Stephen Bogardus, Michael Rupert, Chip Zien Set for Falsettos Reunion Benefit

Stars from the original Off-Broadway and Broadway incarnations of William Finn’s “Marvin Trilogy” — including Stephen Bogardus, Alison Fraser, Jonathan C. Kaplan, Michael Rupert, and Chip Zien — will reunite for a benefit dinner supporting Long Island Crisis Center, Long Island’s oldest suicide prevention and crisis intervention agency, and its LGBT youth initiative, Pride for Youth. The dinner will be held at Le Pain Quotidien, on June 2.

The event is being produced by Off Sides Entertainment, Inc., in conjunction with their limited Equity Showcase run of William Finn and James Lapine’s award-winning musical Falsettos.

The dinner precedes a performance of the production, which will play at Manhattan’s The Theaters At 45 Bleecker Street from May 30 to June 15, following its critically acclaimed run on Long Island at Lantern Theatre. Falsettos will appear as a part of Planet Connections Theatre Festivity, New York’s premiere eco-friendly and socially-conscious theater festival.

The musical is set during the post-sexual revolution of 1979 and the horror of the emerging AIDS epidemic in 1981. It tells the story of a suburban Jewish family comprised of one man, his lover, his ex-wife, their son, their therapist, and also a couple of lesbians who live next door.

The production features Ezra Hernandez as Marvin, Tanya Wills as Trina, Chris Leidenfrost as Whizzer, Dan Pivovar as Mendel, Matthew Leigh as Jason, Lisa Berman as Charlotte, and Mary Palermo as Cordelia.

The 6/2 L.I.C.C. benefit includes dinner and show for $100. Tickets can be purchased at planetconnections.org.