More Events

Second PencilPALS event in Corona, Queens
WGAE Members attend FBI 103 Seminar
Ninth Screenplay Reading at the JCC
Free Speech Leadership Committee meets again

Past Events

Screening of Joe Berlingers's CRUDE
First PencilPALS event in Corona, Queens
Godfather IV Benefit
Talk Animation with Bill Plympton
TV and Film Writers Become ‘PencilPALS’
M*A*S*H Benefit

The Ninth WGAE Screenplay Reading at the JCC Manhattan

NEW YORK- On June 7^th, 2010, The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) and the Writers Guild of America, East Foundation (WGAEF) held their ninth screenplay reading in the popular series at the JCC Manhattan. Excerpts from two new scripts, Why Can’t They All Be Like Johnny Depp? by Jeff Hirschberg and Not My Beautiful Wife by John Yarbrough, were professionally produced with a cast of talented actors.

At 7:30pm the audience piled into the nearly full house of the Goldman-Sonnenfeldt Auditorium in the lower levels of the JCC. First was the reading of Why Can’t They All Be Like Johhny Depp, about a successful-but-lonely Manhattan woman who believes Johnny Depp to be the only man worth her time, and gets what she asks for when every man in town transforms into the eponymous actor. The reading featured Emily Bergl, Scott Cohen, George Katt, Laurie Cole, Malachi Weir, Bridget Burke, Michael Carlsen, and Mark Odgers. This was followed by a question and answer session with writer Jeff Hirschberg, moderated by Michael Winship.

“I had several requests (from the actors, the director, and attendees) for the script and will be contacting all of them. This program is a wonderful way to give WGA members and their material exposure and I applaud [the WGAE and the WGAEF] for [their] efforts,” Hirschberg said of the reading.

Next was the reading of Not My Beautiful Wife, a raucous comedy about a mega-famous couple with marital problems, who enlist a down-on-his-luck brother and struggling actress to go into sex therapy on their behalf. The reading featured Halley Wegryn Gross, Wayne Wilcox, Katie Kreisler, Aaron Serotsky, Stephanie D’Abruzzo, Mark Delabarre, and Colin Hanlon. The reading was followed by a question and answer session with writer John Yarbrough.

“It really brought the script to life for me, even though I had been living with it for a while. It's especially great when the audience laughs at moments you hoped they would, and when the actors have to keep themselves from laughing as they read their lines,” Yarbrough reflected.

After the conclusion of the readings, audience members, writers, cast and crew gathered on the roof of the JCC for a wine and cheese reception. The Screenplay Reading Series is produced by WGAE Lifetime Member Susane Lee, with casting by Caroline Sinclair and Direction by Shira-Lee Shalit. Another screenplay reading is planned for the fall.