Westport Country Playhouse (Joanne Woodward and Anne Keefe, artistic directors, Jodi Schoenbrun Carter, managing director) will stage the delicious comedy Time of My Life by Alan Ayckbourn, reuniting author, director and cast members from one of last season's biggest hits, Relatively Speaking.
Directed by
John Tillinger, the comedy is set for April 1 – 19. Due to the incredible demand of last season's production of
Relatively Speaking and the same core talent returning, the Playhouse has added a fourth week of performances for
Time of My Life, Thursday, Friday and two Saturday performances, April 24 - 26.
Audience favorite
Paxton Whitehead plays Gerry Stanton, family patriarch, who gets together with his sons and their significant others to celebrate their mother's 54th birthday at their favorite family restaurant. Based on what transpires following the night of the birthday party, time begins to flow differently for each couple.
Cast members are
Jason Antoon,
Geneva Carr, Carson Elrod,
Cecilia Hart, Seana Kofoed,
James Waterston and
Paxton Whitehead. Carr, Hart, Waterston and Whitehead were a smash hit last season on the Playhouse stage in
Relatively Speaking. Elrod received acclaim for his performance in
The Drawer Boy at the Playhouse in 2006.
Jason Antoon was on Broadway in
Contact, for which he received a Drama Desk nomination. Off-Broadway, he appeared in
Burleigh Grimes,
Picasso at the Lapin Agile and
Scapin. His films are
Music and Lyrics,
Perfect Stranger,
Minority Report, directed by
Steven Spielberg,
Little Black Book,
Two Weeks Notice,
The Producers and
Live from Baghdad. His television appearances include
Cashmere Mafia,
The Lost Room, three
Law & Order series,
Spin City and
Sex and the City.
Geneva Carr was most recently in Billy Aronson's
The News at Ensemble Studio Theatre's Marathon 2007. Other Off-Broadway credits include
Rose's Dilemma at Manhattan Theatre Club,
The Vagina Monologues at Westside Arts and
Betty's Summer Vacation at Playwrights Horizons. Her television work includes
Hope & Faith,
Third Watch,
Law & Order: Criminal Intent and
Sex and the City. Films include
One Last Thing,
Restaurant and
Neurotica.
Carson Elrod was in the Broadway productions of
Reckless and
Noises Off. Off Broadway, he appeared in
Based on a Totally True Story, for which he received a Drama League nomination. His film work includes
When a Stranger Calls,
Wedding Crashers and
Kissing Jessica Stein. For television, he was seen on
Medium and HBO's
Carnivale. Elrod has an MFA degree from NYU.
Cecilia Hart's Broadway productions are
Design for Living,
Othello,
Dirty Linen (Theatre World Award, Drama Desk nomination),
The Heiress and
Macbeth. Off-Broadway she appeared in
The Good Parts,
Division Street and
The Emperor of Late Night Radio. Her regional work includes roles at Yale Repertory Theatre and the Kennedy Center. On television, she was on
Law & Order and
The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd, among others.
Seana Kofoed can currently be seen in the ABC series
Men in Trees. She appeared on Broadway in
Proof and
Night Must Fall, and has numerous off-Broadway credits. She has also performed regionally at Long Wharf Theatre and Berkshire Theatre Festival, among others. TV/film credits include
Law & Order: SVU,
Ed,
Third Watch,
Queens Supreme and
Windy Acres.
James Waterston's New York theatre credits include Jack in
The Importance of Being Earnest at BAM, Orlando in
As You Like It at New York Shakespeare Festival and
Ashley Montana Goes Ashore in the Caicos at The Flea. Regional work includes Edmund in
Long Day's Journey into Night, Konstantin in
The Seagull, Richard in
Ah, Wilderness!, and Sir Andrew in
Twelfth Night. He also worked three seasons at Old Globe, three seasons playing piano for Greylock Project at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, and three seasons at The Sundance Institute June Lab. Film and television appearances include
Dead Poets Society;
Six Feet Under (HBO, recurring); and
Live from Baghdad (HBO).
Paxton Whitehead appeared on Broadway in
Absurd Person Singular,
My Fair Lady (
Helen Hayes Award),
Run for Your Wife,
Noises Off (Drama Desk Award),
Camelot (Tony nomination),
The Crucifer of Blood (also at Westport Country Playhouse),
Candida,
Beyond the Fringe, and others. From 1967 to 1977, he was artistic director of Canada's Shaw Festival. Television credits include
Desperate Housewives,
The West Wing and
Friends. Films include
Kate and Leopold and
Back to School.
