Pendleton, who has appeared in many plays and musicals (Motel in the original Fiddler on the Roof) over his career, is currently represented Off-Broadway as the librettist of A Minister's Wife, a new musical version of George Bernard Shaw's Candida.

The evening will begin with a cocktail reception at 6:45 PM, followed by dinner, live auction and a special musical performance by Tony Award winner Michael Cerveris.

For benefit tickets and information, contact Audrey Carmeli at (212) 677-4210 ext. 12 or at [email protected].

Pendleton's additional recent directing credits include Vieux Carré at the Pearl Theatre; Fifty Words, produced by the Manhattan Class Company; and Lillian Yuralia by Barbara Eda-Young produced at La MaMa. On Broadway, he has directed Spoils of War, John Gabriel Borkman, The Runner Stumbles, Shelter and The Little Foxes, for which he received a Tony Award nomination. As an actor, recent appearances include Romulus Linney's Love Drunk, Bruce Robinson's Another Vermeer (Abingdon Theatre); Wendy Kesselman's musical The Black Monk; and Mother Courage (with Meryl Streep) and Romeo and Juliet (with Lauren Ambrose) for the Public Theater in Central Park.

He has written three plays: Orson's Shadow, Uncle Bob and Booth, all of them published, and produced internationally and in New York. Now in its 44th year, Off-Broadway's CSC is the award-winning Off-Broadway theatre committed to re-imagining the classical repertory for a contemporary American audience. The troupe is led by artistic director Brian Kulick and executive director Jessica R. Jenen.

CSC is currently presenting David Ives' new comedy The School for Lies, from Moliere's The Misanthrope, directed by Tony Award winner Walter Bobbie and featuring Mamie Gummer, Hamish Linklater, Alison Fraser and Jenn Gambatese.

For more information on Classic Stage Company, call (212) 352-3101, visit the theatre in person at 136 East 13th Street, or go to www.classicstage.org.