A reading of a new play by Michael Portantiere, managing editor of InTheatre, will be held Thursday, April 30, at 5:30 PM at the Church of St. Paul's (on Columbus, between 59th and 60th) -- and, if it has a certain theatrical echo, it won't be an accident.
Titled Backstage, the piece has been characterized as an all-male revision of the formerly all-female Stage Door, George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber's classic stage comedy which took place in a boarding house full of aspiring young actresses.
It made a famous film comedy in 1937, with Katharine Hepburn starring in a role created on Broadway by her archrival, Margaret Sullavan. Her apartment mates included Ginger Rogers, Lucille Ball, Eve Arden, Ann Miller, Andrea Leeds and Gail Patrick. The screenplay overhauled the original play so much that Kaufman called it "Screen Door."
Backstage admission is free.
-- By Harry Haun
