Laverne Cox, Jeremy Pope, Sterling K.
Brown, and Jake Borelli are among the celebrities set to appear in a
virtual reading of The Normal Heart.
The May 8 reading will raise funds for
HIV/AIDS organizations ONE Archives Foundation and Invisible
Histories Project, Deadline reported.
The reading will be directed by Paris
Barclay and include a special introduction by Martin Sheen.
Larry Kramer's play about the early
days of the AIDS crisis in New York City premiered in 1985 at The
Public Theater. Productions have played in London, Los Angeles, and
Broadway. In 2014, HBO premiered director Ryan Murphy's film
adaptation of the play with an all-star cast.
“When I was approached by ONE
Archives Foundation to direct a virtual reading of The Normal Heart,
I knew it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up,” said Barclay
(Station 19, Scandal). “I lived in New York through the
1980s, saw the original production with Brad Davis, and have never
forgotten the experience. And through today’s lens, the story of a
marginalized people pushed to activism by the onslaught of an
epidemic clearly was worth telling again.”
Also appearing in the project are
Vincent Rodriguez III (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend): Guillermo Díaz
(Scandal); Jake Borelli (Grey’s Anatomy); Ryan
O’Connell (Will & Grace); Daniel Newman (Walking
Dead); Jay Hayden (Station 19); and Danielle Savre
(Station 19).
Tickets can be purchased starting April
8 at ONE
Archives Foundation's website.