ELIZABETH TAYLOR AND THE SHADOW OF HER SMILE Comes to Westport Country Playhouse

Westport Country Playhouse will present a cabaret evening, “Ann Talman: Elizabeth Taylor and the Shadow of Her Smile,” as part of the new Barnstormer Series in the Lucille Lortel White Barn Center, on Sunday, April 21, at 7 p.m.  Winner of the 2023 Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs (MAC) Award for Best Female Debut and the 2023 Bistro Award for Outstanding Musical Memoir, the show is headlined by Ann Talman, actor, singer, storyteller, award-winning documentary filmmaker, and four-time Broadway veteran.

Talman co-starred with Elizabeth Taylor in the 1981 Broadway production of “The Little Foxes,” playing Taylor’s daughter. “The Shadow of Her Smile” explores Talman’s relationship with the late screen icon Taylor through hilarious and touching anecdotes, woven with classic Broadway and Great American Songbook gems.

“Elizabeth Taylor and The Shadow of Her Smile” is directed by Lina Koutrakos with musical direction by Alex Rybeck, both Bistro and MAC Award winners. The show received critical and audience acclaim when it debuted at 54 Below in March 2022, followed by a two-night encore engagement in September 2022. It has played The Laurie Beechman, Feinstein’s Hotel Carmichael in Carmel, IN, Feinstein’s Hotel Nikko in San Francisco, Chicago’s Davenport’s, Joe Brancato’s The Penguin Rep, and at The World AIDS Day Gala in December 2023 at The Liz in Washington, D.C.

Talman’s other stage credits include Broadway’s “The House of Blue Leaves,” “Some Americans Abroad,” and the revival of “The Women.” She was also in “Yours, Anne,” “Carnival,” “Steel Magnolias,” “The Cocktail Hour,” “Picnic,” “Dangerous Liaisons,” “The Diary of Anne Frank,” “Citizens Market,” “Murderers,” and “All in the Timing.” Talman has appeared in several motion pictures including “Serendipity,” “Limitless,” and “Archeology of a Woman and Wall Street.” Television credits include guest starring roles on “Seinfeld,” “Ellen,” “Love & War,” “Murphy Brown,” “The Street,” “Law & Order” and a year on “General Hospital,” among others.

Talman wrote, starred in, and produced the multiple award-winning documentary film “Woody’s Order!,” based on her solo play about her lifelong dedication to her older brother, Woody, who lived a full life with cerebral palsy. It premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and was up for an Oscar in 2018. She has toured the country as a storyteller sharing her very personal and touching tales which she has compiled for the upcoming book, “Woody’s Order!” She is a Founding Member of The New Group.

Running time for “Elizabeth Taylor and The Shadow of Her Smile” is 70 minutes; no intermission. For full details, visit: https://www.westportplayhouse.org/show/barnstormer-ann-talman/

Tickets are $20; general admission; seating unreserved.  Snacks and beverages will be available for purchase by credit card or cash inside the Lucile Lortel White Barn Center before the start of the show.

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