Saturday, July 4, 2026

NYC’s Famed Public Theater Will Stream All-Star Show with Sting, Glenn Close, Audra McDonald, Oscar Isaac, Elvis Costello, More

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New York’s famed Public Theater is losing a lot of money while the lockdown continues. Their revenue stream needs a big shot in the arm so they’ve got a big fundraiser planned for June 1st streaming on their website and elsewhere.

The main event is free, and features Sting and Trudie Styler, Glenn Close, Audra McDonald, Elvis Costello, Oscar Isaac, Anne Hathaway, Antonio Banderas, Laura Benanti, Nikki M. James, John Leguizamo, and more. The show will be hosted by Jesse Tyler Ferguson, directed by Kenny Leon with music directed by Ted Sperling.

Sam Waterston, who was in so many early Public Theater productions, will be honored.

Before the event goes live on streaming, the clever people at the Public have worked out a way for top donors to host private cocktail parties with some of the stars. The donations range down from $50,000. You can read all about that here.

The Public Theater has given us a lot of historic shows, like “Hamilton,” “Hair,” and “A Chorus Line.” Not being open since March is very damaging. This is an important event that I’m happy to promote (even though there was no press release, I just cooked this up from their website).

All you rich kids who fled Manhattan for the Hamptons or Palm Beach, set up your parties now!

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009, where he covered Michael Jackson, and previously wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine in the mid-1990s, where he covered the O.J. Simpson trial. He also edited Fame magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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