Sternhagen, Seldes, et al. to Appear in Staged Reading of A Place at Forest Lawn by Luke Yankee

Quite a stellar slate of actors will appear in a staged reading of A Place at Forest Lawn, a new play by Luke Yankee and Jim Bontempo, on Monday, October 7. Frances Sternhagen and Marian Seldes head the cast, which also includes George Grizzard, Tony Goldwyn, Merle Louise, Jennifer Roszell, and Anthony Newfield.

Based on Lorees Yerby’s award-winning one-act Save Me a Place At Forest Lawn, the play concerns the lives and loves of two elderly women who sit in a cafeteria and plan their funerals. Co-author Yankee, who will direct the reading, originally optioned Yerby’s work and adapted it into a full-length play as a vehicle for his mother, the late Eileen Heckart, who won an Emmy for her performance in a PBS-TV version of the one-act in the 1960s. A director and producer who has worked on Broadway and throughout the country, Yankee is a former artistic director of the Long Beach Civic Light Opera. Bontempo has written several screenplays, has taught at the U.S.C. School of Theatre, and appeared in the Broadway production of A Chorus Line.

The reading of A Place at Forest Lawn will take place at 7:30pm on October 7 at the Promenade Theatre, located at 2162 Broadway (at 76th Street). Admission is free but reservations are required; phone 212-629-2034 to reserve.