Matthew Broderick, Marisa Tomei head to East Hampton for 'Big Chill'

It was balmy outside Guild Hall in East Hampton Monday night, but there was a "Big Chill" inside. Several high-profile stars including Matthew Broderick, Amy Brenneman and Oscar winner Marisa Tomei were on hand to do a staged reading of the 1983 movie's screenplay hosted at the theater by the Center at West Park as a fundraiser for the community performing arts center on Manhattan's Upper West Side.

Speaking about Center at West Park, Broderick told Newsday, "It's a great old building, a landmarked beautiful building and [I'll do] anything I can do to help." He also commented on how enjoyable it was to perform the show with old friends, including Tomei and actor Josh Hamilton.

For Tomei, it was a chance to give back. "I had the good fortune to be part of a not-for-profit theater company, so [I'm happy to do] anything I can do to help other people, for future generations to have access to these spaces, for the ability to have community and work in not-for-profit ways," she said.

Proceeds from the reading will be used to help fund the center's programs.

"I got to tour the center probably two years ago and I felt the magic," Brenneman told Newsday. "This is not only a gorgeous building that should be preserved ... but it's a community space, and I think that in this moment when we're all sort of losing touch with one another ... a physical space like this to be together is worth preserving."

The screen version of "The Big Chill" boasted an all-star cast including Tom Berenger, Kevin Kline and Glenn Close, and concerned a group of college chums from the 1960s who gathered for the funeral of a friend (an early role for Kevin Costner). Last summer, the center presented a reading of "All the President's Men" at Guild Hall that featured Mark Ruffalo, Andy Cohen, Gwyneth Paltrow, Robert Downey Jr. and more stars.

"The Big Chill" performance was followed by a talk with the cast and creative team moderated by CNN "State of the Union" co-anchor Dana Bash.

"We actors like to come together and this is my favorite kind of thing," Brenneman added. "It was very hard just to get through the run-through because these are very funny people."

Newsday's Daniel Bubbeo contributed to this story.