Amanda Eliasch and Vespa Collaborative present this remount of Malibu Playhouse's critically acclaimed production of
The Vortex, starring Shannon Holt and Craig Robert Young, 2014 Scenie Award winners for Best Actress and Best Actor in a Comedy-Drama.
The supporting cast includes all but one of the original cast members from the Malibu Playhouse production. John Mawson will play "David" in the upcoming show.
Reviews of the Malibu Playhouse productionThe Playhouse's production was praised as "a smashing success, one of the best plays in Los Angeles" (
FVM Global Magazine) and "an enjoyable new production that demonstrates
The Vortex still has emotional resonance" (
Stage Raw) with Shannon Holt and Craig Robert Young giving "powerhouse performances" (
Stage Scene LA) in "a final scene imbued with a truly frightening and obsessive madness" (
Malibu Surfside News).
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.
L to R: Victoria Hoffman, Craig Robert Young, Skye LaFontaine, and Shannon Holt. Photo by Brian McCarthy.
Director Gene Franklin Smith commented, "Coward never really wrote another play quite like
The Vortex again. He created a juicy role for himself, including drug abuse, repressed homosexuality and Oedipal jealousy, knowing full well it would make him a star.
The Vortex doesn't sit on the same high Pantheon as
Private Lives or
Blithe Spirit, but it is far more contemporary than Coward's other works, and you would swear it was written today and not 90 years ago."
