“It’s storytelling with some of our favorite intellectual properties and characters, but in a totally new and incredible light,” Roif said. Special guests in the audience included internet personality Blizzy McGuire, and in a twist that was almost absurd enough to be natural — Austin Butler and Kaia Gerber.
The event saw readers pour their hearts out in the name of this decidedly playful strain of wordplay. The lineup included Mackenzie Thomas, Sophia Anne Caruso, Jon Burgerman, Starr himself, Greta Kline, and to top it off, RHONY star Leah McSweeney.
Starr and Roif, the duo behind the bright electricity of the Press’s operation, are hellbent on rewriting the ecosystem of public readings. Past events have unfolded at such venues as a FiDi boxing ring (complete with uproarious jeers and shouts), Peter Pan Donuts (a child was led out by an unprepared parent), and the hallowed ground of a Penn Station Sbarro (no explanation necessary).
From the clanks and shouts of normal dinner service downstairs, to the cheers and uncontrollable laughter on the third floor performance space, the night was marked by an interwoven symphony of sound. “I loved hearing the world of Burger King in the background — ‘Number Three!’ and all that being called out during the reading,” McGuire said.