Director Reitman brings his live read series to NYC

NEW YORK (AP) ― Paul Rudd and Emma Stone channeled Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine in a reading of their 1960 film “The Apartment” before a live audience.

The event on Friday was organized by film director Jason Reitman (“Juno,” “Up in the Air”) who has been hosting monthly live reads in Los Angeles to sold-out crowds since last fall.

The readings are billed as a one-time only event with no rehearsals and no recordings.

Friday’s read at the TheTimesCenter was the first to take place in New York.

Tickets sold out so quickly, a live video simulcast was played in another area of the building for $15 a person.

“The Apartment” is about a lonely bachelor named CC “Buddy Boy” Baxter, read by Rudd, who works at an insurance company. He rents out his apartment to male coworkers that want to use it as a place to bring girls for a good time. Stone portrayed an elevator girl in his office building named Fran Kubelik.

The film won five Academy Awards including best picture and best director honors for Billy Wilder.