DeShields and Wicked‘s Houdyshell to Headline Venus Benefit

Former Tony Award nominees André DeShields and Jayne Houdyshell will headline a benefit reading of Suzan Lori-Parks’ Obie-winning play Venus at 7:30pm on Monday, March 5 at Harlem Stage at the Gatehouse (150 Convent Avenue).

The production will be directed by Cynthia Croot and feature Bridgit Antoinette Evans and Nioka Workman. All proceeds will benefit the Venus Project Worldwide, which creates theater and other works of art that increase compassion and diminish brutality around the world.

First seen in 1996, Venus is based on the real-life story of a young South African woman who was trafficked to London in 1810 and exhibited in a British freak show as the “Venus Hottentot,” before being sold to a lonely French scientist who studies her and eventually falls in love with her.

DeShields has starred on Broadway in The Full Monty, for which he received a Tony nomination, Ain’t Misbehavin’ and Play On. Houdyshell is currently playing Madame Morrible in Wicked. She received a Tony nomination as well as an Obie Award for Well, the Barrymore Award for The Clean House, and the Joseph Jefferson Award for The Pain and the Itch.

Tickets range from $50-$250. To order, call 646-408-3248 or visit www.venusgiving.org.