Cause Célèbre, a new theatre company, premiered on Sunday, December 9, 2007 at The Players and was a great success. Created by Food For Thought’s Founding Artistic Director, Susan Charlotte, Cause Célèbre is devoted to fostering an enhanced understanding of psychological, physical and social issues.  Each month a play(s) related to a particular cause will be presented by our finest actors.  Proceeds will go to a foundation connected to the cause.  The Board of Directors includes an illustrious group of women of the theatre:  Marian Seldes, Joan Copeland and June Springer. Writer Ellen Violett is a strong supporter.

 

The first program was devoted to Nick Springer, who contracted “Meningococcal Meningitis” when he was 14.  Now a college student and U.S. Paralympic Athlete, Nick attended the first show which focused on parent/child relationships.  This program included Marian Seldes in Tennessee Williams’ “Steps Must Be Gentle,” Joan Copeland in Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” (an excerpt), “On Thin Ice,” a new play by Susan Charlotte directed by Antony Marsellis and Mel Brooks’ “Fathers and Sons” with Bob Dishy and Judy Graubart.  KT Sullivan sang.

 

Cause Célèbre has several purposes:

 

            1—To connect theatre with different causes

 

            2—To provide visibility for different causes

 

            3—To educate the public

 

            4—To offer proceeds from the ticket sales of each show to a

                 foundation connected to the specific cause of that month

 

We are very excited about this unique tax exempt, not-for-profit company and its far-reaching possibilities.  In order to ensure its success we ask for your help.  You can buy tickets ($100) and/or offer a donation.  “When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other.”  (Chinese Proverb)

 

For reservations:  646-366-9340

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

 

About the Board of Directors

 

SUSAN CHARLOTTE is an award-winning writer (Joseph Kesselring Award), whose plays have been produced throughout New York. Her TV and film credits include: Come On, which premiered at the East Hampton Film Festival; Love Divided By, a film with original music by Philip Glass which reopened MoMA's Titus II (based on a play that was produced at the Actors Studio); a TV movie, Out Of Your Hands; CBS's “The Comedy Zone” with Paul Reiser and Patty Duke; and daytime series "Guiding Light" and "Loving." Ms. Charlotte also authored two acclaimed books, “Creativity: Conversations With 28 Who Excel” and “Creativity in Film.” An adjunct professor at NYU and Columbia University, Charlotte founded her own school for writers, Prism Playhouse, and has taught in non-traditional places such as Riker's Island. In addition to her own work, she has adapted stories by Elmore Leonard, D.H. Lawrence, Shirley Jackson, Jean-Paul Sartre and Henry James.   She has just completed A Broken Sole, a feature film which she wrote, based on her play.  The film, which opened last fall in New York, is directed by Antony Marsellis and stars Danny Aiello, Margaret Colin, Bob Dishy, Judith Light, Laila Robins and John Shea.  Ms. Charlotte produced the film with Stan Cohen. 

 

JOAN COPELAND made her Broadway debut in Sidney Kingsley's Detective Story. Among other Broadway appearances, she was Vera in Pal Joey (Drama Desk Award), Rose Baum in Arthur Miller's The American Clock (Drama Desk Award), played opposite Danny Kaye in Richard Rodgers' Two by Two. After appearing in Los Angeles in Wendy Wasserstein's Isn't It Romantic? She played the same role in New York. She toured the U.S. as Kate in Neil Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs (L.A. Critics Award, Drama League Award). Her first musical was a revival of Noel Coward's Conversation Piece directed by the Master himself. Other films include Her Alibi, Merchant Ivory's Roseland, A Little Sex, Peacemaker and more. Off- Broadway she was in Richard Greenberg's The American Plan (Obie), and Ronald Harwood's Another Time. Her TV appearances include "Cagney and Lacey," "ER," "Chicago Hope" and "Law & Order." Most recently, this season, she appeared Off-Broadway in the musical play The Fishkin Touch. Daytime viewers of TV know her as a loving and/or unloving wife, and/or a caring and/or domineering mother.

 

MARIAN SELDES recently appeared at Primary Stages in Terrence McNally’s Dedication, or the Stuff of Dreams. Her many Broadway credits include 45 Seconds From Broadway, Deathtrap (Tony nomination), The Merchant, Equus, Father's Day (Tony nomination, Drama Desk Award), Before You Go, A Delicate Balance (Tony Award), Tiny Alice, The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore, A Gift of Time, The Wall, The Chalk Garden, Ondine, The High Ground, The Tower Beyond Tragedy, That Lady, Crime and Punishment, Medea. For Lincoln Center Theater, she has appeared in Dinner at Eight, Ring Round the Moon (Tony nominations) and Ivanov. Off-Broadway: Diff’rent, The Ginger Man (Obie), Isadora Duncan (Obie), Painting Churches (Outer Critics Circle Award), Richard II, Richard III, Mercy Street, Dear Liar, A Bright Room Called Day, Three Tall Women, The Torch-Bearers, The Butterfly Collection, The Play About the Baby, Helen, Play Yourself and Beckett/Albee. Williamstown Theatre Festival: The Royal Family, The Matchmaker, The Skin of our Teeth and the premiere of Dedication. She received the Obie Award for Sustained Achievement and was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame in 1996. She is the author of The Bright Lights: A Theatre Life and Time Together, a novel.

 

JUNE SPRINGER Bio Coming Soon!