THE famed Irish playwright Oscar Wilde may be gone, but he certainly hasn’t been forgotten. To celebrate what would have been his 150th birthday in October of this year, an Irish director has accumulated an array of A list stars, each of whom will recite one of Wilde’s classic lines for a PBS special later this year.

Called Happy Birthday Oscar Wilde, director Bill Hughes has enlisted the help of many Wilde fans, including Bono, Liam Neeson, Joan Rivers and Melanie Brown, the former Spice Girl currently starring in Rent on Broadway. 

Said a delighted Hughes, “Joan Rivers said Lady Bracknell’s line from The Importance of Being Earnest — ‘What I wear is just fashionable, it’s what other people wear that is unfashionable.’” That definitely sounds like something Rivers, the bane of red carpet walking celebrities, would say.

Other stars interested in lending their talents to the project include Al Pacino and Susan Sarandon. “Martin Sheen is doing it along with his sons Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez. He’s banging the drums in Hollywood and I’m going out there shortly,” said Hughes.

The proceeds from the film will go to Amnesty International, and in addition to a PBS screening over here, Irish broadcaster RTE will also show the finished product. Afterwards, it’ll be released on DVD.

“The proceeds are going to Amnesty because they support human rights and gay rights,” said Hughes. “Oscar Wilde was in prison for his sexuality.”