Tony Award winner Marcia Gay Harden will join the previously announced Elias Koteas, Alfred Molina, Julianne Moore, Viggo Mortensen, Aidan Quinn, Gloria Reuben, Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci, and Debra Winger for a reading of Ariel Dorfman’s Speak Truth to Power: Voices From Beyond the Dark, adapted from the book by Kerry Kennedy. David Esbjornson will direct the benefit performance, at the Public Theater on Monday, May 3 at 7pm. The reading is presented by Dorfman, Kennedy, the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, and The Public. It chronicles the true-story accounts of heroic people withstanding horrific human rights abuses across the globe. Proceeds from the reading will benefit the relief efforts of Habitat for Humanity in Chile. All ticket holders will be invited to an exclusive post-show reception featuring the cast and creative team.

For more information, visit www.publictheater.org.

After watching herself portrayed by Meryl Streep, Northern Irish civil rights leader Inez McCormack stood on stage with the actress and discussed her causes – and what it felt like to watch Streep in action. “She’s better at me than I am,” McCormack said. The clip can be watched in the video archive.

The hallmark women’s magazine is hosting an event to honor influential females during their 125 years of publication. On April 12, in honor of their 125th anniversary, leading women’s magazine Good Housekeeping will host a one-night event in honor of our nation’s most influential women. According to a release, the event, which is being called “Shine On,” will salute icons, visionaries, goddesses, and even “hellraisers.” The New York City event is being staged to raise money to build the first permanent location for the National Women’s History Museum in Washington D.C. “Shine On” will be an original 90-minute long production featuring stars of both the stage and screen including Meryl Streep, Kristen Bell, Fran Drescher and Ann Hampton Callaway. Lynne Taylor-Corbett is directing the show, which will honor “women whose combination of intelligence, imagination and nerve changed our lives forever.” These luminaries include Susan B. Anthony, Martha Stewart, Sally Ride, Dorothy Parker and Madonna. Tickets for “Shine On” are available now on the NY City Center website.

Meryl Streep, Morgan Freeman, Julia Roberts and Reese Witherspoon are the latest to appear in public service messages for the American Red Cross Haitian relief effort. The Advertising Council on Friday announced that they and Tim McGraw, Jake Gyllenhaal and Eva Longoria will be featured in the messages that will start to be distributed this weekend. The latest spots were produced with assistance of the Creative Artists Agency Foundation by ad agency GSD&M Idea City.

George Clooney has rallied a few mates for a telethon today to raise money for earthquake-ravaged communities in Haiti. Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief is set to become the most widely distributed telethon in history, reaching 640 million viewers. Foxtel viewers can see the benefit from 11am today on MTV, VH! and CNN, with repeats throughout the day. The two-hour commercial-free telecast will feature performances from Bruce Springsteen, Madonna, Sting, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, Stevie Wonder and Taylor Swift. Caboolture boy Keith Urban will perform a group act with Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow, while Coldplay, Beyonce, Jay-Z, Bono and The Edge will collaborate from London. There’ll be a star-studded team working off stage too, with Nicole Kidman, Brad Pitt, Robert Pattinson, Meryl Streep and former US president Bill Clinton giving testimonials and manning the phones. Funds raised will be split evenly between relief organisations in Haiti.

The American Foundation for AIDS Research will hold a special gala in New York on February 10 in memory of actress Natasha Richardson, a trustee of the organization who died in a skiing accident last year. Among the leadership committee are Liam Neeson, Vanessa Redgrave, Joely Richardson, Sharon Stone, Stanley Tucci and Kenneth Cole. Meryl Streep will also attend and will assist in presenting the tribute to Natasha Richardson. This black-tie gala benefit at Cipriani 42nd Street honors those who have made outstanding efforts to raise awareness about the HIV/AIDS epidemic and to raise dollars for AIDS research. The gala, held on the eve of New York Fashion Week, will begin with cocktails, followed by dinner, a live auction of luxury items, and a special tribute to the honorees. More information can be found here.

Yesterday, Meryl has attended the 19th Annual “A Magical Evening” Gala Benefit. Pictures from the event have been added to the Image Library.

The international human rights organization Equality Now has brought together international and New York activists fighting to end female genital mutilation (FGM) in a media briefing on November 3. The occasion also featured the premiere of a new documentary film called “Africa Rising: The Grassroots Movement to End Female Genital Mutilation“. The film’s premiere at the NYU Cantor Film Center was hosted by Meryl Streep. Pictures from the premiere can be found in the Image Library.

This is a powerful look at how to eliminate, from within cultures themselves, a tragic practice. This procedure is perpetrated on young girls, the most vulnerable members of society. (Meryl Streep)

Everyday 6,000 girls are at risk of undergoing FGM through out the world. In the US, 228,000 women and girls are estimated to have undergone or are at risk of FGM. Census data from 2000 indicates that over 40,000 women and girls are at risk in the metropolitan region of New York, Northern New Jersey and Long Island. Metropolitan New York is considered to have the highest concentration of women and girls at risk of undergoing FGM in the US, yet there is little awareness or services to address the specific needs of these women and girls.

The Public Theater, Tony Kushner and Jeanine Tesori will produce “Courage in Concert”, a one-night-only benefit concert reuniting Kevin Kline, Jenifer Lewis, Austin Pendleton, Meryl Streep and Frederick Weller for an evening of songs from the Public Theater’s 2006 Shakespeare in the Park production of Brecht’s masterpiece, Mother Courage and Her Children. Translated by Tony Kushner with music by Jeanine Tesori and originally directed by George C. Wolfe, “Courage in Concert” will be performed at the Public Theater on Monday, October 19 at 8:00 PM with all proceeds benefiting American Jewish World Service and Partners In Health. The cast of HAIR along with special guests will complete the evening. Tickets go on sale on Thursday, September 17.

I am delighted to reunite with my friends from Mother Courage to benefit two extraordinary organizations … Both American Jewish World Service and Partners In Heath are deeply inspiring in their profound efforts to alleviate poverty and disease around the world.
Meryl Streep

 
“When you work on or watch or read the plays of Bertolt Brecht you’re compelled to ask yourself questions about the relationship between art and the troubled world outside. These questions are complicated, have no easy answers,” said Tony Kushner. “Three summers ago, we presented Mother Courage and Her Children directed by George C. Wolfe and I think I can speak for everyone involved that the experience was thrilling, moving, and left many of us wanting to extend our encounter with this immense play and its provocations. Jeanine Tesori, Meryl Streep and I have been discussing putting together a concert version of the score as a benefit. Together we chose two groups whose work we admire enormously: American Jewish World Services and Partners In Health. Both AJWS and PIH insistently call attention not only to the needs of the poor but to the underlying causes of their poverty. The connection they forge between understanding and action is the connection at the heart of Brecht’s play.”

Many thanks to Brittany at Stand Up 2 Cancer for letting me know about Meryl’s teaming with this non-profit organization to raise money for research and let everyone know how easy it is to join the fight During the month of September, we’re asking the question: “What would you give up to end cancer?” As Meryl points out, for the cost of a coffee or a magazine, you can make a huge difference in the fight against cancer. We’re asking our constituency for just five dollars, with the aim of getting 10,000 five-dollar donations in a month. Also, to learn more about SU2C, go to http://www.standup2cancer.org/su2c/five or become a fan on Facebook (www.facebook.com/su2c)