Cheech Marin and James Gammon, most recently theatrical co-stars in Sam Shepard's world premiere The Late Henry Moss, join together again to read the stories of PEN Award winner Dagoberto Gilb Feb. 12 for the benefit of co-founder Gammon's MET Theatre in Los Angeles.

Gilb won a PEN Hemingway Award for his first collection of stories, "The Magic of Blood," and was a finalist for the Faulkner Award for best fiction published in the U.S. His novel, "The Last Known Address of Mickey Acuna," was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. His essays have appeared in the New Yorker, the Washington Post and in "Best American Essays of 1997" and "1999."

The Feb. 12 readings will feature Cheech Marin on "Maria de Covina," the story of a clerk seduced by the women he works with, Gammon will read a selection of tales, and Gilb himself will tackle "Romero's Shift."

Marin is best known for the 70's Cheech & Chong comedy team, the TV series “Nash Bridges,” and comic film roles in "From Dusk Till Dawn," "Tin Cup" and "The Lion King." Gammon, who co-founded the MET in 1973, was Tony nominated for the Gary Sinise revival of Shepard's Buried Child and also performed in the playwright's Curse of the Starving Class and Simpatico Off Broadway. His film roles include all the "Major League" films, "The Milagro Beanfield War" and "Silverado."

In the end of Feb., Sean Penn and Michael O'Keefe will read the works of Thom Jones. Jones, a former janitor and boxer, drew attention with his first short story collection, "The Pugilist at Rest," which he then followed with the equally well-received "Cold Snap" and "Sonny Liston Was a Friend of Mine." The other writers to be read include Jane Smiley, Tim O'Brien, Denis Johnson and Denise Chavez. The series director is Tom Grimes. His novels include "A Stone Of the Heart" and "Season's End." His play New World will be produced at the MET in both Spanish and English.

Tickets are $50. The MET Theatre is located at 1089 N. Oxford Ave. For reservations, call (323) 957-1152.

— By Christine Ehren