Vanessa Redgrave to Read from Blue Nights

Tony Award-winning actress Vanessa Redgrave is in final rehearsals for a special benefit reading from "Blue Nights," an evocative memoir by acclaimed author, and close friend, Joan Didion.

The one-night-only performance will be at 8 p.m. Monday, November 17, at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine (1047 Amsterdam Ave, NYC). At Redgrave's request, the evening will benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and Cathedral Community Cares. Redgrave will be joined by guest artist Jimmy Owens, 2012 NEA Jazz Master and leader of Jimmy Owens Plus, on the trumpet-flugelhorn.

Redgrave draws a connection between "Blue Nights" and Didion's "The Year of Magical Thinking," which Redgrave performed on Broadway and in London's West End.

"Magical thinking is when we believe that the past can be reversed, somehow," Redgrave says. "Blue nights are when everything has a future. For many of us, that means our children. When the blue nights end, we each confront the ludicrous enigma 'Why can't I be who I was? Why can't I wear the black tights and hooped earrings that made me feel I knew who I was?'"

Redgrave says those who attend the special reading will find "a curious solace - and laughter - in Joan's strange encounters with those who try to assist us with coping."

"Joan Didion wrote, 'We tell ourselves stories in order to live,'" Redgrave says. "That's why I'm reading from Blue Nights in the Cathedral on November 17."

Owens adds: "I feel the life that Joan Didion went through was the height of the saddest of the blues. All the life elements worked out because she was strong in her thoughts and emotions and knew she had to continue in her life. Music is always a part of our life's emotions and can help bridge many personal situations. I'm honored to be able to share my music, my emotions, as part of this evening."

"Blue Nights" is an account of the death of Quintana Roo, Didion's daughter with husband John Gregory Dunne. In the novel, Didion shares her struggle, as a mother and a writer, to cope with this assault on her emotional and physical resources just two years after her husband passed away.

Tickets range from $40-$175 and can be purchased at stjohndivine.org or by calling 212.316.7449.