PhotosPhotos: Renée Elise Goldsberry, Jim Parsons, Ana Gasteyer, More in Beverly Hills Benefit Reading
Michael Ausiello directed the Pretend Soap Opera Performed by Real Actors, which he wrote when he was only 13.
By
Andrew Gans
September 10, 2025
Renée Elise Goldsberry
Emil Cohen
13-Year-Old Michael Ausiello Presents:BEVERLY HILLS - A Pretend Soap Opera Performed by Real Actors, previously
seen in Los Angeles, made its New York debut September 8 in a
star-studded cold reading to benefit the Ali Forney Center. Check out photos from the one-night-only event at the Newman Mills Theater at the Robert W. Wilson MCC Theater Space in the gallery below.
In the 1980s, closeted gay teenager Ausiello penned 517 episodes of
an original soap opera called Beverly Hills. The future founder of TVLine saved every handwritten script, and for the past year has been
staging sold-out readings of the episodes at Los Angeles’ Dynasty Typewriter.
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Photos: 13-Year-Old Michael Ausiello’s Beverly Hills Benefit for the Ali Forney Center
Photos: 13-Year-Old Michael Ausiello’s Beverly Hills Benefit for the Ali Forney Center
33 PHOTOS
Kal Penn, Renée Elise Goldsberry, and Rachel Dratch
Although it was presented at The Newman Mills Theater at the Robert W. Wilson MCC Theater Space, the reading was not a production of MCC
Theater.
The Ali Forney Center provides a home with stability, support, and
comprehensive services to help LGBTQ+ homeless youth get their lives
back on track. For more information, click here.
Co-presented with The Grammy Museum, the event came just after the Best Musical winner picked up a 2026 Grammy nomination for Best Musical Theater Album.