I was lucky last night to once again attend another Frog & Peach production. Whether a truncated reading of a Shakespearean play (last night the F&P players read King Lear at the wonderful Players Club) or a full production of one of the bards works at their permanent performance space at The West End Theatre on the upper west side, you just know when Frog & Peach get something up and running it’s going to be special.

Last night the cast included:

Movie/t.v. stalwart Jeffrey DeMunn as-a-force-to-be-reckoned lead; Frog & Peach regulars-as well as regional/Broadway veterans (at such young ages no less!) Eric Doss, Erick Gonzalez, the slinky scary (at least here) Amy Frances Quint, Jack Sochet and solid every-step-of-the-way Ryan Tramont; Mad Men’s Rich Sommer tickled over some delicious lines as the “Fool,” none other than Bebe Neuwirth gave a perfectly precise voice to Lear’s strangely conniving daughter “Goneril,” Darrell Hammond was a slinky perfectly off-putting “Edgar” (I’m becoming quite fond of Mr. Hammond’s work with Frog and Peach); John Rothman amped-up the reading as much as Jeffrey DeMunn, bringing ‘action’ into the read in a way only a real master can; Wrenn Schmidt was the subtle fated “Cordelia” and David Wohl delivered a pointed perfect “Albany;” Frog and Peach co-founder Ted Zurowski was a slinky and dangerous “Edmund,” as always keeping us on edge with his every word and last (bit nor least) Peter Gerety played the tragedy that is Gloucester to heart breaking proportions.

True rock and roll/progressive rock royalty Ian McDonald played the piano for perfectly placed accents, storm ‘effects’ and even some jaunty melodies for Sommer’s songs.

I can’t say enough about Frog and Peach and these readings at such a wonderful space as well as their full productions up town. This reading was a benefit for one of those productions, The Taming Of The Shrew that will go up Oct 11^th-Nov. 4^th. Call here 212-868-4444to get tickets or go to www.frogandpeach.org for more info.