MCC Theater Announces Virtual Benefit Reading of Peter Hedges’ “Good as New” Starring Julianne Moore and Kaitlyn Dever on July 16

MCC Theater (Bob LuPone, Bernie Telsey, and Will Cantler, Artistic Directors; Blake West, Executive Director) announced today a special benefit reading and discussion with the artists of Peter Hedges’ Good As New starring Julianne Moore and Kaitlyn Dever, directed by the author, to be presented on MCC’s YouTube channel on Thursday, July 16 at 7:00 PM EST.

Revisiting this acclaimed work – a brutal one-act comedy about a learning-to-drive daughter who comes face-to-face with the mother she thinks has let her down – Good As New first played in 1993-94 as part of MCC’s (then called Manhattan Class Company) One Acts. It was then extended to a full-length work and presented by MCC in 1997.

Good As New will be streamed via YouTube with live-captioning and can be accessed via a link sent to ticket buyers before the reading. Tickets for the broadcast start at $5.00 (limited allocation). Additional tickets will be allocated and available at $15.00 and $25.00, on a first come, first served basis. Current patrons and current 20/21 season subscribers of MCC Theater can view for free. All information and tickets can be found on http://www.mcctheater.org/tix/good-as-new

Playwright and Director Peter Hedges says:

“33 years ago I met Julianne Moore at the same time I met MCC Theater. Bernie, Bob, and Will had arranged for a stage reading of my play Andy and Claire. An actress unknown to me at that time, Julianne Moore, read Claire. In that moment, she became one of my favorite actors in all the world. MCC Theater is my favorite theater in all the world.

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And back when I wrote plays, MCC often workshopped and produced them. I even wrote much of my first novel, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?, reading and staging excerpts under the auspices of MCC Theater. In 1994, my one-act play Good As New premiered at MCC. After experiencing the sublime and exquisite live reading this past spring of Alan Bowne’s Beirut with Marisa Tomei and Oscar Isaac, the possibilities of meaningful virtual theater became ever apparent.

It was a thrill when MCC approached me about doing a reading of Good As New – and the whole thought of it went to a surreal next level when the great Julianne Moore and one of my favorite younger actors in all the world, the phenomenal Kaitlyn Dever, agreed to come play at what will be a live virtual theatrical party on July 16th.”

MCC Co-Artistic Director Bernie Telsey says:

“As much as you can never replace the thrill of the in-person experience of theater, we have seen through our LiveLab: One Acts series and our previous benefit reading of Beirut in the spring, that our community craves connection to this artform in real time – virtual or not. We’re thrilled to share this benefit play-reading of Peter Hedges’ Good As New on July 16, which was first performed at MCC in 1993 in the Class One Acts series.

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As well as being an incredible playwright and film director, Peter has been an artist at MCC for over 30 years and is also on the MCC Board. Additionally, to have the incomparable Julianne Moore and Kaitlyn Dever bring this reading to life is such an honor, a project that has been in the pipeline for months!”

All ticket proceeds of this benefit reading will support MCC’s Be Our Light Campaign and will be matched 2-for-1 by the MCC Board, to help the Theater now, and with preparation for the coming 2021 season. While it continues to be a challenging time for theaters with little to no generation of show revenue predicted for this year, MCC acknowledges that there is a widespread financial and emotional struggle at this time. To share ‘benefits’ of this reading, 10% of add-on donations will be split between The Artists Co-op and The Okra Project.

The Okra Project, founded by frequent MCC talkback facilitator Ianne Fields Stewart, provides meals to Black Trans people experiencing food insecurity. Our Theater in Hell’s Kitchen sits opposite The Artist Co-op which supports over 100 artists to create and develop their practice. By sharing a portion of our add-on donations for this event, we hope to support the health and livelihood of the Black Trans community and to help sustain the vibrant Hell’s Kitchen artist community, and to see our neighborhood flourishing once again.