January 10, 2010 @ Ritz Carlton

Linda Cardellini

Sunny Florida welcomes WordTheatre actors:

• Nicole Ansari-Cox (As Good as Dead, Deadwood)

• Linda Cardellini (ER, Grandma's Boy)
  
• Brian Cox (Bourne Identity, LIE)
  
• Catherine Dent (The Shield, 21 Grams)
  
• Gary Dourdan (CSI, Perfect Stranger)
  
• Tess Harper (No Country for Old Men, Tender Mercies)
  
• John Heard (Prison Break, Home Alone)
• Anson Mount  (Conviction, In Her Shoes)
  

performing Mysteries of the Mind at the Sunshine from Darkness Gala in Sarasota, Florida.

Mysteries of the Mind is an original WordTheatre production featuring the words and stories of visionary artists, inventors, scientists and scholars who have wrestled with mental illness, woven together with music and performed by world class actors.

Sunshine from Darkness, has raised more than $200,000 in 2009. Every penny of which goes to research because their expenses are underwritten by corporate and private sponsors and donors. Through symposiums and other events, their goal is to provide funding and resources for research and awareness efforts supporting mental health and brain disorders.

The Gala takes place on Sunday, January 10, 2010, at 6:30 pm at The Ritz-Carlton in Sarasota, Florida. The evening begins with cocktails and a gourmet dinner Followed by the presentation of the 2009 Luminary Award to Gary Foster, producer of the feature film “The Soloist” starring Robert Downey, Jr. and Jamie Foxx. Mysteries of the Mind will then take the stage to wrap up the evening.

For more information about the event, please visit
http://www.sunshinefromdarkness.org/events-gala

November 29, 2009 @ Shoreditch House

Alastair Mackenzie

WordTheatre: A World Class Literary Salon, presents UPHEAVAL:

• Lucy Brown (Primeval, Sharpe's Challenge) performing "Up at a Villa" by Helen Simpson
  
• Alastair Mackenzie (Monarch of the Glen) performing "Joyas Voladoras" by Brian Doyle
  
• Ian Hart (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone) performing "Man in the Water" by Rose Tremain
  
• Alexis Zegerman (Happy-Go-Lucky, Two Thousand Years) performing "The Wave" by Julie Myerson
  
• Alfred Molina (An Education, Spiderman) performing "Nipple Jesus" by Nick Hornby
  
• John Schwab (The Complete Works of William Shakespeare) performing "Stories" by John Edgar Wideman

Author Julie Myerson will be in attendance.

A portion of the proceeds to support Fairbridge, a national charity supporting young people aged 13-25 to develop the confidence, motivation and skills they need to turn their lives around.

June 27, 2009 @ Guild Hall

Brian Cox

James Franco (Board Member)
Amanda Seyfried (Honorary Board Member)
Jane Oster (Board Member)   
Kieran Beer & Melissa Benson
Michelle Murphy & Robert Strada
Heidi Banks                        
and Bill Henderson (Editor of the Pushcart Prize)

Invited you to Guild Hall as WordTheatre once again honored the Pushcart Prize, considered "one of the most important publishing projects in American history" (Publishers Weekly), with a benefit at the newly renovated Guild Hall in East Hampton, New York.

This year marked the 33rd anniversary of the Pushcart Prize, and WordTheatre's fifth year working with them. Their "yearly volumes of stories, poems and essays feature much of the best writing available in this country." (New York Times Book Review). 

This year's celebration featured performances of Pushcart Prize winning stories by:

Act I

• Darrell Larson (The Manchurian Candidate, Rachel Getting Married) read "The Face" by David St. John
• Lynn Whitfield (The Josephine Baker Story, Head of State) read "By Love Possessed" by Lorna Goodison
• Linus Roache (Law and Order, The Wings of the Dove) read "Joyas Voladores" by Brian Doyle
• Samantha Mathis (Broadway's 33 Variations; American Psycho) read "Sundays" by Ellen Wilbur
• Nicole Ansari (Rock n' Roll on Broadway, As Good as Dead) read "One Moment on Top of the Earth" by Naomi Shihab Nye
• Edi Gathegi (Twilight; The Twilight Saga: New Moon; Gone, Baby, Gone) read "Bons" by Beth Tashery Shannon
• Amy Irving (Carrie, Hide and Seek) read "The Dead Boy at Your Window" by Bruce Holland Rogers

• Janel Moloney (The West Wing, Desperate Measures) read "Recorded Message" by Philip Dacey
• John Heard (Home Alone, The Sopranos) read "Tomorrow's Bird" by Ian Frazier
• Sean Young (Bladerunner) read "Not the Plaster Casters" by Janice Eidus
• Brian Cox (The Bourne Supremacy, The Escapist) read "The Human Table" by Marvin Cohen
• Amber Tamblyn (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Joan of Arcadia) read "The Kiss" by Pamela Painter

• Jackson Rathbone (Twilight; The Twilight Saga: New Moon) read "The Bank Robbery" by Steve Schutzman

Produced and Directed by Cedering Fox

Technical Director Todd J. Goldblatt

Sound Design Craig Ryan Freeman

Lighting Design Sebastian Paczynski

Special thanks to Jane Oster, WordTheatre Board Member, for her enormous contribution to making the event such a success, and to Darrell Larson for his continual support. 

