Durning, Hartley, Klugman Join Cast of Rise Up and Shout! Benefit

Charles Durning, Mariette Hartley, and Jack Klugman will join previously announced stars James Avery, Wendie Malick, Joe Mantegna, and Jean Smart in Rise Up and Shout!, a benefit reading of the words of visionary thinkers that will take place at 7pm on Friday, July 21at the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum (1419 N. Topanga Canyon Road) in Los Angeles. Proceeds from the event, which will be directed by Ellen Geer, will benefit the Theatricum as well as an organization that helps women and children in Iraq.

Durning won a Tony Award for his performance as Big Daddy in the 1990 Broadway revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; he has also starred on Broadway in such shows as The Gin Game and That Championship Season. Hartley appeared on Broadway in Cabaret and had a successful run of her solo show If You Get to Bethlehem, You’ve Gone Too Far in L.A. earlier this year. Klugman played Herbie in the original production of Gypsy and many other roles on stage, screen, and film but is most famous for his work as Oscar Madison on TV’s The Odd Couple.

Avery is known for his apperances on such TV series as The Fresh Prince of Bel Air and The Closer. Malick, who is currently starring Off-Broadway in Burleigh Grime$, is familiar to TV viewers for her roles on Just Shoot Me and Dream On. Mantegna won a Tony Award for Glengarry Glen Ross and also starred on Broadway in Speed-the-Plow; he recently had the lead role in Trumbo at L.A.’s Falcon Theater. Smart starred on Broadway in The Man Who Came to Dinner and is known for her work on such TV series as 24, Designing Women, and Frasier, for which she won an Emmy Award.

Tickets to Rise Up and Shout! are priced at $100-$150 and can be ordered by calling 310-455-3723.