Backstage at the Geffen celebrates the theater’s 20th anniversary with stories, celebs and Morgan Freeman
After taking the podium as emcee of the annual Backstage at the Geffen event, Dana Delany lamented the rise of technology. Recalling the days before cellphones when actors conversed during breaks, she asked the audience to imagine Peter O’Toole and Richard Burton swapping stores between scenes. “They were not on their phones playing Words With Friends,” she said.
And so began the show portion of the May 22 fundraiser for the Geffen Playhouse in Westwood, which showcased irreverent, at times embarrassing and strictly off-the-record, behind-the-scenes tales of theater life. Celebrating the theater’s 20th anniversary, the night honored Academy Award-winning actor Morgan Freeman and Jeff Skoll, eBay’s first president and founder of Participant Media. Backstage at the Geffen organizers later said the event raised more than $1.4 million for the theater.
This year’s storytellers included Rainn Wilson (“The Office”), Jaeden Lieberher (“St. Vincent”), Amy Landecker (“Transparent”), Kristin Davis (“Sex and the City”), Frenchie Davis (“American Idol”), Aaron Sorkin (“Steve Jobs” and “The Newsroom”), Garry Marshall (“Mother’s Day”), Ellis Hall, Robin Sanders, Jon Boogz and Lil Buck. And there to present the awards were Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn and trailblazing producer Norman Lear.
For his part, Horn reminded the sold-out audience that Freeman had not only played God but also the president, vice president, speaker of the house and chief justice as well as a judge, sergeant, major, captain, colonel and general.
“One could argue that [Freeman] is more qualified to be president of the United States, really, than half the people who are running,” Horn said.
About Skoll, also an executive producer of the Academy Award-winning film “Spotlight,” Lear said: “This man came to this town to put the money to work in the entertainment business with a deep desire through film and storytelling to make the world a better place.”
During the evening, guests also heaped praise on Geffen. During the cocktail hour, Bryan Cranston, who starred in the HBO film “All the Way,” lauded the theater for supporting storytellers and for, as he put it, “bringing in challenging work that may not always be comfortable for the audience but allows people to think and argue and feel.”
Other faces in the crowd included actresses Roma Downey and Nazanin Boniadi, Geffen Executive Director Gil Cates Jr. and Artistic Director Randall Arney, and board Co-Chairwomen Martha Henderson and Pamela Robinson.
Ellen Olivier is the founder of SocietyNewsLA.
