Several theatre companies are collaborating on the special event, which is raising funds to directly support Japanese theatre artists affected by the "shinsai" or "great quake."
Tony Award winner Bartlett Sher (South Pacific, The Light in the Piazza) directs the 3 PM and 8 PM presentations that feature ten-minute plays and musical numbers from a host of Broadway and Japanese authors.
The event promises a newly adapted scene from Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman's Pacific Overtures (specifically tailored for the benefit), as well as works by Edward Albee, Shoki Kokami, Oriza Hirata, Richard Greenberg, John Guare, Kumiko Shinohara, John Kander, Fred Ebb and Joseph Stein, Tony Kushner and Jeanine Tesori, Nen Ishihara, Toshiki Okada, Toshiro Suzue and Yoji Sakate.
Click here to read the updated scene from Pacific Overtures.
Original material by playwrights Philip Kan Gotanda, Richard Greenberg, Suzan-Lori-Parks, Naomi Iizuka and Doug Wright will also be performed.
Participating in the event are two-time Tony Award winner Patti LuPone, Richard Thomas, Mary Beth Hurt, Jay O. Sanders, Henry Stram, Michi Barral, Cindy Cheung, Lisa Emery, Joel de la Fuente, Angel Desai, Ann Harada, Jennifer Ikeda, Paul Juhn, Peter Kim, Ken Leung, Li Jun Li, Jennifer Lim, Angela Lin, Paolo Montalban, Olivia Oguma, Jon Norman Schneider, Thom Sesma, Sab Shimono, Jade Wu, Jonny Wo, James Yaegashi and Stacey Yen.
The Atlantic Theater Company, Lincoln Center Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club, New York Theatre Workshop, The Play Company, Playwrights Horizons and The Public Theater collaborate to present the benefit.
Tickets, priced $25, are available by visiting PublicTheater.org or by phoning (212) 967-7555.