Eve Ensler's 'Extraordinary Measures' Benefits BC/EFA

Abingdon Theatre Company in association with Music-Theatre Group presents James Lecesne in Eve Ensler's "Extraordinary Measures" for three performances only: December 1, 2 and three at 7 PM at The DR2 Theatre, 101 E. 15th Street. Featuring original music by William Harper and directed by Tony Speciale, proceeds from the event will be shared with Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

"Extraordinary Measures" debuted off-Broadway in 1995 starring Lecesne. In his review of the play, Ben Brantley of The New York Times wrote "it is impossible not to be stirred by the emotional urgency behind 'Extraordinary Measures.' ...Inspired by the final days of Paul Walker, a theater director, performer and instructor who died of AIDS in 1993, the work presents death as the ultimate class in life study. The hospital room in which Mr. Walker lies unconscious, kept alive by medical support systems (the "extraordinary measures" of the title), becomes a forum in which his brother, friends and former students individually address the man, struggling to find emotional truth before a mentor who can no longer confirm or question their feelings. All of these people, as well as Mr. Walker himself, are portrayed by the magnetically vital James Lecesne, who (embodies) enough characters on New York stages to populate a small village."

"Twenty-three years ago, at the height of the AIDS crisis in NYC, I had the honor of performing in Eve Ensler's powerful play, 'Extraordinary Measures,'" says James Lecesne. "At the time many of us were facing the untimely deaths of loved who were dying way too soon. This experience showed me what theater is capable of -- how it can create value even out of the direst of circumstances and how it allows us as a community to come together and transform our pain into power. But the message of 'Extraordinary Measures' is not for that time alone. AIDS, though not the scourge it was in 1994, is still with us, dying is something each of us must face, and the need for community has never been greater."

Each performance of "Extraordinary Measures" will be followed by a post-show discussion, each with a special guest speaker: playwright Eve Ensler (Dec. 1), Koshin Pailey Ellison and Robert Chodo Campbell from NY Zen Center for Contemplative Care (Dec. 2), and Tristan Layton from Dream Foundation (Dec. 3).

Ensler is the Tony Award-winning playwright, activist, performer and author of the theatrical phenomenon and Obie Award-winning, "The Vagina Monologues," which has been published in 48 languages and performed in over 140 countries. Ensler's plays include "Floating Rhoda and the Glue Man," "Extraordinary Measures," "Necessary Targets," "OPC," "The Good Body," and "Emotional Creature."

Her books include "Insecure at Last: A Political Memoir," New York Times best-seller "I Am An Emotional Creature" and her critically acclaimed memoir "In the Body of the World." Eve adapted "In the Body of the World" into a play that she performed and debuted at the American Repertory Theater, directed by Diane Paulus. In January 2018, she will be premiering it in New York at the Manhattan Theatre Club.

Her play, "Fruit Trilogy" was performed at the Women of the World Festival in London and The West Yorkshire Playhouse. Her film credits include an HBO film version of her performance of "The Vagina Monologues" (2002). She also produced the film "What I Want My Words to Do to You," a documentary about the writing group she led at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women, which premiered and won the Freedom of Expression Award at the Sundance Film Festival and premiered nationally on PBS's "P.O.V." in December 2003.

Ensler is the founder of V-Day, the almost 20-year-old global activist movement to end violence against women and girls which has raised over 100 million dollars for grassroots groups. V-Day led Ensler also to found One Billion Rising, the most significant global mass action campaign to end violence against women in human history in over 200 countries. She writes for The Guardian, Time Magazine, the International Herald Tribune and many other outlets. She was named one of Newsweek's "150 Women Who Changed the World" and The Guardian's "100 Most Influential Women.

Lecesne wrote the short film "Trevor," which won an Academy Award and inspired the founding of The Trevor Project, the only nationwide 24-hour suicide prevention and crisis intervention lifeline for LGBTQ youth. He created "The Road Home: Stories of Children of War," which was presented at the International Peace Initiative at The Hague. He adapted Armistead Maupin's "Further Tales of the City" for Showtime (Emmy Award nomination), and he was a writer on the series "Will & Grace."

He has written three novels for young adults and created "The Letter Q," a collection of letters by Queer writers written to their younger selves. As an actor, he has appeared on television in "Sex and the City"; on Broadway in Gore Vidal's "The Best Man"; and Off-Broadway in "The Boys in the Band," "Cloud 9," "One Man Band," and "Word of Mouth" (Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards).

Lecesne won awards from the Off-Broadway Alliance, United Solo Theatre Festival, and Outer Critic Circle for his performance in "The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey." The New York Times ranked him "among the most talented solo performers of his (or any) generation."

Proceeds go to BC/EFA, one of the nation's leading industry-based, nonprofit AIDS fundraising and grant-making organizations. By drawing upon the talents, resources and generosity of the American theater community, since 1988 Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS has raised more than $285 million for essential services for people with HIV/AIDS and other critical illnesses in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Washington DC.

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS helps men, women, and children across the country and the street receive lifesaving medications, health care, nutritious meals, counseling and emergency financial assistance.