Tony Rodriguez is preparing for a sudsy experience…
The Latino actor and longtime performer of the Upright Citizens Brigade Theaters in New York and Los Angeles will take part in a live reading of Beverly Hills, a soap opera written by TVLine founder and Spoiler Alert author Michael Ausiello when he was 13.
Rodriguez, a voice actor on The Simpsons, is part of a cast that includes Ana Gasteyer, Tony Hale, Dulé Hill, Gillian Jacobs, Jim Rash and Sasheer Zamata.
Adding an element of surprise, the actors will get to read the script for the first time when they take the stage on July 16 at Los Angeles’ Hayworth Theater (aka Dynasty Typewriter).
Proceeds from the event, which will be live-streamed, will benefit The Trevor Project.
Per the description: “Back in the ‘80s, when Ausiello was a closeted gay pubescent living in small-town New Jersey, he penned 517 episodes of a daytime soap opera, titled Beverly Hills. Miraculously, he saved every handwritten script. The event on July 16, which has a roughly 80-minute running time, will center on a concentrated, self-contained story arc that found six of Beverly Hills’ most popular characters traveling overseas for a life-or-death adventure. Although some of Teenage Ausiello’s atrocious spelling has been cleaned up for this theatrical experience, the scenes will be performed exactly as they were written all those years ago. For better or worse.”
The cast of the reading also includes Mitch Silpa and newcomer Tristan Michael Brown, who will portray teenage Ausiello.
The performance will be co-directed by Ausiello and LA theater vet Tom DeTrinis and produced by Ausiello and Patrick Cotnoir.
Founded in 1998, The Trevor Project, headquartered in West Hollywood, CA, is a nonprofit suicide prevention organization that provides 24/7 crisis support services, research, and advocacy for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning youth.
