Photo by Steve Tanner.

The night of September 16, driving across San Francisco to the American Conservatory Theater for the opening performance of Brief Encounter, my husband and I stopped for a red light at 16th and Guerrero. A streetcar (messenger of desire?) rattled by; on its side a giant ad proclaimed, "Noel Coward's Brief Encounter at ACT!" above the image of Laura waving goodbye to Alec -- how post-modern can you get?  

People and projections: ushers who are ensemble actors who are musicians who are characters; toy trains -- plus  boats and planes -- morph from the stage onto giant scrims; the tea-room set transforms into two train platforms and a lake: whole lotta shape-shifiting goin' on.  It's not your grandmother's Brief Encounter.

A traditional red double-decker London bus whisked guests from the theater to the opening night cast party (it was a walkable two blocks away, but this is California) where the celebration continued at the Michael Mina Restaurant (available for special pre-theatre dining as well).

Audience and box-office response have been terrific: ACT has extended the run for another week, until October 11th.

A.C.T.
415 Geary Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
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Star Quality:
The World of Noel Coward
Museum of Performance & Design
401 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 402
San Francisco, CA  94102
415-255-4800

April 16 - August 29, 2009



Introducing the evening's special film, Brad Rosenstein mentioned that every event for Star Quality had played to an unprecedented "standing-room only" audience.  Brad then gave a quick overview of the development of the operette Bitter Sweet, from the scenario for a silent-movie "Concerto" (never produced) to the 1929 London production. 

A charming surprise was a brief talk by Jennifer Brownlow, granddaughter of actress Marcelle Turner, who was in chorus in the original cast and appears briefly in the film footage.

On Screen: Brad Rosenstein has beautifully crafted a mosaic of footage from Coward's original 1929 London production and the 1933 film of Bitter Sweet, featuring Ivy St. Helier as Manon.  This stunning short film presents a remarkable glimpse into early staging by Coward. 

Brad explained his process in creating the film we viewed.  While preparing for Bitter Sweet in Concert, which graced the opening of Star Quality, Barry Day approached Brad to see if he had any interest in showing some archival Coward images: about 35 minutes of film, shot by Pathé 80 years ago for unknown reasons (at that time it was very unusual to have filmed anything in the theatre.)

Brad seized the opportunity, then spent countless hours cutting, editing, and re-assembling the film, which was shot out of sequence and had no music.  He selected four songs from the original cast album, plus the Sadler's Wells recording of their 1988 production, and extracted song fragments to match the footage ... and advance the plot.  His film presents the operette in sequence (with titles to guide us), smoothing the jump from 1929 to 1933, when we hear St. Helier's voice.

On Stage. Jane Hammett, Baker Peeples, Jennifer Ashworth, and a quintet of Exquisites -- John Brown, Anthony Rollins-Mullins, Chris Uzelac, Will Giammona, and Ken Stegmiller -- of the Lamplighters Music Theatre reprised selections from Bitter Sweet in Concert.  Ms. Hammet and Mr. Peeples were even more stunning than in April's concert: their duet, "I'll See You Again" was a joy to the heart.   The sensational Ms. Ashworth (Manon) thrilled with "If Love Were All", a double treat because she led the audience in a sing-along for the chorus (jam for all of us hams). And, the Exquisites drew cheers and howls of laughter with their "Green Carnation."

One Last Walkthrough. For those who had not toured the Exhibition, or just wanted to linger once more, Brad led a personal tour through the marvelous collection. A perfect finish to four months of exceptional events and the lavish and thorough view of the world of The Master, glittering with Star Quality.

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January 22 - April 18, 2010