Photo: liveroof.com

Monday, November 9th at 7pm, The Theater for the New City, will present Raising the Roof, a benefit for its Green Roof Project.

Actress and singer Tammy Grimes and actress Betsy von Furstenberg, both longtime friends of Theater for the New City, are now scheduled to perform.

Raising the Roof will be an evening of “green” entertainment to benefit its green roof garden project. The event will feature 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 Double Dutch Dumbkopfs,” 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. Tickets $10 at The Theater for the New City.

The New York City theater and community cultural center, known for its high artistic standards, produces 30-40 premieres of new American plays per year, at least 10 of which are by emerging and young playwrights. The theater is also known for its service in bringing the community into theater and theater into the community through its many free festivals.

Green roofs, building roofs that are covered with soil and vegetation, offer 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.”