Special Thanks to our friends at East Hampton Wines and Liquors and Park Place Wines and Liquors for donating to the after party.

April 26, 2009 @ Cafe des Artistes

Roma Maffia

Megan and Craig Ferguson (host of CBS' The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson) hosted this event alongside Dr. Lisa Masterson in support Maternal Fetal Care International.

Dr. Lisa Masterson of the daytime medical series, The Doctors, founded MFCI in 2005 to help mothers and children survive and enjoy better health in the poorest regions of the world. MFCI brings volunteer physicians to treat needy women and children. MFCI also provides training to local healthcare personnel to elevate the standard of available medical care and decrease mother-child transmission of HIV/AIDS.

Every minute a woman in the developing world dies from pregnancy-related causes that are mostly preventable or treatable. Every 30 seconds a child dies as a result of its mother's death.

WordTheatre compiled a program of original monologues and celebrated short stories about mothers and their children to benefit this charity.

Performers Included:

• Maria Bello (The Private Lives of Pippa LeeKathy Baker (Last Chance Harvey) reading "Level" by Keith Scribner
• Lynn Ferguson (Chicken Run) reading her story "Schopenhauer"
• Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Without a Trace) reading her story "The Titty Monster"
  
• Amy Brenneman (Private Practice) reading "Where the World Is" by Karen Kasaba
  
• Roma Maffia (Nip/Tuck) reading "Zoe" by Diane Ackerman
• Peri Gilpin (Frasier) reading "Saying Yes to Ryan" by Shelley Burtt
  
• Kathy Baker (Last Chance Harvey) reading "My Son and the Bicycle Wheel" by Martha Ronk
  
• Lisa Gay Hamilton (The Soloist) reading "The Stones" by Richard Shelton
• Amy Brenneman (Private Practice), Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Without a Trace), Roma Maffia (Nip/Tuck), Meri Danquah (Editor of Shake the Tree) reading "The Message" by Ama Ata Aidoo
• Angela Bassett (Akeelah and the Bee) reading "Gifts From My Mother" by Dr. Lisa Masterson

November 10, 2008 @ The Geffen Playhouse in Westwood Village, CA

Tess Harper

WordTheatre enjoyed its sixth annual Acts of Love to benefit Autism Speaks which took place at The Geffen Playhouse in Westwood on November 10, 2008. Acts of Love: Miracle Workers was a literary and musical celebration of the people who work to make seemingly impossible things happen.

Nelson Kole led a jazz combo with Nita Whitaker, Amy Keys and Valerie Pinkston performing musical numbers woven throughout the stories. Several members from the cast of the 2008 Emmy Winning Documentary "Autism: The Musical" performed songs from the film.

Woven between the thoughts and stories was live music featuring the voices of Nita Whitaker, Amy Keys and Valerie Pinkston. The spoken performances featured *

• Cast members from 2008 Emmy winner, Autism: The Musical
• Shohreh Agdashloo (House of Sand and Fog, X-Men:The Last Stand)
  

• Linda Cardellini ( ER, The Scooby-Do Movies, Freaks and Geeks)
  
• Peri Gilpin (Frasier)
  
• Adrian Pasdar (Heroes, Near Dark, Top Gun)

• Tess Harper (No Country for Old Men, Tender Mercies)

• Marc Blucas ( I Capture the Castle, We Were Soldiers, They)
  
• Gil Birmingham (Ten Canoes, Twilight)
  

• Matt Dallas (Kyle XY, The Indian)
• Julia Sweeney (Pulp Fiction, Saturday Night Live)
• Keith David (Crash, Mr. and Mrs. Smith)
• Gil Bellows (The Shawshank Redemption, The Weather Man)
• Sung Kang (Better Luck Tomorrow, The Fast and the Furious)
• Brenda Strong (Desperate Housewives, Starship Troopers)
• John Glover (Smallville, Robocop 2)
• John McCook (The Bold and the Beautiful)
• Jack McGee (Crash, 21, Basic Instinct)
  
• Nicki Micheaux (God's Waiting List, Lincoln Heights)
• Kristy Wu (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Cry_Wolf)
• Robert Wisdom (The Wire)
  
  *cast subject to change without notice

Produced and Directed by Cedering Fox

It is with great sadness that I share with you the passing of one of the most wonderful men I have ever known, Don La Fontaine. This great man, the Voice of God, has lent his enormous talents to Acts of Love by acting as the Narrator for the past several years. He generously infused his spirit, his heart and his intelligence into his every word and action. Don was a Miracle Worker and this year's show is dedicated to him.
                                               ---Cedering Fox, Artistic Director

June 28, 2008 @ 93 Merchant’s Path (corner of Ranch Court)

Nicole Ansari

WordTheatre presented Mysteries of the Mind, an original concert of spoken monologues woven together from fiction and memoir, accented with live musical performances and created exclusively for NARSAD. The event will took place at Twin Oaks Farm in Sagapnoack, NY.

