It’s always a pleasure to be a part of something that can never be recreated. As director Jason Reitman stated before the Film Independent at LACMA Live Read of The Graduate even started, there are not many things in this day and age that are not available via streaming. In our infinitely downloadable world, even priceless works of art seem to be a dime a dozen when you do a Google image search. That’s what makes this Live Read series so important. It’s artistic expression at its purest, safe from rewinds and re-watchability factors.

This Live Read was made even more special by the fact that I hadn’t actually seen The Graduate, meaning that I didn’t have to try to get over the performances allegedly immortalized by Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft. The cast of the Live Read, which is sometimes announced by Jason Reitman through Twitter, was still a secret by the 8:00 PM showtime. After introducing Mae Whitman, Paul Scheer, Tig Notaro, and the consistently hysterical Kevin Pollak as the supporting cast, Reitman announced that Jay Baruchel of Knocked Up and This Is The End fame would be taking on the role of the neurotic, confused, and terminally nervous Benjamin.

Perfection. I haven’t seen the film myself, but clips that they show at award shows tend to highlight on the character’s awkwardness and his nearly childlike sense of life direction. As soon as Baruchel walked on stage, everyone in the audience knew that they would be treated to something special. Still, the seat marked Mrs. Robinson was empty. Reitman took a quick breath before he announced that none other than Sharon Stone would be reading for potentially the most famous cougar in cinematic history.

The roar from the crowd nearly blew the doors off the theater as decades of talent flowed onto the stage and sat down at her chair with a laugh. The cast immediately shifted into the read, with Reitman reading the scene directions. A screen over their heads projected images from the film to help the audience keep track of location, successfully putting the wonderful 60’s imagery into our heads without reminding us of the actors that originated the roles.

Jay allowed for his natural nervous energy to take over his vocal and physical performance, occasionally even out-awkwarding his on-screen predecessor. Stone melted a silky detached vibe into every word that came out of her mouth, throwing a lilt onto Benjamin’s name every time it passed through her lips. She held a small glass mug full of tea as though it were a martini glass, invoking a sense of the Mad Men-esque nonchalant alcoholism that lended to her casual smoothness. It worked terribly well, especially since I’m unfamiliar with the original. Seeing it this way allowed for Stone’s unemotional, cold, and calculating character to become my Mrs. Robinson.

If anyone in the Los Angeles area gets the chance to attend one of these Live Reads, it’s a truly thrilling experience, whether or not you’ve watched the film on which the Live Read is based. I would have loved the leisure of comparison, but there’s a kind of freedom in not knowing where the story was heading, and also in allowing Baruchel and Stone’s performance to completely lead me through the journey. I plan on watching The Graduate soon, but it will be hard to remove this first exposure from my mind.