The Center at West Park is bringing The Big Chill back to the stage for one night only on Monday, August 31, with Marisa Tomei, Matthew Broderick and Amy Brenneman among the cast members set for a staged reading at Guild Hall in East Hampton.
The performance is scheduled for 7:00 p.m., and it will be followed by a talkback with the cast, creative team and special guests. Tickets are priced from $1,000 to $10,000, making the event as exclusive as it is limited.
For the center, the reading is also a return to a format that drew a strong response last summer. Debby Hirshman said the organization is continuing its summer performance tradition at Guild Hall after the reaction to last year’s staged reading of All the President’s Men, and that it is eager to share another evening of storytelling with audiences.
The Big Chill gives the event a built-in draw. The 1983 dramedy, co-written by Lawrence Kasdan and Barbara Benedek, follows a group of college friends who come back together in middle age after the funeral of a friend. It was nominated for three Oscars and starred Kevin Kline, Glenn Close, Jeff Goldblum, Tom Berenger, William Hurt, Mary Kay Place, Meg Tilly and JoBeth Williams.
That history helps explain the appeal, but the format also creates the catch. The reading is being framed as a one-night-only occasion, even as the price of admission puts it out of reach for most people. The result is a rare summer event for East Hampton audiences: a short run that cannot be repeated, with additional all-star cast members due to be announced in the coming weeks.
The Center at West Park, based on Manhattan’s Upper West Side and serving all five boroughs of New York City, is presenting the event with support from Columbia Pictures. Directed by David Saint and produced by Julianne Hoffenberg alongside Debby Hirshman and Madelyn Paquette, the reading is set up to be a single-night return to a film that still carries name recognition nearly four decades after it first reached audiences.
