Readings and Workshops

Rose Byrne, Bobby Cannavale, Patti LuPone to Lead 1-Night-Only Reading of Moonstruck

The event will take place at Broadway’s Music Box Theatre.

Rose Byrne, Bobby Cannavale, and Patti LuPone

When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that’s Moonstruck! The hit 1987 romantic comedy film starring Cher is getting a starry one-night-only reading at Broadway’s Music Box Theatre November 10 at 8 PM. The event will benefit the arts organization New York Stage and Film.

The Academy Award-winning film, written by playwright John Patrick Shanley (Doubt), is about a young widow named Loretta, who thinks she has bad luck in love—especially when she falls for her fiancé’s younger brother. In the 1987 film, Cher played Loretta while Nicholas Cage played her love interest Johnny. For the one-night-only reading, real-life couple Rose Byrne (Fallen Angels) and Bobby Cannavale (Art) will star as Loretta and Johnny, respectively.

The cast will also include Steve Buscemi (Boardwalk Empire) as Raymond Cappomaggi, Stephen DeRosa (The Queen of Versailles), Patti LuPone (Company) as Rose Castorini, Mary Lou Rosato (Once Upon a Mattress) as Crone, John Turturro (Severance) as Cosmo Castorini, and Dez Duron (Maybe Happy Ending) as Crooner—indicating that audiences might get to hear Duron’s rendition of “That’s Amore,” which opens the Moonstruck film. 

Stevie Van Zandt (The Sopranos) will serve as host and read stage directions. Additional casting will be announced at a later date. The event will be directed by Tony-winning director Doug Hughes (Doubt).

New York Stage and Film is an incubator for artists developing new work for theatre, dance, television, and film. For 40 years, SAF has developed over 1,000 stories that have won every major award including the Pulitzer Prize, Tony Award, Academy Award, Emmy Award, Grammy Award, and Obie Award. The benefit reading supports SAF’s summer season at Marist University; year-round New York City programming; developing dance narrative programming; residencies for individuals and colleague organizations; awards, fellowships, apprenticeships for emerging technicians and administrators; and audience engagement.

Tickets begin at $150 and are available at NewYorkStageandFilm.org.Â