Glenn Close Joins Starry Benefit Reading of The Normal Heart

Tony winner Glenn Close is the latest star to sign on for the one-night-only staged reading of Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart on October 18. Close will play Dr. Emma Brookner and joins previously announced stars Patrick Wilson, Victor Garber, Jack McBrayer, Joe Mantello, Jason Butler Harner, Michael Stuhlbarg and John Benjamin Hickey. Joel Grey will direct the performance at the Walter Kerr Theatre with all proceeds benefiting The Actors Fund and Friends in Deed.

In addition to her work on the big and small screen (notably as the star of Damages), Close is a three-time Tony winner for Sunset Boulevard, Death and the Maiden and The Real Thing. She also received a Tony nomination for Barnum. Her many other Broadway credits include Benefactors, The Crucifer of Blood, Rex, The Member of the Wedding, The Rules of the Game and Love for Love.

The Normal Heart focuses on the terrifying early years of the AIDS epidemic in New York. The show played off-Broadway at the Public Theater from April 21 to July 7, 1985, with Grey in the cast.