Melissa Leo & Zachary Quinto to Headline Rescheduled Benefit Reading of Side Man

Oscar winner Melissa Leo and stage and screen favorite Zachary Quinto will star in a one-night-only benefit staged reading of Warren Leight’s Tony Award-winning play Side Man on October 24 at the Vineyard Theatre. The reading, which was postponed from its previously announced August 28 date in East Hampton due to Hurricane Irene, will be presented by and benefit Naked Angels.

Joining Leo (as Terry) and Quinto (as Clifford) will be original Broadway cast members Jeff Binder (Al), Kevin Geer (Jonesy), Michael Mastro (Ziggy), Angelica Torn (Patsy) and Frank Wood, who won a Best Featured Actor Tony Award for his performance as Gene in the 1998 Broadway premiere of the play. Mastro will direct the reading, replacing the previously announced Geoffrey Nauffts, who is in rehearsal for a west coast production of his play Next Fall.

Winner of the 1999 Tony Award for Best Play, Side Man is a tender and poignant memory play about a jazz musician struggling to save both his fading career and troubled home life during the dawn of rock ‘n’ roll in America. Leight developed the play during its earliest stages of Naked Angels’ new play development programs. The company will team up with the Vineyard Theatre in the winter of 2012 to co-produce the world premiere of Zayd Dohrn’s Outside People.