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For U.S. Membership Information
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contact:
Mr. Ken Starrett
North American Director
The Noel Coward Society
49 W 68th St, Apt 1-RNew York, NY 10023(212) 877-4259email Ken |
What's On and
Coming Soon
U. S. West Coast
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2014
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A Song at Twilight
March 18 - April 13, 2014 Pasadena Playhouse 39 S. El Molino Avenue Pasadena, CA 91101 626-356-7529 Directed by Art Manke
The Vortex
April 11 - May 18, 2014
Malibu Playhouse
29243 Pacific Coast Hwy
Malibu, CA 90265
(310) 589-1998
Directed by Gene Franklin Smith
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 20th Century Blues: When You Don't Follow Your Secret Heart
In Malibu and Pasadena, two dramas by Coward boldly go where no modern playwright had gone before: The Vortex (1924) and A Song at Twilight (1966). Secrets and lies will knock you down every time.
"A Gem!" -- rave review in the Los Angeles Times for the Pasadena Playhouse production of A Song at Twilight, directed by Art Manke. Playing now through April 13th.
Malibu Playhouse prepares for The Vortex, opening April 11th. Directed by Gene Franklin Smith and set in London circa 1965 (a time that roared like the 1920's).
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Got news? I always enjoy hearing from you: please send me info on Coward-related events and shows on the U.S. west coast.
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A Song at Twilight
Pasadena Playhouse, Pasadena, CA
March 18 - April 13, 2014 | |
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Sharon Lawrence, Bruce Davison and (standing) Roxanne Hart.
Photo by Jim Cox.
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A Song at Twilight
Directed by Art Manke
Pasadena Playhouse 39 South El Molino Avenue Pasadena, CA 91101
626-356-7529
Performance Schedule:
Tues- Fri 8:00 pm
Saturdays 4:00 pm and 8:00 pm
Sundays 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm
Cast
Bruce Davison (Sir Hugo Latymer)
Sharon Lawrence (Carlotta)
Roxanne Hart (Hilde)
Tickets: $38 - $125.
Discount available: Code ASAT20 is valid for 20% off tickets to A Song at Twilight.
Offer expires April 13, 2014, at 7:00 p.m. and is good on all performances excluding Sunday, March 23. Discount is available on all seats excluding ROW D. All seats are best available. Offer not valid on previous purchases and cannot be combined with any other offer. All tickets are subject to availability. Service charges and theatre restoration fee apply to all orders.
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From the Los Angeles Times review on March 24, 2014, by critic Charles McNulty:
... [In London in the 1960's] attitudes were rapidly changing. "Homosexuality is becoming as normal as blueberry-pie," Coward observed in his diaries in 1960. And in "A Song at Twilight," produced in London in 1966 with Coward starring in the role of closeted aging author Hugo Latymer, he directly confronted the subject he had spent his career sophisticatedly skirting with knowing winks and glancing repartee.
... the drama grapples candidly with the costs, both psychological and artistic, of repression. Manke's sumptuously designed and supremely well-acted production makes a case for this being an overlooked gem in the Coward canon.
(Click here for the entire review)
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Excerpt from "Behind the Scenes with A Song at Twilight Director Art Manke," Pasadena Playhouse Newsletter, March 14:
Q: What do you hope audiences will take away from this production?
A: I will let Mr. Coward answer that with a quote from the play: "It is not whom we love in our lives that really matters, but our own capacity for loving."
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The Vortex
Malibu Playhouse, Malibu, CA
April 11 - May 18, 2014 | | 
Malibu Playhouse
29243 Pacific Coast Hwy
Malibu, CA 90265
310-589-1998
Box Office
malibuplayhouse.org
323-960-7711
Location/Parking
Near Zuma Beach, between Kanan-Dume Road and Morning View Drive, near Heathercliff Road.
Gated parking for 50 vehicles.
Weds - Thurs, April 9-10 8:00 PM
Opening - Red Carpet Gala
Friday, April 11 8:00 PM
Regular Performances (April 12 - May 18)
Friday - Saturday 8:00 PM
Sunday 3:00 PM
Tickets
Previews $20
Red Carpet Gala $50
Regular Performances $30
Discounted tickets available for members of the Noël Coward Society. Click Plays411.com and use Code "410" .
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Director Gene Smith sent a note about setting the production in 1965: "The incredible thing about the play is that it could be staged in present day, and nobody would know the difference, since the script is so contemporary."
The Vortex premiered in 1924 in London, and its scandalous subject matter of drug abuse, repressed homosexuality, nymphomania and Oedipal jealousy made Coward an overnight sensation.
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Photo op of the cast during a break: Nicky and his mother, Florence, have an anxious cocktail at The Golden Bull (iconic 1960's LA restaurant) with Helen and Bunty. Left to right: Victoria Hoffman, Craig Robert Young, Skye LaFontaine, and Shannon Holt. Photo by Brian McCarthy.
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Could this be the feature story in a fanzine? Nicky Lancaster brings his elegant fiancée, Bunty, home to introduce her to his famous mother, stage actress Florence Lancaster. Nicky is shocked to discover that Florence has taken a much-younger lover, and when Bunty ditches Nicky to run off with Florence's boy-toy, both are forced to confront the truth about themselves.
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Cast
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Shannon Holt
(Florence Lancaster)
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Craig Robert Young (Nicky Lancaster)
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Will Carney (David Lancaster) Victoria Hoffman (Helen) Daniel Jimenez (Tom Veryan) Skye LaFontaine (Bunty Mainwaring) Cameron Mitchell, Jr. (Pawnie)
For bios and photos of all cast members, see the Malibu Playhouse website .
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