LAByrinth Theater Company Hosts Celebrity Charades at Sept. 26 Benefit

LAByrinth Theater Company will present the Third Annual LAByrinth Theater Company Benefit featuring Celebrity Charades tonight, Monday, September 26th.

 

The evening will begin with the Tailgate at the Public Theater (425 Lafayette Street). Cocktails and hors d'oeuvres will be served from 6:30pm – 8:30pm in the LuEsther Theater. This portion of the evening will feature a silent auction full of autographed scripts and screenplays. The Dave Hogue Award will be presented to Ira Pittelman in honor of artistic courage and outstanding dedication to LAByrinth Theater Company (previous honorees include Madonna and George C. Wolfe).

 

At 8:30pm, everyone will travel by school bus to the Big Game at St. Patrick's Youth Center (268 Mulberry Street between Houston and Prince). Cheerleaders will kick off a live auction followed by a chance to cheer on celebs as they head out onto the basketball court for Celebrity Charades. Celebrities scheduled to appear include co-Artistic Director Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bebe Neuwirth, singer Vanessa Carlton, Brad Garrett,   Mariska Hargitay, Kyra Sedgwick, Judy Reyes, director, producer and playwright George C. Wolfe, Bob Balaban, designer Cynthia Rowley, composer Marc Shaiman, Daphne Rubin-Vega, and Yul Vasquez. The evening will also feature writer Eric Bogosian as The Principal, Stephen Adly Guirgis as The Referee and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright John Patrick Shanley who will present the award to the winning team.

 

"LAByrinth was founded in 1992 when thirteen actors joined forces to form a place to work. The idea was to create a home where the group, for three hours each week, could engage in a variety of theatrical exercises designed to push each others' limits and bind together into a tightly knit, uninhibited and impassioned ensemble - one in which each member is given the opportunity and support not only to act, but to write, direct, produce, sweep, paint, hang lights, etcetera. The fact that the company now consists of 92 members from a wide array of cultural perspectives did not occur through some political design. It grew out of a shared artistic sensibility and a desire to create personal work that reflects the community in which the company lives: New York City," according to press notes.

LAByrinth Theater Company has produced 38 new American plays including The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Our Lady of 121st Street, Jesus Hopped The 'A' Train, and In Arabia, We'd All Be Kings by Stephen Adly Guirgis; Guinea Pig Solo by Brett C. Leonard; Dutch Heart of Man by Robert Glaudini; The Trail of Her Inner Thigh by Erin Cressida Wilson; Stopless by David Deblinger; Dreaming in Tongues by the LAByrinth Ensemble; Cutting Open Wings by Lidia Ramirez; Queen Latina and Her Power Posse Versus The Evils of Society (a musical comic book for the stage) by David Anzuelo; and Sailor's Song, Where's My Money, A Winter Party, and Dirty Story by John Patrick Shanley.

 

$10 per ticket sold will be donated to the Southern Repertory Theatre in New Orleans to help restore the damage done by Hurricane Katrina. Individual tickets are $250 or $400. Sponsor Packages range from $2,500 to $10,000. All proceeds from this event will support LAByrinth's 2005-2006 Season hosted by The Public Theater. For more information or to purchase tickets, contact Veronica R. Bainbridge by phone at (212) 513-1080 or by email at veronica@labtheater.org.