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Los Angeles, CA (December 9, 2015) - The Shakespeare Center
of Los Angeles (SCLA) presented its 25th Annual Simply
Shakespeare benefit reading of “Twelfth Night”
directed by Ben Donenberg, Tuesday, December 8, 2015 at The
Broad Stage in Santa Monica. This year’s event honored
long-time Shakespeare Center supporters Rita Wilson and Tom
Hanks for their 25-year commitment to bringing the works of
William Shakespeare at no charge to the Los Angeles
community and creating programs for young people throughout
the city. The hilarious evening of impromptu Shakespeare
and song featured a star-studded cast including Tom
Hanks, along with Bette Midler, William Shatner,
Martin Short, Gillian Jacobs, Jason Alexander, Christina
Applegate, Eric Idle, Glenn Howerton, Tessa Thompson and
Anthony Mackie with a special appearance by Los
Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.
The evening included a pre-show cocktail reception, followed
by a post performance reception with the cast. All proceeds
from the event support the SCLA and its arts based veteran
employment and youth employment programs for inner-city
youth, arts education in local schools, and professional
union contracted productions at the Japanese Garden on the
grounds of the West Los Angeles Veterans Medical Center.
“Without the
extraordinary support, commitment and dedication of Rita
Wilson and Tom Hanks, there would be no Shakespeare Center,”
said Ben Donenberg, Shakespeare Center Los Angeles founding
Artistic Director. “They continue to make it possible to
bring the magic of the bard to generations who might
otherwise miss the enchantment of the theater and in doing
so, are building a tradition that enriches the lives of us
all.”
Multi-talented
actress/producer/writer and singer, Rita Wilson has achieved
success in each facet of her storied career. Among her many
screen credits are roles in It’s Complicated and Sleepless
in Seattle, as well as recurring roles on HBO’s
Girls and CBS’ The Good Wife. Wilson made her
Broadway debut in 2006 as Roxie Hart in Chicago,
followed with roles in the New York and Los Angeles stage
productions of Love, Loss & What I Wore; the world
premiere of Lisa Loomer’s Distracted at LA’s Mark
Taper Forum and the Pulitzer Prize winning Dinner With
Friends in Boston and New York. Last March, she
returned to Broadway opposite Larry David in the smash hit
Fish in the Dark. Rita first donned her producer’s
cap for the record breaking box office hit, My Big Fat
Greek Wedding and will do the same as well as appear in
the sequel, due in theaters in March, 2016. The film
captured a Visionary Award from the Producer’s Guild of
America for Wilson, as well as a People’s Choice Award and
Golden Globe and Oscar nominations. She went on to secure
the rights to and produce the film version of Mamma Mia!
starring Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan.
In May, 2012, Wilson
realized a lifelong dream with the debut of her solo album
AM/FM, an intimate, elegant and beautifully sung
collection of classics from the ‘60s and ‘70s. During the
past two years she has collaborated with a number of
extremely talented and successful songwriters composing
original material to be featured on Rita Wilson, her
new album slated for release February, 2016. In
conjunction with that release Rita will headline an over 20
city tour beginning with a residency at the famed Café
Carlyle in New York City Feb 23-March 5, and conclude the
tour on May 4 in Milwaukee.
One of the most
beloved figures in contemporary American cinema, Tom Hanks
has made an indelible mark on movies and television through
his extraordinary and eclectic performances and as a
director and producer. After his breakthrough in the ABC
sitcom Bosom Buddies, Hanks graduated to the big
screen, where he demonstrated a gift for juggling comedy and
drama in Penny Marshall’s Big, earning him his first
Academy Award nomination as Best Actor. In the ensuing
decades, he has played a vast array of roles for some of
Hollywood’s leading filmmakers, including Steven Spielberg,
Jonathan Demme, Robert Zemeckis, Joel and Ethan Coen, Brian
De Palma, John Lasseter and the Wachowskis. In 1995, he
became the second actor in history (after Spencer Tracy) to
win back-to-back Best Actor Oscars, for Philadelphia
and Forrest Gump. Hanks’ latest film, Bridge of
Spies, directed by Spielberg, debuted on October 16.
On the other side of
the camera, Hanks made an acclaimed directorial debut with
the musical comedy That Thing You Do! As a producer,
Hanks and his company Playtone Entertainment have been
behind some of the most important film and television
projects of the last few decades, including the indie-movie
sensation My Big Fat Greek Wedding plus Emmy and
Golden Globe nominated Olive Kitteridge, Emmy
and Golden Globe nominated Big Love, Emmy winning and
Golden Globe nominated The Pacific, and Emmy and
Golden Globe winning series Band of Brothers, John
Adams and From the Earth to the Moon.
Simply
Shakespeare previous all-star casts have included
Jason Alexander, Tim Allen, Christina Applegate,
Annette Bening, Kenneth Branagh, Jackson Browne, Billy
Crystal, Sally Field, Kelsey Grammer, Neil Patrick Harris,
Faith Hill, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Kate Hudson, Helen Hunt,
Val Kilmer, Lisa Kudrow, Lyle Lovett, Steve Martin, Sir Paul
McCartney, Reba McEntire, Tim McGraw, Matthew Perry, David
Hyde Pierce, Jada Pinkett Smith, Keanu Reeves, Julia
Roberts, Ray Romano, William Shatner, Martin Sheen, Martin
Short, Will Smith, Robin Williams and Renee Zellweger.
ABOUT SHAKESPEARE CENTER LOS ANGELES:
Since 1985, The Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles has been a
vibrant hub of unique programs, performances and events
designed to make Shakespeare accessible and engaging to
all. SCLA continues to build community through its
innovative outreach programs including “Will Power to
Youth,” an academic enrichment program that combines
hands-on artistic experience with paid job training and arts
education for at-risk youth. The program has been
nationally recognized for its effectiveness in reducing high
school dropout rate and delinquency. More importantly, it
instills a lasting sense of creativity and competency in the
youth who participate.
SCLA’s “Veterans in Art” program represents
an innovation in veterans programming that explores how the
arts can contribute in a meaningful way in the efforts to
assist veterans to recover and reintegrate into mainstream
Los Angeles civilian life. This summer’s “Shakespeare Under
The Stars” professional production of “Romeo & Juliet”
incorporated a full veteran workforce supporting the
production and continues to offer free tickets to active
military, veterans and their families and care givers. For
more information on the Simply Shakespeare benefit
performance or SCLA, please visit
www.ShakespeareCenter.org, SCLA Twitter:
https://twitter.com/shakescenterLA and SCLA Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/shakescenter?filter=2.
The SCLA Simply Shakespeare reading of “Twelfth
Night” is made possible by the support of its sponsors,
The Capital Group and Occidental Entertainment Holdings. |