty Shabazz v. The Nation) and others.

The event is free for all to enjoy. Donations to this benefit are highly encouraged. Register for this event online at www.theactingcompany.org or by calling (212) 258-3111.

A limited amount of premium tickets are available for purchase which offer private virtual viewing options along with catering delivered to individuals' homes. For information on these packages, please email: cparrinello@theactingcompany.org The benefit will also include a raffle, live auction, and a silent auction which opens on November 30th, and will accept bids from both benefit guests and non-attendees.

All proceeds will benefit a 2021-2022 national tour of Twelfth Night directed by Kent Gash and The Three Musketeers directed by Carl Cofield.

Ian Belknap is the Artistic Director of company. Margot Harley, the Founder. Earl D. Weiner is Chairman of The Acting Company's board of directors.