Lynn Fontanne News

Director Darko Tresnjak, who won big with A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER on Broadway last season, has masterminded another Broadway-style musical confection with his new production of KISS ME KATE at the Hartford Stage Company.

In the new play 'LUNT AND FONTANNE: THE CELESTIALS OF BROADWAY,' playwright and actor Mark E. Lang unites with his wife of twelve years, Alison Murphy to celebrate The Lunts and examine their lives, their work and their legacy... to dig beneath their public personae and discover the all-too-real and sometimes fragile personalities beneath.

First The Visit, a haunting musical drama, based on the 1958 play by Friedrich Durrenmatt, which originally starred the legendary acting team of Lynn Fontanne as the world's wealthiest woman and Alfred Lunt as the disloyal former lover on whom she seeks revenge. Broadway favorites Chita Rivera and Roger Rees star in this stirring adaptation and appear on THEATER TALK to discuss their roles in it. Joining them are The Visit's innovative director, John Doyle, and composer, John Kander, who wrote the score with lyricist Fred Ebb (the pair's last collaboration before Ebb's death).

In the new play "LUNT AND FONTANNE: THE CELESTIALS OF BROADWAY," playwright and actor Mark E. Lang unites with his wife of twelve years, Alison Murphy to celebrate The Lunts and examine their lives, their work and their legacy... to dig beneath their public personae and discover the all-too-real and sometimes fragile personalities beneath.

They were married actors. Who worked together, almost exclusively, for decades. Stage actors who chose to turn down big-money offers from Hollywood. Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne ruled Broadway, toured the nation and even played London's West End in the middle of World War II. With the Theatre Guild, they took low salaries to play in acclaimed productions of Shaw, O'Neill and Shakespeare; as well as three plays by their good friend Noel Coward. Laurence Olivier once said, 'Everything I know about acting I learned from Alfred Lunt.' A Broadway theater was named for them in 1958, and the Cole Porter musical 'KISS ME KATE' was inspired by their on and off-stage battles. Hugely famous in their time, they are now almost completely forgotten by the general public.

Mint Theater today announced that their current acclaimed production of Fashions For Men by Ferenc Molnar featuring Mark Bedard, Joe Delafield, Shawn Fagan, Zachary Fine, Jeremy Lawrence, Rachel Napoleon, Annie Purcell, Kurt Rhoads, Michael Schantz, Maren Searle, John Seidman, Jill Tanner, John Tufts, and Gabra Zackman, would now continue through April 12th at Mint's home (311 West 43rd Street).

Ten Chimneys Foundation has announced Tony Award winner Phylicia Rashad will serve as the Master Teacher for the 2015 Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship Program, a national program to serve the future of American theatre.

Mint Theater today announced the cast for their next production, Fashions For Men by Ferenc Molnar: Mark Bedard, Joe Delafield, Jeremy Lawrence, Rachel Napoleon, Annie Purcell, Kurt Rhoads, Michael Schantz, Maren Searle, John Seidman, Jill Tanner, John Tufts, and Gabra Zackman. Performances began February 3rd and continue through March 29th. Opening Night is Sunday March 1st (7pm) at Mint's home (311 West 43rd Street).

On Friday, March 20th, Ten Chimneys Foundation is honored to welcome back Academy Award-winning actress and 2011 Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship Master Teacher, Olympia Dukakis.

Mint Theater today announced the cast for their next production, Fashions For Men by Ferenc Molnar: Mark Bedard, Joe Delafield, Jeremy Lawrence, Rachel Napoleon, Annie Purcell, Kurt Rhoads, Michael Schantz, Maren Searle, John Seidman, Jill Tanner, John Tufts, and Gabra Zackman. Performances begin February 3rd and continue through March 29th. Opening Night is set for Sunday March 1st (7pm) at Mint's home (311 West 43rd Street).

The Peccadillo Theater Company presents Penguin Rep's production of DROP DEAD PERFECT, a new comedy starring the legendary Everett Quinton at the Theatre at St. Clements (423 W 46th St - between 9th and 10th Avenue), which began previews Tuesday, July 15th. The comedy will open tonight, July 20th at 7PM.

