Staten Island OutLOUD presents a stage reading of a rarely-performed play by the legendary Orson Welles, directed by Vincent Vok. First staged on Broadway in 1955, the original cast included a young Rod Steiger. It had a brief run; Welles filmed the performance but it was never released, and the film has been lost. The play begins with actors milling around on a stage as audience members arrive and take their seats. Actors can be heard joking and gossiping and grousing about their director. Suddenly the director appears, bounds up onto the stage and announces that they'll rehearse his new adaptation of Herman Melville's "Moby Dick". What happens next is ... "Moby Dick Rehearsed" is presented by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc., a Concord Theatricals Company. This event is part of Staten Island OutLOUD's series for The Big Read on Nathaniel Philbrick's "In the Heart of the Sea", the tragedy of the whaleship Essex, rammed and sunk by a giant whale in 1820. The story of the Essex inspired young Herman Melville as he began work on "Moby Dick". The NEA presents The Big Read in partnership with the Institute of Museum & Library Services, and in cooperation with Arts Midwest.
