Barbara Walsh, Stephanie D’Abruzzo Lead THE DINING ROOM

Broadway stars Barbara Walsh (Company) and Stephanie D'Abruzzo (Avenue Q) will perform in a benefit reading of A. R. Gurney's classic play, The Dining Room. Also in the cast are Bill Connington (Zombie), David M. Lutken (Inherit the Wind), and AnnMarie Benedict (Robeson). The director is Dan Cordle. The staged reading will take place on Wednesday, November 2nd at 7 pm at the New York Society of Colonial Dames in the State of New York, at 215 East 71st Street (between 2nd and 3rd Avenues), New York, NY 10021. Cocktails are at 6 pm. The evening is a benefit for the renovation of the dining room at Van Cortlandt House Museum, in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. Tickets are $75 each, or two for $125. For reservations, call 212-744-3572.
Barbara Walsh (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Walsh) won the Drama Desk Award, and was nominated for a Tony Award for her work in Falsettos on Broadway. She appeared in the John Doyle production of Company, for which she received a Drama Desk nomination. Stephanie D'Abruzzo (http://www.stephaniedabruzzo.com) was nominated for a Tony Award for Avenue Q, and won a Theater World Award. She also has appeared in the musical Carnival. Bill Connington (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1316434233) adapted the Joyce Carol Oates novella Zombie into an award-winning solo play he performed Off-Broadway. He reprised his role in an award-winning short film. Zombie will be shot next year as a feature film. David M. Lutken (http://www.ibdb.com/person.php?id=70612) has performed on Broadway in Ring of Fire, and The Civil War. AnnMarie Benedict (http://www.abouttheartists.com/artists/273385)

has appeared in Robeson, and the Joyce Carol Oates play I Stand Before You Naked.
A.R. Gurney (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._R._Gurney) is a respected and prolific playwright who often writes about what has been called "WASP culture" and its eventual decline in power. The Dining Room is one of Gurney's most popular plays, and has been called, "A comedy of manners about what it means to be a WASP." One of Gurney's most recent plays is The Grand Manner, which was produced last year at Lincoln Center. He is a member of the Theatre Hall of Fame, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Van Cortlandt House Museum (http://www.vancortlandthouse.org/) is located in Van Cortlandt Park, in the Bronx. The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America (http://nscda.org/museums2/ny-colonialdamesmuseumhouse.html) is a national membership society that is dedicated to educating children about life in Colonial America, and helping to preserve historically significant properties around the country. Van Cortlandt House was built in 1748, and was the headquarters of General George Washington in the Battle of White Plains.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/WM Photos

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/WM Photos

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