Director
John Tillinger directed
Relatively Speaking at Westport Country Playhouse last season, and
The Drawer Boy in 2006. He directed many Broadway plays including
Night Must Fall with
Matthew Broderick,
The Sunshine Boys with
Jack Klugman and Tony Randall,
Inherit the Wind with
Charles Durning and
George C. Scott (Tony nomination, Outer Critics Circle Award),
The Price with
Eli Wallach (Tony nomination),
Sweet Sue with
Mary Tyler Moore and
Lynn Redgrave, and
Loot! with
Joseph Maher (OCC Award, Tony nomination). His Off-Broadway directing work includes
Tea at Five with
Kate Mulgrew;
Sylvia with
Sarah Jessica Parker,
A Perfect Ganesh with
Zoe Caldwell and
Frances Sternhagen,
Lips Together Teeth Apart with
Nathan Lane,
Christine Baranski and
Swoosie Kurtz,
After the Fall with
Frank Langella and
Dianne Wiest,
Breaking Legs with Vincent Gardenia and
Philip Bosco,
The Lisbon Traviata with
Nathan Lane (Lortel Award),
Love Letters with many stars including
Jason Robards and Colleen Dewhurst (Lortel Award),
Little Murders with
Christine Lahti,
The Perfect Party (OCC Award) and
Entertaining Mr. Sloane (Drama Desk Award). Regionally, he directed many seasons at Long Wharf Theatre, including
Arsenic and Old Lace with
Joanne Woodward,
Another Country with
Peter Gallagher and Peter McNichol and
The Road to Mecca with
Julie Harris.
Playwright Alan Ayckbourn is the author of 70 plays, most of which were premiered at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough. More than half have subsequently been staged in London. They have been translated into 35 languages, are performed throughout the world and have received many national and international awards. His works include
How the Other Half Loves,
Absurd Person Singular,
The Norman Conquests,
Just Between Ourselves,
Bedroom Farce,
A Chorus of Disapproval,
Woman in Mind,
Comic Potential,
Things We Do for Love,
Improbable Fiction and
Private Fears in Public Places. His book,
The Crafty Art of Playmaking, has been published in Spain, Sweden, Germany and the U.S. The holder of a number of honorary degrees, he is also the recipient of a Montblanc de la Culture Award for Europe and a Sunday Times Award for Literary Excellence. A Fellow of the RSA, he was appointed a CBE in 1987 and in 1997, was knighted for services to the theatre.
The design team for
Time of My Life is James Noone, set, Jane Greenwood, costumes, Rui Rita, lighting, Scott Killian, sound, Christine Catti, production stage manager, Stephen Gabis, dialect coach and Laura Stancyk, casting.
Westport Country Playhouse's 2008 season continues with a sweetly comic play,
The Pavilion, written by Craig Wright, an award-winning and Emmy-nominated playwright who has also been the head writer and producer for HBO's
Six Feet Under and
Lost. A lively song and dance revue,
Hot 'n Cole: A Cole Porter Celebration!, will be staged June 10 through June 28. The revue is devised by David Armstrong,
Mark Waldrop and Bruce W. Coyle; musical arrangements by Bruce W. Coyle. From Westport Country Playhouse's playwright-in-residence David Wiltse comes a delicious office comedy,
Scramble!, which will be staged July 8 through July 26. Tracey Brigden, who directed Wiltse's comedy
A Marriage Minuet at the Playhouse in 2006, will be at the helm. A thriller,
Tryst by Karoline Leach, will play August 5 through August 23.
Joe Brancato, who directed the Off-Broadway production, will direct. The enduring masterpiece,
Of Mice and Men, will be directed by
Paul Newman.
Of Mice and Men will run October 7 through October 25. Due to the caliber of artists attached to this production, the Playhouse has added a fourth week of performances for
Of Mice and Men, Thursday, Friday and two Saturday performances, October 30 – November 1. A December holiday production, not part of the subscription series, is to be announced.
The performance schedule for the 2008 season will be Tuesday at 8 p.m., Wednesday at 2 and 8 p.m., Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 4 and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. Special series will feature Previews, Opening Nights, TalkBack Thursdays, Prologue, Symposium Sundays, Backstage Pass and Open Captioning.
Following a multi-million dollar renovation completed in 2005, the Playhouse is now open year-round, welcoming 85,000 audience members annually. On its legendary stage are theatrical productions, educational programming and special events, including films, readings of short fiction and new plays, and a Family Festivities series. The rich history of the Westport Country Playhouse dates back to 1931, when New York theatre producers Lawrence Langner and his wife Armina Marshall created a Broadway-quality stage within an 1830s cow barn. Now celebrating its 78th season, the Playhouse has produced more than 700 plays, 35 of which later transferred to Broadway. Its roster of actors reads like a "Who's Who" of the American theatre. Westport Country Playhouse serves as a treasured home for the performing arts for audiences and artists alike, and as a true cultural landmark for Connecticut.
For subscriptions, single tickets or more information, call the box office at (203) 227-4177, or toll-free at 1-888-927-7529, or visit 25 Powers Court, off Route 1, Westport. Information about the Playhouse is also available at www.westportplayhouse.org.
