Who: Roberta Wallach, Penny Fuller, James Naughton, Michael Citriniti
What: Staged reading
Where: Ethical Culture Society, 2 West Sixty-Fourth St., Ceremonial Hall, 646-366-9340
When: Thursday, September 26, $25, 2:00
Why: “Life goes on. With or without you. You can either shut down or join in,” Nick Springer once said. On September 26 at 2:00, the life of the Paralympic gold medalist will be honored with a staged reading of the new play Someone Is Sending a Message, taking place at the New York Society for Ethical Culture’s Ceremonial Hall. Springer, a quadriplegic who won his gold in wheelchair rugby at the 2008 Beijing Games, died in April 2021 at the age of thirty-five; he had contracted meningococcal meningitis in 1999 but led a courageous fight to make the most of his life. “A lot of people look at me like I’m fragile,” he told the New York Times in 2003. “Sports gives me a chance to get out there and bang myself up.”
Written by Susan Charlotte, directed by Antony Marsellis, and presented by Cause Célèbre, the play features Drama Desk nominee Roberta Wallach, Tony nominee Penny Fuller, two-time Tony winner James Naughton, and Michael Citriniti in a story about an artist friend of Nick’s who must face her future without him as well as her brother, who also passed away in his thirties. Tickets are $25 for this special event.