Star Quality: The World of Noël Coward - Reception and Opening Day Events
After a good look at the
impressive display of posters in the Grand Lobby (many from European showings of the
award-nominated films), attendees took the elevator to the Fourth Floor Gallery
and mingled with special guests, including members of the Coward Society: Joe Abrams, Producer of the 2008 film
of Easy Virtue; two of the Society's
Vice Presidents, Stephen Fry and Barry Day; Barry's wife, artist Lynne Day; Sean Malone, president of the Ten Chimneys Foundation, creators of
the first Coward exhibition; and Alan Brodie
and his wife, production manager Alison Havell Brodie.
Reception - January 22, 2010
Stephen Fry (left), Michael York (center) and Pat
York (right).
Photo credit: Greg Harbaugh / ©A.M.P.A.S.
Also enjoying the gala
reception were Broadway star Harry
Groener with his wife, actress Dawn
Didawick, and writer/director Jonathan Lynn, accompanied by his wife,
Rita. Both couples have been
instrumental in presenting Coward's work to young audiences in Southern
California through their mentoring work with The
Antaeus Company of North Hollywood, which produced all ten of the one-acts
of Tonight at 8:30 in 2007-8, and
last summer presented a three-day Coward
event, The Young Idea, (funded in part by a grant from the Noël Coward Foundation) with readings
and workshops for young actors, directors, and audiences.
For those wanting more Star Quality in the flesh, contemporary film artists lingered over the Coward collection.
Director Len Wiseman (left) and Kate Beckinsale (right).
Photo credit: Greg Harbaugh / ©A.M.P.A.S.
Michael Constantine. Photo credit: Greg Harbaugh / ©A.M.P.A.S.
Opening Day - January 23, 2010
The next morning,
the Grand Lobby Gallery was closed to the public: Academy members were handing
in their Oscar® nomination ballots. Promptly at noon, the Fourth Floor Gallery opened Star Quality to the public. At 3:00 PM, Brad Rosenstein, co-curator
of the exhibition, led a walking tour, rich with details and anecdotes.
Brad Rosenstein (right), leading the first tour of Star Quality.
Photo by Kathy Williams.
This is the fourth showing of
quite a number of Coward treasures, and the curators have worked diligently to
make each showing unique. To prepare the current exhibit, guest curators Brad
Rosenstein and Rosy Runciman collaborated with Ellen Harrington, the Academy's
Director of Exhibitions and Special Events.
In keeping with the thriving modern art scene and movie
industry in L.A., curators Brad and Rosy have deconstructed some elements of
the previous three exhibitions to highlight new angles and provide a fresh view
of the artifacts. Director Ellen Harrington commented that the L.A.
exhibition expands the narrative of the previous exhibits, now focusing on
Coward's film career.
Claire Lockhart, A.M.P.A.S. staff member; Brad Rosenstein, co-curator; and
Ellen Harrington, Director of Exhibitions and Events. Photo by Kathy Williams.
For this show the 3,000 square
foot gallery is divided into smaller areas, each presenting one aspect of Coward's
life or work. In designing the
space, Brad has added more background colors: yellow/gold and blue in a
painterly gesture that - along with the smaller spaces - reflects Coward's work and
life (14 spaces = 14 careers). There
is so much to see, yet it feels more accessible: you absorb one facet before
turning a corner to experience the next.
Four video presentations
enrich the show: two wall projections and two large flat-panel screens. A sampling of what's available on
screen ... one of the walls shows clips from The
Scoundrel, Bunny Lake is Missing,
and Boom!; the other wall features In Which We Serve; Cavalcade plays on a
smaller screen; and a set of archival footage, including bits of Bitter Sweet and Sail Away, loops on the fourth screen.
Production still of Elizabeth Taylor and
Coward in BOOM!, 1968.
Photo Credit: Collection of Museum of
Performance & Design
Some new items on display are
from the Academy's own collection, the British Film Institute (BFI) archives,
and, by special arrangement with the Institute of the American Musical,
rare selections from the collection of Miles Kreuger, including the only known
film clips of scenes from the Broadway production of Sail Away, in color.
The OSCAR® statuette
for Best Director, awarded to Frank Lloyd for Cavalcade, 1933.
Photo by Kathy Williams.
In conjunction with the
exhibition, screenings of some of Coward's films will take place in the spring,
probably around mid-April (titles and dates to be announced later).
Star Quality: The World of Noël Coward is presented in association with the Noël Coward
Foundation and the Museum of Performance & Design (MPD) in San Francisco.
Geoffrey Johnson, Sean Malone, Alison Brodie, and Joe Abrams relax after Brad's tour of
Star Quality. Photo by Kathy Williams.
"I couldn't have liked it more!"
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