Bryant Park Reading Room

What a Great Show!

Despite the heat, our recent Bryant Park event was really cool.

Thanks to Stan Honda and Sam Lubell for the event photos

The BRYANT PARK READING ROOM CAST: Jennifer Rawlings • David Masello • Ann Levin • Steven Lewis • Barbara Chen • Minnette Coleman • Annabel Monaghan • Anthony Murphy • Malachy McCourt

Read650 Founder and Editor Edward McCann welcomes the Bryant Park audience.

Read650's lunchtime event last Wednesday kicked off Bryant Park's Summer Reading Series. It was a hot day, but we were comfortable beneath the shade of the park's towering London Plane trees. Before an appreciative live audience, nine talented writers presented a one hour, one act "Greatest Hits" show of audience favorites (NOTE: You can enjoy the original performances on our YouTube Channel).

A gentle, constant breeze kept Annabel Monaghan's hair blowing like Beyonce's the entire time. During her turn on the mic, Annabel had the audience laughing with her story, "My Kid Got a Job!"

Driving us back to 1970s Atlanta, Minnette Coleman performed "Me and my Mustang"

David Masello performed "Taking a New Direction," a story featuring Brooke Astor, while standing (coincidentally) directly behind the New York Public Library—the institution Mrs. Astor had so generously endowed.

Jennifer Rawlings opened the show by performing "A Kansas Tan," the hilarious story of her first summer job,

Anthony Murphy performed "Another Family Plot," his story of carrying his father's ashes back to Ireland—and losing them along the way.

Barbara Chen shared a story of her stint with the NYPD with "Lights, Sirens, and Champagne."

And—in a bit of unintended irony—Ann Levin shared a story of some early, drunken escapades, "In Vino Veritas," while standing directly beneath a statue of William Earl Dodge, the president of the National Temperance Society from 1865 to 1883...

Finally, despite a leg fracture, Malachy McCourt (who turns 90 in September) closed the show with a moving story about his father from his bestselling memoir "A Monk Swimming." Following a company bow, Malachy then led the audience in a rousing singalong of Wild Mountain Thyme.

This experience in Bryant Park moved Steven Lewis to write a poem:

Writers Steven Lewis, Edward McCann, and Malachy McCourt

This Week's Podcast

On this week’s podcast we feature stories about autos on "The Car." New episodes are available each "Writer Wednesday" at 6:50PM, Eastern. Listen now or anytime.

The cast of "The Car" is Steven Lewis, Andi Rosenthal, and Kate Mayer—plus, go "Between the Lines" with David Masello!

With your support and through partnerships with organizations like Carnegie Hall, The National Arts Club, and Vassar College, Read650 has featured Pushcart and Pulitzer Prize winners alongside grad students and grandparents to read their own original short works—stories we now feature every week on the Read650 podcast!
You help us bring those performances to a wide audience via the internet; and with your help, we'll return to theaters and other venues with events that bring community together and inspire other writers.

Your gift today will help support our long-term mission to promote digital and live performances celebrating the spoken word. You make everything we do possible, and we can't do it without you!