ACT Presents 'A Marvelous Party' Celebrating Coward

ACT - A Contemporary Theatre kicks up some devilishly good times with the Seattle premiere of A MARVELOUS PARTY: The Noel Coward Celebration. A musical tribute to one of the most celebrated and versatile talents of the 20th century, this energetic revue showcases more than 34 Coward tunes along with comedic sketches, anecdotes and musings-all delivered by a cast of Seattle luminaries.

"We created this new show as a treasure box of our favorite Noel Coward songs-both familiar and some that you probably have never heard before-infused with the particular musical genius of a supremely talented cast of performers," said Co-creator and Director David Ira Goldstein, "Our hope is to give some idea of the breadth of Coward's musical achievements: the satirical wit and the wistfully romantic, the cleverly pattering tongue and the pensively aching heart."

 
" MARVELOUS PARTYis just that: a celebration of wit, music, fun, intelligence, joy; a lightness with heart, wisdom and clarity," said ACT Artistic Director Kurt Beattie. "Noel Coward was a theatrical genius, and  MARVELOUS PARTY represents his astonishing talents and career."

Adapted from Coward's writings and songs, MARVELOUS PARTY was devised (with permission from the Coward estate) by David Ira Goldstein, Carl Danielsen, Mark Anders, Patricia Wilcox and Anna Lauris. Musical highlights include "The Stately Homes of England", "Mad Dogs and Englishmen", "I've Been to a Marvelous Party", "There Are Bad Times Just Around the Corner", "London Is a Little Bit of Alright", "What Ho! Mrs. Brisket" and "A Bar on the Piccola Marina."

"Like other period pieces that ACT has mounted in recent seasons, such as The Women, Enchanted April or Born Yesterday, A Marvelous Party is both a valentine to our theatrical past with resonances to today's issues and zeitgeist," continued Goldstein. "The first act of A Marvelous Party is an out-and-out valentine to the theatre of the early 20th century and Coward's early days: Edwardian Music Hall, the great Revues of the 1920s and the like, but in Act Two when we move to the later Coward of the 1930s, '40s and '50s, the material deepens and sharpens in ways that reflect on our modern sensibilities in surprising ways."

ACT's production of  MARVELOUS PARTY features two original cast members, the musical talents of Mark Anders [Souvenir, The Women In Black at ACT, Gross Indecency, Smash, Irma Vep, A Midsummer Night's Dream at Intiman Theatre, and 2 Pianos 4 Hands nationwide] and the outrageously comedic talents of triple threat player, Anna Lauris [Company, Buddy at The 5th Avenue Theatre, Das Barbecu at Tacoma Actor's Guild].

Unique to ACT's version of this revue is the addition of two new characters, who share the role originally played by Carl Danielsen: performer, director and choreographer, David Silverman [Little Shop of Horrors at ACT, Inspecting Carol at Seattle Repertory Theatre, South Pacific at The 5th Avenue Theatre] and local composer and performer Richard Grey [Jumpers at ACT, The Rocky Horror Show, Pippin and Buddy at The 5th Avenue Theatre, and scores for Cold Turkey, Forbidden Xmas, Time Again in Oz].

Winner of  the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for "Best Production" and four Jefferson Awards at Chicago's Northlight Theatre, including "Best Director" for Goldstein, A Marvelous Party has been produced at American Repertory Theatre (Boston); Geva Theatre Center (Rochester, NY); Northlight Theatre (Chicago); Laguna Beach Playhouse; Florida Stage (West Palm Beach); and Kansas City Rep.