Patti LuPone, Morgan Freeman, Laurie Metcalf, Phylicia Rashad, and more Broadway stars will perform in a new batch of Broadway’s Best Shows’ Spotlight on Plays weekly virtual readings to support The Actors Fund. Gore Vidal’s The Best Man kicks off the fall lineup October 14.
Starring in The Best Man are Freeman, Rashad, Elizabeth Ashley, Reed Birney, Matthew Broderick, Katie Finneran, Julie Halston, Stacy Keach, Robert Krulwich, John Malkovich, Zachary Quinto, Robert Sella, Lee Wilkof, Vanessa Williams, and Whitney Winfield. Sean Close, Travoye Joyner, Jered McLenigan, and TJ Wagner round out the ensemble; Michael Wilson directs.
The series continues October 20 with Kenneth Lonergan’s This Is Our Youth, starring Lucas Hedges, Paul Mescal, and Grace Van Patten. Lila Neugebauer directs.
David Mamet
Courtesy of MasterClassUp next is a David Mamet double-header with Race October 29 and Boston Marriage November 12. The former is directed by Rashad and will star David Alan Grier, Ed O’Neill, Alicia Stith, and Richard Thomas. LuPone, Rebecca Pidgeon, and Sophia Macy headline Boston Marriage, directed by Mamet himself.
Then, Alan Cumming, Samira Wiley, Constance Wu, Ellen Burstyn, Manik Choksi, K. Todd Freeman, Mia Katigbak, and Anson Mount star in Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya November 19. Gabriel Ebert serves as the narrator, with Danya Taymor directing Neil LaBute’s adaptation.
Ushering in the new month December 1 is Donald Margulies’ Time Stands Still, starring the original Broadway cast: Eric Bogosian, Brian d’Arcy James, Laura Linney, and Alicia Silverstone. Daniel Sullivan directs.
Finally, Robert O’Hara helms his own Barbecue December 10. Carrie Coon, Colman Domingo, Kimberly Hébert Gregory, Annie McNamara, S. Epatha Merkerson, Metcalf, David Morse, Kristine Nielsen, Tamberla Perry, and Heather Simms will take part in the presentation.
All streams begin at 8 PM ET with pay-what-you-can tickets available on TodayTix.
The Spotlight on Plays series is created and executive produced by Jeffrey Richards and produced by Patty Baker/Good Productions, Rebecca Gold, Jayne Baron Sherman, and Iris Smith with Jim Glaub and Jacob Soroken Porter. Select productions in the series are also produced by Ken Greiner, Louise L. Gund, Terry Schnuck, Ted Snowdon, and The Shubert Organization.
