Bill Clinton to Give Keynote Speech at Old Vic Benefit
By Zachary Pincus-Roth
29 Mar 2007
Former president Bill Clinton will give the keynote speech at a benefit for the Old Vic Theatre on April 19, an evening that includes a performance of the London company's Broadway revival of Eugene O'Neill's A Moon for the Misbegotten.
Clinton, who serves as chair of the benefit committee, will speak at a dinner held at 10 PM, right after the play. Clinton has close ties to the Old Vic's artistic director, Kevin Spacey, who appears in the play, and Sally Greene, the Old Vic's chief executive.
The event also includes cocktails with the cast members at 5:30 PM, before the performance begins at 7 PM. The venues for the cocktails and the dinner will be within walking distance of the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, where the play is performed.
The benefit committee also includes Marsha Nuriya Lee (vice chairman), Colin Callender, Bob Diamond, Robert Earl, Wendy Meller, Gail Papp, Scott Simpson, John Sykes, Harvey Weinstein and George C. Wolfe. Other guests scheduled to attend include Kate Winslet, Sam Mendes, Mathew Modine and Mary Stuart Masterson.
Proceeds from this event will support the Old Vic, which, unlike other U.K. theatres such as the National, receives no subsidy from the British government. The theatre does have 501©(3) tax status for U.S. taxpayers.
In London, the Old Vic is currently presenting a 50th anniversary revival of John Osborne's The Entertainer, starring Robert Lindsay.
Tickets are $500 to $2,000. For tickets and more information on the benefit, contact Kathleen Hyppolite at (646) 205-3203. For more information about the Old Vic visit www.oldvictheatre.com.
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The Broadway revival of A Moon for the Misbegotten began previews March 29, opens April 8 and closes June 10. The director Howard Davies and the cast of Spacey, Eve Best, Colm Meaney, Billy Carter and Eugene O'Hare were all involved with the production at the Old Vic in London and are reprising their roles for Broadway.
A Moon for the Misbegotten, according to press notes, "tells the shattering story of Josie Hogan (Best), a towering woman with a quick tongue and a ruined reputation who lives in a dilapidated Connecticut farmhouse with her conniving father, Phil (Meaney). During one long moonlit night fueled by drink and lust, Josie's softer side is exposed through her feelings for Hogan's landlord Jim Tyrone (Spacey), and two implacable souls reveal to each other the grief, longing and unrequited love they've hidden from the world."
The design team for the Broadway production includes Bob Crowley (scenic design), Lynette Mauro (costume design), Mark Henderson (lighting design) and Christopher Shutt (sound design). Dominic Muldowney penned original music; the sound system design is by T. Richard Fitzgerald and Carl Casella.
Spacey plays James Tyrone Jr. on Broadway for the second time, after having played the role in Long Day's Journey Into Night. The actor won a Tony Award for Neil Simon's Lost in Yonkers and was Tony-nominated for his work in O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh. His other Broadway credits include Hurlyburly and Ghosts. He won Oscars for his performances in "American Beauty" and "The Usual Suspects."
A Moon for the Misbegotten premiered on Broadway in 1957 and was most recently seen in a 2000 revival starring Cherry Jones, Roy Dotrice and Gabriel Byrne.
The Brooks Atkinson Theatre is located in Manhattan at 256 West 47th Street. For tickets to the play visit Ticketmaster.com or call (212) 307-4100.
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