Last year, more than 58 members of the theater community participated in the drive, donating 44 pints of blood. According to the New York Blood Center, close to 2,000 men, women, and children -- including cancer, transplant, and surgery patients, trauma victims, and newborn babies -- need blood every day.

The annual Off-Broadway blood drive has been organized by representatives of A.R.T./New York, Dodger Theatricals, Manhattan Theater Club, New York Theatre Workshop, Playwrights Horizons, Signature Theatre Company, and TheaterworksUSA in conjunction with the New York Blood Center.

To sign up to donate blood or to help with the drive, contact Caroline Aquino at Playwrights Horizons at 212-564-1235 ext. 3136; for more information about the New York Blood Center, visit www.nybloodcenter.org.