Join David Leopold as he takes us on a tour of the Hirschfeld Century, an 82-year era in which Al Hirschfeld both recorded and defined so much of popular culture, especially through his drawings of productions on Broadway and in Hollywood. He was there at the birth of television and captured its first half-century. He recorded more popular music than any MP3, CD, LP, or wax cylinder ever did. His drawings of dance are among his most accomplished works. Leopold has spent 25 years studying Hirschfeld’s work, the first 13 as Hirschfeld’s Archivist, visiting him in his studio once or twice a week. In addition to curating exhibitions at the Library of Congress, the Field Museum in Chicago, and the Academy of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles among others, he is the Creative Director of The Al Hirschfeld Foundation. His book, The Hirschfeld Century: A Portrait of the Artist and His Age (Knopf), has been called by The Washington Post, “An instant classic.” Booklist declared, “Leopold emulates the economy and fluidity of Hirschfeld’s drawings in this star-studded, anecdote-rich, critically clarifying, and thoroughly enlightening portrait of the portraits.” His illustrated talk will show you rarely seen images as well as old favorites, and will include a post-show audience Q&A moderated by Josh Gladstone, Artistic Director of the John Drew Theater at Guild Hall.

A link to the live broadcast will be emailed to ticket holders in their confirmation receipts and again 24 hours in advance of the show.

A one man play by Joe Beck

Directed by Elizabeth Falk

Attention all fans of great literature and superb acting – BLOOMSDAY APPROACHES! Come celebrate one of Ireland (and the world’s) finest writers, James Joyce, as read and performed by a legend of the American stage, Austin Pendleton, at a one-night-only virtual live reading presented by Guild Hall. Joyce’s most famous work Ulysses (1922) is based on Homer’s The Odyssey and follows the movements of Leopold Bloom through a single day on June 16th, 1904. Bloomsday is celebrated every year in Dublin and around the world by fans of Joyce at events including readings, performances, visitations to locales from the book, cosplay as characters from the novel and even eating the traditional Bloomsday breakfast of liver & kidneys served alongside an Irish fried breakfast. You don’t necessarily need to wear a straw boater or eat rashers and black pudding to enjoy this exclusive performance – a benefit for Guild Hall’s John Drew Theater which has been closed by the pandemic – but then again, it’s a virtual presentation so what you do from the comfort of your home while listening to the amazing Pendleton interpret this literary masterpiece is entirely up to you.

Of playwright Joe Beck’s sharp, new adaptation Pendleton remarks, “I feel that Joe has done the impossible: created a character for the theatre who could actually be James Joyce. This accomplishment in Joe’s writing astonished me. I would have thought it impossible. But here he is, Mr. Joyce, musing in free-from, struggling in free-form, about his writing, about his dreams and his successful efforts to create a literature that represented life as he knew it, in all it’s astounding complexity and wonder. Joe Beck finds the drama as well as the humor, and the joy, in Joyce’s struggle; and the sense of climbing a daunting mountain, going higher and higher into some literary heaven that before him had been unknown to anyone. For all these reasons it is a thrill for me to read Joe’s play aloud.”

This is a remarkable opportunity to intimately experience the charisma and versatility of one of America’s theatrical living legends – Austin Pendleton – a foremost interpreter of all things Joycean as well as an Obie and Drama Desk Award-winning, Tony-nominated director, playwright and star of Broadway and innumerable film and television appearances in a stellar career that has spanned over five decades of performance. Pendleton is directed by his colleague Elizabeth Falk, noted director of opera and theatre with a wide-ranging career that has carried her across America’s regional theaters to work in Russia, Europe and Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London where she has the distinction of being the first woman to direct a play for that stage.

This presentation is the second offering in Guild Hall’s new Virtual John Drew Theater series and follows the popular recent presentation of A PORTRAIT OF TENNESSEE WILLIAMS staring Harris Yulin and Mercedes Ruehl. As with TENNESSEE, this evening’s performance will be followed by a live Q&A with Mr. Pendleton and the play’s creative team, moderated by the John Drew Theater’s Artistic Director Josh Gladstone.

A link to the live broadcast will be emailed to ticket holders 24 hours in advance. If you purchase a ticket after that, the link will be emailed automatically in your ticket receipt.

Four great actors – stars of Broadway, television and the cinema – reunite virtually for one night only in a very special LIVE online Zoom theatrical event to Benefit the John Drew Theater at Guild Hall, which has been closed since the start of the pandemic. Director Harris Yulin (Ozark) returns to Guild Hall where he directed a gorgeous production of Tennessee William’s The Glass Menagerie starring Amy Irving and Ebon Moss-Bachrach that served to re-open the John Drew Theater after major renovations in 2009. Yulin has directed many readings at the Drew with stars such as Eli Wallach, Dianne Wiest, Edward Asner and F. Murray Abraham, including last season’s sold-out reading of Jules Feiffer’s A Bad Friend which celebrated the playwright’s 90^th birthday. Yulin is joined once again by longtime friend and collaborator Mercedes Ruehl. The legendary Academy, Golden Globe, Tony, Obie and Drama Desk-award winning Ruehl is herself no stranger to the Drew, having appeared in dozens of readings over the course of the last two decades, as well as starring in Guild Hall’s production of Jenny Lyn Bader’s comedy Manhattan Casanova in 2001. Joining this stellar ensemble are Ebon Moss-Bachrach (HBO’s Girls and John Adams, The Punisher, NOS4A2) who in addition to starring in The Glass Menagerie appeared at Guild Hall alongside Ms. Ruehl, Richard Kind and James Earl Jones in a recent reading of the political thriller Are You Now…, also directed by Yulin. The final cast member is rising Broadway star Tedra Millan (Present Laughter with Kevin Kline and The Wolves at Lincoln Center) who returns to the Drew for this virtual reading, having made her actual Guild Hall debut last summer as the memorable lead in Feiffer’s A Bad Friend. Yulin is a master interpreter of the work of Tennessee Williams, and he brings his prodigious knowledge, experience and passion to this project, which is artfully arranged and scripted entirely from Williams’ essays, letters, journals and plays. This evening will shine a light on the brilliance of one of America’s most impactful playwrights, and will reward viewers with an informal and intimate experience up close with four astonishing actors in a virtual event exclusive to Guild Hall. This event is produced by the Drew’s Artistic Director Josh Gladstone, who will introduce the evening, and is stage managed and assistant directed by Amanda Kate Joshi.

Arranged by Harris Yulin and Jack Canfora
Starring Mercedes Ruehl, Harris Yulin, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, & Tedra Millan
Directed by Harris Yulin
Scripted entirely from Williams’ essays, letters, journals and plays, this evening will shine a light on the brilliance of one of America’s most impactful playwrights, Tennessee Williams.
Stage Manager: Amanda Kate Joshi

Preview article by Bridget LeRoy in The Independent Newspaper