Private Lives opened at the 46th Street Theatre (now the Richard Rogers Theatre), where it ran for 92 performances. Private Lives is a 1930 comedy of manners in three acts by Noël Coward. It focuses on a divorced couple who discover that they are honeymooning with their new spouses in neighbouring rooms at the same hotel. Despite a perpetually stormy relationship, they realise that they still have feelings for each other. Its second act love scene was nearly censored in Britain as too risqué. Coward wrote one of his most popular songs, "Some Day I'll Find You", for the play.
On the eve of her death, Anne Boleyn reflects on the journey that led her to become a queen, a mother, and, eventually, a woman condemned. A fascinating look at one of history's most famous marriages. Part of the 2nd Stages Series.
Notre Dame's Department of Film, Television, and Theatre (FTT) announces The Fornés Festival, a series of staged play readings and academic engagement events celebrating the legacy of the prolific Cuban American playwright María Irene Fornés (1930-2018), in the Philbin Studio Theatre at the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center, October 2 through October 13.
The director has decided to look at the more giggle-worthy elements of PRIVATE LIVES, and has avoided some of the darker implications of this Noel Coward classic. Audiences should eat this one up like a buttered brioche with coffee the morning after a sordid affair.
The African-American Shakespeare Company begins its 25th season with an ambitious and varied slate of programming. Established in 1994 by professional theater artists from the American Conservatory Theatre as an alternative to the 'Color Blind Casting' initiative that began in the early 90s, the company flourished by bringing its artists rich cultural heritage to the fore.
Did you know that songs by Britney Spears and Amy Winehouse sound great when performed in a French accent and with an accordion? I certainly didn't, and so imagine my surprise when I walked into the theatre at the Mill at Sonning to find Celia Cruwys-Finnigan doing just that. To say it was an unexpected introduction to a production of Noel Coward's Private Lives would be an understatement.
Main Street Theater (MST) offers the perfect sparkling summer refreshment in the form of the wit and wisdom of Noel Coward's Private Lives. "It is by far my favorite of his plays," shares Coward specialist and the production's director Claire Hart-Palumbo. "In many ways Private Lives is an extraordinary play. The Twentieth Century equivalent of the Well-Made Play, it is elegance personified. The language is intelligent and delightfully witty. It's about the generation that was ravaged by World War I. He chose to write in a more familiar and recognizable style, with humor, wit, vivacity, and charm, but his characters express the same doubts and questioning with an elegance that is inevitably entertaining and astonishingly memorable." Along with Hart-Palumbo's insights, MST Executive Artistic Director Rebecca Greene Udden, who has a delicious cameo role in the show, offers, "It's just so brilliantly funny. I think we could all use a good laugh right now."
Despite the valiant efforts of the cast, a strikingly handsome set, and beautiful costumes, PRIVATE LIVES will not be (pardon the pun) everyone's cup of tea. The material is dated and generally appeals most to an older audience segment and those who long for the days of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers (not that there is anything wrong with that). To be clear and fair, many audience members at the charming Dorset Playhouse where this production of PRIVATE LIVES continues through July 6th enjoyed the presentation thoroughly.
Set majestically on the banks of the River Thames, the Mill at Sonning Theatre is celebrating more than 30 years of entertainment. Uniquely, as the only dinner theatre in the United Kingdom, it has gained unrivalled praise both nationally and internationally. All tickets include a delicious two-course meal in the restaurant before the show.
Dorset Theatre Festival, under the leadership of Artistic Director Dina Janis and Producing Director Will Rucker, will open the 42nd Season on June 20 with a revival of Noel Coward's classic comedy, PRIVATE LIVES directed by Evan Yionoulis.
The League of American Orchestras has awarded the Grand Rapids Symphony a $25,000 grant to enhance initiatives in diversity, equity and inclusion to engage a broader audience and share live orchestral music with its entire community.
Playwright Noel Coward's effervescent 1930s comedy "Private Lives" will be the fourth and final play of the Hampton Theatre Company's 2018-2019 season, opening on May 23 at the Quogue Community Hall and running through June 9.
In celebration of both Gay Pride Month and the 50th anniversary of Noel Coward's knighthood, Robert Rodi looks back on the British icon's legendary career, trailblazing style, enduring influence-and above all his songs. Coward's songs have been covered by artists from Judy Garland to Rufus Wainwright, and rival Cole Porter's for emotional range and irresistible melody.
