Photos: See Matt Damon Play a Country Singer in Reading of Hold On to Me Darling

Academy Award winner Matt Damon stepped onto a New York stage October 27, as he led a reading of the Kenneth Lonergan play Hold On to Me Darling. He was joined by Alec Baldwin, J. Smith-Cameron, Gretchen Mol, Lucas Hedges, Peter Friedman, and Charles Everett.

It was a performance to benefit Center at West Park and the preservation of the landmark West Park Presbyterian Church on New York's Upper West Side. The reading was directed by Neil Pepe, who helmed the work’s world premiere in 2016 (starring Timothy Olyphant) and the 2024 remount (starring Adam Driver).

Hold on to Me Darling follows a country musician who, after the death of his beloved mother, is inspired to throw away his fame for a simpler life—only to realize that is more challenging than expected.

Center at West Park is a community center and theatre currently in residency at St. Paul and St. Andrew’s Church at 86th Street and West End Avenue, where it continues its programming. The Center vacated its original home, landmarked West-Park Presbyterian Church, a building that's over 140 years old, after the building’s owners filed a hardship application with the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) seeking to remove the site’s landmark status, so that it can be knocked down to make way for a high rise. The Center is currently in the midst of a campaign to save the church.

As part of this campaign, the Center will host a reading of All About Eve November 17, starring Tony winner Scarlett Johansson.

Visit CenteratWestPark.org.