LAByrinth Theater Company reunites much of the original Off-Broadway cast of Stephen Adly Guirgis’ Our Lady of 121st Street for a free virtual reading of the play May 23. The live event will help raise funds for the Off-Broadway company, which first produced the play at the Union Square Theater in 2003.
In Our Lady of 121st Street, which was revived by Signature Theatre in 2018, a group of former students return to their Harlem neighborhood to pay respects to the late Sister Rose. Once there, they discover that her body has been stolen.
The reading, directed by LAB member and Tony nominee Elizabeth Rodriguez, kicks off at 8 PM ET on the LAByrinth website, and will be available to stream for 24 hours.
Returning from the original cast for the fundraiser are Elizabeth Canavan, Liza Colón-Zayas, Scott Hudson, Russell G. Jones, Portia, Al Roffe, Felix Solis, and David Zayas. Rodriguez, who directs, was also an understudy from the original company.
Completing the company are Bobby Cannavale (The Motherf**ker with the Hat, Mauritius), John Doman (The Wire, Our Lady of 121st Street at Signature Theatre), Laurence Fishburne (Thurgood, Two Trains Running), and Dierdre Friel (New Amsterdam, Our Lady of 121st Street at Signature Theatre).
“This reading, featuring both original cast members from the LAB company and others whose work we’ve long admired, will help our community come together and hopefully raise some much-needed funds to get us through these unprecedented, tough times,” shared John Ortiz, LAB’s artistic director.
The Our Lady of 121st Street reading is free to the public, with donations throughout the evening benefiting LAB’s operations during the public health crisis.
The company will also use the evening to present playwright Guirgis with the Dave Hogue Award, given to a member of the LAB community in honor of artistic courage and outstanding dedication to the company.
