East Bay filmmakers coming to aid of Children’s Fairyland

OAKLAND >> Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal may have gone Hollywood, but their youthful hearts remain in Oakland.

The producers/writers/ actors/musicians — and lifelong friends — are swooping in to aid one of their childhood hangouts, Children’s Fairyland in Oakland.

On Saturday, Diggs and Casal, the team behind the Oakland-based feature film “Blindspotting,” will host a live “Celebrity Storytime.” Described as an evening featuring “homegrown fairy tales that speak to us all,” it’s a fundraising event to benefit the theme park, which is experiencing financial hardship during the pandemic.

In a tweet, the park explained, “They read that we were in danger of closing and offered their help.” Since the pandemic forced its closure in March, the facility has reportedly lost more than $1 million in revenue.

Casal and Diggs have also promoted the event via Twitter, asking the public to send some love to the charming 70-year-old park, which could really use a happily-ever-after. Casal said he wants to help “keep Fairyland around for the next generation of Bay Area kids.” Diggs promised a great show that would include “some of the dopest puppet co-hosts you’ve ever seen.”

The virtual event can be streamed for free, although donations are encouraged. The show starts at 6:30 p.m. Find registration details at www.classy.org/event/fairylands-celebrity-storytime/ e297793.

Diggs and Casal met as students at Berkeley High School and have been creating together ever since. They co-wrote, produced, and starred in “Blindspotting,” a 2018 film that earned wide acclaim. The cable network Starz recently announced that it has given the green light to a TV series based on the movie, with Diggs and Casal involved as writers and producers.