The Peccadillo Theater Company presents Penguin Rep's production of DROP DEAD PERFECT, a new comedy starring the legendary Everett Quinton at the Theatre at St. Clements (423 W 46th St - between 9th and 10th Avenue), which begins previews Tuesday, July 15th. The comedy will open Sunday, July 20th at 7PM. Written by Erasmus Fenn and directed by Joe Brancato, DROP DEAD PERFECT is laced with double-entendres and allusions to 1950s television and Hollywood melodramas. With adult language and situations, this outlandish production is recommended for adults only -- particularly those with a slightly twisted sense of humor.

A LOSS OF ROSES is concluding its limited Off-Broadway engagement tomorrow evening, June 7th at Theatre at St. Clement's, 423 West 46th Street (between Ninth & Tenth Ave.) Presented by The Peccadillo Theater Company, in association with La Femme Theatre Productions, the first NY revival of William Inge's A LOSS OF ROSES opened May 12th, 2014.

Ten Chimneys Foundation has announced the ten actors who will participate in the 2014 Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship Program, a widely acclaimed national program to serve the future of American theatre. July 13-20, the Lunt-Fontanne Fellows will join Master Teacher David Hyde Pierce for an intensive, weeklong master class and immersion experience at Ten Chimneys, the National Historic Landmark estate of theatre legends Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne in Genesee Depot, Wisconsin.

This past Sunday, May 18th, the sold out audience at the first NY revival of William Inge's A LOSS OF ROSES included Inge's nephew, James A. Mahan, as well as Mahan's children and grandchildren. They joined the cast onstage afterwards for a full family & company portrait. On behalf of the family, James Mahan's daughter Sandra wrote the following to the production the next day: 'A heartfelt thank you for having us! We so enjoyed the play and meeting the cast. Clearly everyone involved with this production put much heartfelt energy into it. Your theater has such a very warm and inviting feel which we embraced!'

On January 27, 2014, Ten Chimneys Foundation announced that Tony and Emmy Award winner David Hyde Pierce will serve as the Master Teacher for the 2014 Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship Program.

On January 27, 2014, Ten Chimneys Foundation announced that Tony and Emmy Award winner David Hyde Pierce will serve as the Master Teacher for the 2014 Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship Program. From July 13-20, ten of the nation's top regional theatre actors will join Mr. Pierce for an intensive weeklong master class and immersion experience at Ten Chimneys, the National Historic Landmark estate of Broadway legends Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, in Genesee Depot, Wisconsin.

The award-winning Peccadillo Theater Company will present a staged reading of S.N. Behrman's 1927 play THE SECOND MAN, under the direction of Peccadillo's Artistic Director Dan Wackerman, tonight, October 14th at 7 PM at Theatre at St. Clement's, 423 West 46 Street (between Ninth & Tenth Ave.) The cast will feature Jordan Baker (Three Tall Women, Suddenly Last Summer, "The New Adventures of Old Christine"), Greg Hildreth (Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella, Peter and the Starcatcher, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson), Heather Lind (Jessica in The Merchant of Venice w/Al Pacino, "Boardwalk Empire," The Winter's Tale), and Aaron Serotsky (August: Osage County, Frankenstein, The Blue Flower).

The award-winning Peccadillo Theater Company will present a staged reading of S.N. Behrman's 1927 play THE SECOND MAN, under the direction of Peccadillo's Artistic Director Dan Wackerman, this Monday, October 14 at 7 PM at Theatre at St. Clement's, 423 West 46 Street (between Ninth & Tenth Ave.) The cast will feature Greg Hildreth (Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella, Peter and the Starcatcher, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson), Jordan Baker (Three Tall Women, Suddenly Last Summer, "The New Adventures of Old Christine"), Heather Lind (Jessica in The Merchant of Venice w/Al Pacino, "Boardwalk Empire," The Winter's Tale), and Aaron Serotsky (August: Osage County, Frankenstein, The Blue Flower).

The award-winning Peccadillo Theater Company will present a staged reading of S.N. Behrman's 1927 play THE SECOND MAN, under the direction of Peccadillo's Artistic Director Dan Wackerman, Monday, October 14 at 7 PM at Theatre at St. Clement's, 423 West 46 Street (between Ninth & Tenth Ave.) The cast will feature Jordan Baker (Three Tall Women, Suddenly Last Summer, "The New Adventures of Old Christine") and Greg Hildreth (Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella, Peter and the Starcatcher, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson). The entire cast will be announced early next week.