Carl Andress will direct the reading, which begins at 7:30 PM. The evening will feature a stage adaptation of Helen Deutsch's screenplay penned by Bob Hess and Doug Miller. Jacqueline Susann wrote the original novel. The cast will boast Charles Busch as Helen Lawson, Heidi Blickenstaff as Neely O’Hara, Tovah Feldshuh as Miriam Polar, Cheyenne Jackson as Tony Polar, Martha Plimpton as Anne Welles and Christopher Sieber as Ted Casablanca. Additional casting will be announced soon.

"Valley of the Dolls," according to press notes, "follows the lives of three women – naive New Englander Anne Welles, aspiring singer Neely O'Hara, and buxom beauty Jennifer North – as they attempt to achieve fame and fortune in show business. "As this legendary story unfolds, each starlet discovers that Hollywood is full of pitfalls and heartbreak. Instead of the happiness they seek, the trio descends into a dark world of sex, alcoholism, suicide and a chemical dependence on a variety of prescription 'dolls.'"

Tickets are $75, $100 and $150 and are now available by visiting www.actorsfund.org or by calling (212) 221-7300 ext. 133. Gerald W. Lynch Theatre at John Jay College is located at 899 Tenth Avenue.

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The Actors Fund, which was founded in 1882, is a non-profit organization that provides for the social welfare of all entertainment professionals. Some of the many programs The Actors Fund provides include a nursing home and assisted living care facility; senior and disabled programs; mental health services; chemical dependency services; entertainment industry assistance programs; the Phyllis Newman Women's Health Initiative; the AIDS Initiative; and supportive housing on both coasts.