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Raising the Roof with "Green" Entertainment to Benefit the Environment

By Rajdeep K. Bhathal

Manhattan's Theater for the New City will present "Raising the Roof" November 9, 2009 at 7 PM to benefit its green roof garden project. The event will feature actress and singer Tammy Grimes singing "It's Not Easy Being Green"; actress Betsy von Furstenberg with a "green" reading; singer Judy Gorman with her repertoire of songs about peace and justice; post-vaudevillian (and author of NYC Fringe hit "Willy Nilly") Trav S. D. performing songs from his show "Kitsch," or "Two for the Price of One" which is upcoming at TNC; Richmond Shepard and Alex Simmons in a new play, "Luncheon or Two Men, a Park & Pigeons" by Paulanne Simmons; a concert reading of "Long time Passing," a fable set in the ruins of a war-torn Central Park by award-winning playwright Barbara Kahn; environmentally friendly and funny songs by Lissa Moira and Richard West; and much more.

Betsy von Furstenberg, a longtime Theater for the New City friend, says, "I cannot speak highly enough of Crystal Field and TNC. She has achieved the unachievable every year." "What makes you think that will work?" a board member once asked about an unlikely goal." "Because I'm doing it," she answered with such conviction there was no room for doubt. "And the theater's green roof (the first in New York City!) will eventually blossom no matter what the hurdles TNC has to overcome. I'll bet my life on it."

Green roofs, building roofs that are covered with soil and vegetation, grant many benefits for urban environments: they absorb rainwater, provide insulation, combat pollution and offer a habitat for birds. Crystal Field, who initiated the project, hopes Theater for the New City's green roof will be a beacon for the entire city. "We will be the first theater in New York City to have a green roof," she says. "It will help our neighborhood. It will help the air quality on our block. There should be a green roof on every flat roof in New York City. Then we will have a green grid."

"Raising the Roof" will take place at Theater for the New City, located at 155 First Avenue, between Ninth and Tenth Streets, in Manhattan. Tickets to the event are $10 and are availible online at www.theaterforthenewcity.net or through the box office phone at (212) 254-1109.