New Plaza Cinema presents the world premiere of the film 'Honoring Eric Bentley: A Centennial Tribute Concert', January 28, 2023

New Plaza Cinema proudly presents the world premiere of the new Royal Road Productions film

Honoring Eric Bentley: A Centennial Tribute Concert

directed by Warren Elgort

on January 28, 2023, at 12:30 pm

New Plaza Cinema at Macaulay Honors College

35 W 67th St, New York, NY 10023

General Admission $15, Seniors / Students $12

Actor/director/playwright Austin Pendleton and the film's producer, Karyn Levitt, will lead an audience discussion about the lasting influence of Eric Bentley, following the screening.

For more information visit New Plaza Cinema and scroll down to buy tickets.

This film preserves the legacy of one of the most revered theater critics, playwrights, editors and translators of our time. It documents an historic event honoring legendary man of the theater Eric Bentley, with exciting tributes from noted artists and scholars, punctuated by theater music of Hanns Eisler and Darius Milhaud, performed by soprano, band, and orchestra.

Please click here to watch the trailer.

"In my opinion, and of course in the opinion of many, many others, no one has rendered greater service to the art of the theater than Eric Bentley."

-- Tony Kushner, Pulitzer Prize winner and two-time Academy Award nominee

Eric Bentley (1916-2020) was one of the preeminent experts on Bertolt Brecht, whom he met in California as a young man and whose work he translated extensively. Eric Bentley also wrote numerous books on the theater, such as The Playwright as Thinker, and taught at Harvard and Columbia Universities. Of his many plays, Are You Now or Have You Ever Been is the most performed. In addition, he recorded several albums, including two covering the song repertoire of Bertolt Brecht and Hanns Eisler. In 1998, he was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame.

As Bentley entered his 100th year, a galaxy of stars honored him at Broadway's Town Hall. The historic event, produced by Royal Road Productions, was emceed by Michael Riedel and featured tributes by Austin Pendleton, Roger Copeland, Phillip Lopate, Edward Mendelson, James Shapiro, Louise Kerz Hirschfeld, Michael Paller, and Tony Kushner.

Singer Karyn Levitt performed the world premiere of songs for Mother Courage by Darius Milhaud and Eric Bentley in the composer’s original, unpublished orchestrations for chamber orchestra, conducted by multi-Emmy Award winner Glen Roven.

Selections from Eric Bentley's Brecht-Eisler Song Book were also performed by Karyn Levitt and the Hanns Eisler Trio.

The film captures all the highlights from this one-of-a-kind live event honoring Eric Bentley and his legacy.

“Congratulations on a fascinating and unique film.”

—ALLAN MILLER, two-time Oscar winner, Emmy winner, documentary filmmaker

 “An eloquent tribute to an irreplaceable man.”

—IRVING WARDLE, (formerly) drama critic for the London Times; theatre critic for The Observer and The Independent on Sunday

AUSTIN PENDLETON is an actor, director, playwright, and, at HB Studio in New York, where he studied with Uta Hagen and Herbert Berghof, a teacher of acting, and where he had the pleasure of meeting Eric Bentley. He has directed in New York, productions, including: The Little Foxes, starring Elizabeth Taylor, for which he (and several others in the production) received Tony nominations; Between Riverside and Crazy, by Stephen Adly Giurgis, a multiple award-winning production; Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters, Ivanov, and Hamlet (with Peter Sarsgaard as Hamlet), all at CSC.

KARYN LEVITT is president of Royal Road Productions. Ms. Levitt produced and performed in Happy Birthday, Eric Bentley at the Town Hall, which she co-conceived with co-producer Aryeh Finklestein, and produced the film Honoring Eric Bentley. A distinguished soprano, she conceives, develops, and performs musical programs, such as On Hollywood and Weimar: The Songs of European Jewish Composers from the Golden Age of Film and Will There Still Be Singing? A Hanns Eisler Cabaret, at venues such as Carnegie Hall (Weill), York Theatre, Cafe Sabarsky, Feinstein’s/54 Below, Brecht-Haus (Berlin), D.C. Jewish Music Festival, and beyond. 

NEW PLAZA CINEMA is a trusted community of film lovers providing thought provoking entertainment, education and conversation through curated film experiences. Its mission is to be a cultural destination that keeps Art Cinema alive in Upper Manhattan and wherever its patrons are reached, through both in-person and virtual programming. (www.newplazacinema.org).