7:30 arrival and 8:00 PM Show Time.

Cocktails, dinner and dancing followed.

December 3, 2007 @ Beverly Hilton Hotel

Lisa Gay Hamilton

Performances by:

• Gary Dourdan
  

• John Heard
  
• Tess Harper
  
• Richard Schiff
• Catherine Dent
  
• Jon Tenney
• Lisa Gay Hamilton
• Blair Bess as the Narrator

October 22, 2007 @ Cafe des Paris

Mark Addy

• Mark Addy (The Full Monty) read an introduction by Nick Hornby
• Amanda Seyfried (Mean Girls, Mamma Mia!) read "The Kiss" by Pamela Painter
  
• Alastair Mackenzie (Monarch of the Glen) read "A Happy Dream" by Steve Almond;
• Lindsay Duncan (Under the Tuscan Sun, Rome) read "Extra Geography" by Rose Tremain;
• Niall Buggy (Translations on Broadway, Casanova) read "Tomorrow's Bird" by Ian Frazier;
• Ben Miller (Johnny English, Primeval) and Marcia Firesten (CSI-NY, Laughter on the 23rd Floor on the West End) read "The Woman at the Window" by James Lasdun together;
• John Schwab (The Complete Works of William Shakespeare) will read "Stay" by David Schuman;
• David Soul (Starsky and Hutch) read "Bullet in the Brain" by Tobias Wolff;
• David Ashton (The Last King of Scotland) read his original story, "Crack".

October 15, 2007 @ Geffen Playhouse in Westwood, California

Dermot Mulroney

• James Franco (Spiderman 1, 2 & 3; In the Valley of Elah)
  
• Lorraine Toussaint (Ugly Betty, Saving Grace)
  
• Dermot Mulroney (Zodiac, My Best Friend's Wedding)
  
• Ian Hart (Dirt, Finding Neverland)
  
• Stephen Tobolowsky (Heroes, Deadwood)
  
• Barry Shabaka Henley (Heroes, Miami Vice)
  
• Wendie Malick (Just Shoot Me, Frasier)
  
• Ming Wen (Vanished, George Lopez)
  
• Annette O'Toole (Smallville, Nash Bridges)
  
• Michael McKean (For Your Consideration, Best in Show)
  
• Gil Birmingham (Veronica Mars, Into the West)
  

• Nita Whitaker, Julie Delgado and Valerie Pinkston
  

April 29, 2007 @ Canal Club

John Heard

WordTheatre presented a Benefit Brunch for the Pushcart Prize at Canal Club, Venice. Prize winning stories from the last 31 years of the Pushcart Prize.

• The Kiss by Pamela Painter was performed by Josephin Hagerty
• Oblivion, Nebraska by Peter Moor Smith was Performed by Gil Bellows
• Young Man on 6th Avenue by Mark Halliday was performed by Phillip Baker Hall
• Tomorrow's Bird by Ian Frazier was performed by John Heard
• Self Knowledge by Richard Bausch was performed by Wendy Mackena
• By Love Possessed by Lorna Goodison was performed by CCH Pounder
• Stay by David Schuman was performed by Nicholas Brendon

Produced and directed by Cedering Fox

September 18, 2006 @ The Geffen Playhouse in Westwood Village, CA

Gary Dourdan

• Keith David
• Richard Schiff
• Amanda Seyfried
• Nita Whitaker
• Gary Cole
• Christopher Gorham
• Samantha Mathis
• Elizabeth Perkins
• Talia Shire
• Gary Dourdan
• James Denton

• Don La Fontaine

• Gary Dourdan and His All-Star Friends
• Ryan Cross,
  
• Dorian Cheah,
  
• Frank Fontaine,
  
• Michael Raye

• Ryan Bathe,
  
• Anita Dashiell-Sparks,
  
• Dionne Williams

• Nita Whitaker

July 29, 2006 @ Guild Hall

Siv Cedering

• Samantha Mathis read Jinx by Aimee Bender
• Carla Gugino read Gina’s Death by Charles Baxter
• Anson Mount read Red Beans and Ricely by Sydney Lea
• Bob Balaban read Tomorrow’s Bird by Ian Frazier
• Chris McDonald read Today Will Be A Quiet Day by Amy Hempel
• Wendi Makkena read Self-Knowledge by Richard Bausch
• Siv Cedering read her poem The Juggler
• Dana Delany read The Party by Joyce Carol Oates