Wesport Country Playhouse Hosts Symposium with Tom Jones, 8/15

Westport Country Playhouse present a Sunday Symposium with Tom Jones, book writer and lyricist of "I Do! I Do!," following the Sunday, August 15, 3 p.m. matinee performance of the joyful and touching musical spanning 50 years of marriage. Jones, along with music composer Harvey Schmidt, received an Obie Award and a Special Tony Award for "The Fantasticks." In 1999, their stars were added to the Off-Broadway Walk of Fame outside the Lucille Lortel Theatre.

The Playhouse Sunday Symposium program, free and open to the public, provides the audience with guest speakers' in-depth insights and observations about the production, followed by an interactive dialogue. David Kennedy, Westport Country Playhouse associate artistic director, will moderate the Sunday Symposium. It is open to all, including those who attend a performance of "I Do! I Do!" at another time. The Sunday Symposium is supported, in part, by the White Barn Program of the Lucille Lortel Foundation. Prior to the performance, patrons are invited to enjoy "Prosecco on the Patio" - complimentary glasses of Mionetto Prosecco, a sparkling wine that is the official Playhouse Prosecco.

Tom Jones wrote with Harvey Schmidt "The Fantasticks" for a summer theater at Barnard College. After its off-Broadway opening in May 1960, it went on to become the longest-running production in the history of the American stage and one of the most frequently produced musicals in the world. It is currently running in a successful revival in New York. Their first Broadway show, "110 in the Shade," was successfully revived by the New York City Opera as well as on Broadway, produced by the Roundabout Theatre, starring Audra MacDonald. "I Do! I Do!," their two character musical starring Mary Martin and Robert Preston, was a success on Broadway and is frequently done around the country and the world. One production, in Minneapolis, played for 22 continuous years with the same two actors in the leading roles. For several years, Jones and Schmidt worked privately at their theater workshop, concentrating on small-scale musicals in new and often untried forms. The most notable of these efforts were "Celebration," which moved to Broadway, and "Philemon," which won an Outer Critics Circle Award. They contributed incidental music and lyrics to the Off-Broadway play "Colette," starring Zoe Caldwell, then later did a full-scale musical version under the title "Colette Collage." In 1998, "The Show Goes On," a musical revue featuring their theater songs and starring Jones and Schmidt, was presented at the York Theatre, and "Mirette," their musical based on the award-winning children's book, was premiered at the Goodspeed Opera House.

"I Do! I Do!," starring Tony Award nominee Kate Baldwin and Drama Desk Award nominee Lewis Cleale, will run from August 10 - 28. Director is Susan H. Schulman. A charming journey through a marriage's happiness and sorrow, good times and bad, "I Do! I Do!" features an array of captivating songs encompassing all the richness and variety of experience inherent in taking the plunge into a life spent with someone you love.

Westport Country Playhouse, a not-for-profit theater, serves as a treasured home for the performing arts and is a cultural landmark for Connecticut. Under the artistic direction of Mark Lamos and management direction of Michael Ross, the Playhouse creates quality productions of new and classic plays that enlighten, enrich and engage a diverse community of theater lovers, artists and students. The Playhouse's rich history dates back to 1931, when New York theater producer Lawrence Langner created a Broadway-quality stage within an 1830s tannery. The Playhouse quickly became an established stop on the New England "straw hat circuit" of summer stock theaters. Now celebrating its 80th season, Westport Country Playhouse has produced more than 700 plays, 36 of which later transferred to Broadway, most recently the world premiere of "Thurgood" and a revival of Thornton Wilder's "Our Town" with Paul Newman, and in earlier years "Come Back, Little Sheba" with Shirley Booth, "The Trip to Bountiful" with Lillian Gish, and "Butterflies Are Free" with Keir Dullea and Blythe Danner. For its artistic excellence, the Playhouse received a 2005 Governor's Arts Award and a 2000 "Connecticut Treasure" recognition. It was also designated as an Official Project of Save America's Treasures by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and is entered on the Connecticut State Register of Historic Places. Following a multi-million dollar renovation completed in 2005, the Playhouse transformed into a year-round, state-of-the-art producing theater, which has preserved its original charm and character. In addition to a full season of theatrical productions, the Playhouse serves as a community resource, presenting educational programming and workshops; a children's theater series; symposiums; music; films; and readings.

The five-play 2010 season will continue with "The Diary of Anne Frank," a timeless and powerful classic, by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, adapted by Wendy Kesselman, directed by Gerald Freedman, September 28 through October 30.

For more information or ticket purchases, 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. Tickets may be purchased online at www.westportplayhouse.org. Stay connected to the Playhouse on Facebook (Westport Country Playhouse) and/or follow on Twitter (@WCPlayhouse).

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.