Dorset Theatre Festival will open the 42nd Season on June 20 with a revival of Noel Coward's PRIVATE LIVES directed by Evan Yionoulis. Casting has also been announced for Wendy MacLeod's SLOW FOOD, the Festival's season closer. Peri Gilpin and Dan Butler, who played Roz Doyle and Bob "Bulldog" Briscoe on the NBC sitcom "Frasier," will star alongside Broadway veteran Greg Stuhr in this new comedy directed by Jackson Gay.
Playwright Noel Coward's effervescent 1930s comedy "Private Lives" will be the fourth and final play of the Hampton Theatre Company's 2018-2019 season, opening on May 23 at the Quogue Community Hall and running through June 9.
Dorset Theatre Festival announces its 42nd Season, featuring the classic revival of Noel Coward's Private Lives directed by Evan Yionoulis (June 20 - July 6), the World Premiere of Dig, written and directed by Theresa Rebeck (July 11 - 27), the World Premiere of Mrs. Christie by Heidi Armbruster, directed by Giovanna Sardelli (August 1 - 17), Slow Food by Wendy MacLeod, directed by Jackson Gay (August 22 - 31), and Pipeline Series: Three New Works in Process (July 2, July 23, and August 13). All performances will take place at the Dorset Playhouse (104 Cheney Rd, Dorset, VT 05251)
Grand Rapids Symphony's Fifth Grade Concerts, held each February, typically bring 15,000 to 16,000 elementary school students downtown to DeVos Performance Hall for a live concert with a real symphony orchestra playing music by Bach, Beethoven and others.
Walnut Street Theatre continues its landmark 210th season with the uproarious Ken Ludwig's A COMEDY OF TENORS. Directed by and starring Frank Ferrante, this over-top-top comedy from Tony Winner Ken Ludwig begins previews on January 15th, opens on January 23rd, and runs through March 3rd on the Walnut's Mainstage.
The Kitchen presents the late composer Robert Ashley's newly reconstructed 1985 opera Improvement (Don Leaves Linda).
Walnut Street Theatre continues its landmark 210th season with the uproarious Ken Ludwig's A COMEDY OF TENORS. Directed by and starring Frank Ferrante, this over-top-top comedy from Tony Winner Ken Ludwig begins previews on January 15th, opens on January 23rd, and runs through March 3rd on the Walnut's Mainstage.
The Joyce Foundation announced today that Cleveland Public Theatre (CPT) has been awarded a $50,000 2019 Joyce Award that supports collaborations between artists of color and arts and cultural organizations throughout the Great Lakes region. This award includes a $15,000 commission fee awarded directly to Lisa Langford.
So-fi (Co-Founders; Jody Christopherson, Nathan Gebhard, Romy Nordlinger) announce the launch of a new curated festival, for low-fi, multi-disciplinary solo performance, co-produced by, and at Torn Page in Chelsea (435 W 22nd Street, 2nd Floor), a performance space in the historic home of Rip Torn and Geraldine Page. The impetus for this festival was to create an opportunity for touring and local artists, who push the boundaries of multiple forms, to be produced affordably in New York. The majority of box office sales from each performance go directly to artists.
Full of clever antics and comical wit, Home Alone is sure to get everyone into the holiday spirit.
Dedicated to collecting, preserving and portraying the legacy of Greek history and culture in America, the National Hellenic Museum has the largest collection of Greek American artifacts and recorded oral histories anywhere. The National Hellenic Museum (NHM), 333 S. Halsted St., introduces its newest exhibition - George Kokines: Layers Revealed. On September 20, 2018, the National Hellenic Museum will open the first ever retrospective of the artist George Kokines. Using loaned objects and those from the NHM Collections, this exhibition traces Kokines' artistic development and accomplishments in Abstract Expressionism as well as his journey to embrace his Greek American identity.
Three acts, three directors, three approaches to the same play script. Vermont Stage Company's annual season closer allows artists to play and experiment--this year, with Noel Coward's 1930 play Private Lives. Larry Connolly, Chris Caswell and Abbie Tykocki direct the three acts independent of one another with unique casting and directorial conceits.
A great cast, along with Coward's brilliant dialogue, make for a ghostly good time!
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