On August 16 at 8PM, beloved Hamptons venue Guild Hall will host a special virtual benefit featuring a cast of incredible actors performing three short plays by Emmy-nominated and Drama Desk-winning playwright Eugene Pack. The benefit, called The Pack – Short Comedies by Eugene Pack, was recorded via Zoom and the actors taking part are Tony Award-winners Matthew Broderick & John Leguizamo, Blair Underwood, Cecily Strong, Rachel Dratch, Sherri Shepherd, Tony Award-winners Andrea Martin & Santino Fontana, Maulik Pancholy, and Dayle Reyfel.
The price to view this virtual benefit event is $50 per household; patrons can buy a virtual ticket at www.GuildHall.org/ThePack and will be emailed a link to the private YouTube Live feed for the premiere beginning 24 hours before showtime. This benefit follows Guild Hall’s recent virtual benefit reading of the play “Same Time Next Year” with Julianne Moore & Alec Baldwin.
The plays are “Let’s Meet Up” with Matthew Broderick & John Leguizamo; “Hold” with Sherri Shepherd, Blair Underwood and Dayle Reyfel; and “Aunt Cora” with Rachel Dratch, Santino Fontana, Maulik Pancholy, Cecily Strong and Andrea Martin.
The Pack Benefit is an extension of the hugely successful Pack Podcast, a new spoken word series featuring star-studded casts performing short comedy plays by Eugene Pack. Launched in May, the podcast benefits The Actors Fund (www.ActorsFund.org) and Feeding America (www.FeedingAmerica.org). The plays are available at www.ThePackPodcast.org and new plays are made available each week on Thursdays. The Guardian newspaper called the Pack Podcast one of the “Best Culture at Home” events for summer 2020.
Called a “prodigiously gifted storyteller” by The LA Times and “the next Neil Simon for these times” by Alec Baldwin, Eugene Pack is the creator of Celebrity Autobiography which ran on Broadway & won the Drama Desk Award in the category of “Unique Theatrical Experience.” He has performed with the show on tour and internationally including the West End, Scotland and the Sydney Opera House. An Emmy-nominated writer, Pack is also the creator/exec. producer of the hit CMT series “Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team.”
