TROUBLE IN PARADISE Reading To Reunite Original Cast 1/24

Siobhan O'Neill will present a staged reading of Trouble in Paradise on Monday January 24th at 3pm. The reading reunites members of original cast of the Hourglass Group's acclaimed 2006 production, including Jeremy Shamos as Gaston, Nina Hellman as Lily and Carolyn Baeumler as Mariette. Joining them will be Julie Halston (The Divine Sister) and Rick Holmes (Spamalot).

Conceived and directed by Elyse Singer, this adaptation of the 1932 Ernst Lubitsch film of the same name and screenplay by Samson Raphaelson is written by David Simpatico and features an original score by downtown jazz veteran Steven Bernstein & the Millennial Territory Orchestra.

It's Trouble in Paradise when suave swindler Gaston meets his soul mate Lily, a crass pickpocket masquerading as a countess. The two grifters join forces to con Madame Colet, the glamorous heir to a perfume empire. Risking his own heart and Lily's jealousy, Gaston gets a job as Colet's assistant and begins to woo the heiress away from a pair of bumbling suitors. When the secret of his true identity catches up to him, sparks fly and Gaston is caught between two women who have stolen his heart.

The original 1932 pre-Code film by Ernst Lubitsch starred Herbert Marshall, Kay Francis, and Miriam Hopkins is considered a comic masterpiece. It epitomizes the 'Lubitsch Touch' with its witty innuendo-filled dialogue, orchestratEd Grace, charming style, sardonic humor and cynical amorality. The film was pulled from circulation 1935 due to its multiple violations of the Code and was not re-issued until the 1960s.

Trouble in Paradise stars Carolyn Baeumler (Beebo Brinker Chronicles), Obie winner Nina Hellman (Heddatron) and Obie winner Jeremy Shamos (Clybourne Park) and features Drama Desk-nominee Julie Halston (Gypsy), Rick Holmes (The New York Idea), Obie winner Steven Rattazzi (The Walk Across America for Mother Earth) and Gordon Stanley.

David Simpatico wrote the stage adaptation of High School Musical for Disney and The Screams of Kitty Genovese (Edinburgh Fringe, NYMF). Director Elyse Singer recently directed Frequency Hopping at 3LD and the first revivals of Mae West's plays SEX and Pleasure Man. Trouble in Paradise was originally produced by Hourglass Group in a limited run at the Hudson Guild in 2006 and extended in collaboration with True Faux Productions. Nina Hellman received an Obie Award for her performance as Lily.

Trouble in Paradise will be presented at 3pm on Monday January 24 at The Studio Theatre at Theatre Row Theatres. 410 West 42nd Street, 4th Floor (between 9th & 10th). Admission is FREE but reservations are required. Seating is limited. RSVP to rsvp.trouble.in.paradise@gmail.com.

 

Photo Credit: Kevin Thomas Garcia