MANHATTAN — More than 20 well-known actors will appear on an NYU stage this week for an event that will likely leave audiences more somber than starstruck.
Katie Holmes, Samuel L. Jackson, Stephen Baldwin, Billy Crudup and Cynthia Nixon are just a few of the television and film stars who were expected to participate in a staged reading of the 9/11 play "110 Stories" at NYU's Skirball Center for the Performing Arts on Thursday and Friday nights.
The play, by Sarah Tuft, is a collection of first-person accounts of 9/11 and its aftermath, capturing the stories of a firefighter, a homeless couple and a massage therapist, as well as dozens of other accounts, according to the play's website.
Tuft said in a statement that she hopes her play reflects on the resilience of New Yorkers.
“I wrote '110 Stories' to preserve not just history but also a window into who we really are as revealed by our behavior under extreme circumstances," she said.
The show started at 8 p.m. on Thursday and will begin the same time on Friday, and tickets range from $40 to $110 each.
Proceeds for the events will be donated to the New York Says Thank You Foundation, which sends New Yorkers to communities across the country that are recovering from disaster. The group's title is an expression of gratitude to the country for post-9/11 support.
The play's Twitter account asked on Tuesday what lessons people learned from 9/11 and the people involved.
"I was a Sr in HS its the day my childhood ended. Saw heroism/sorrow. Freedom isn't free," one user wrote.
