Kim Cattrall and Paul Gross will star on Broadway this autumn in Noël Coward's Private Lives directed by Richard Eyre at the Music Box Theatre (239 West 45th Street). Previews will begin on Sunday November 6; opening night is Thursday November 17. The limited engagement runs through February 5 2012.
Kim Cattrall, an international star of film, TV and stage, starred as Amanda in Sir Richard Eyre's production of Private Lives at London's Vaudeville Theatre in 2010. The production received rave reviews from the critics and played a sell-out season. It will play a limited run at Toronto's Royal Alexandra Theatre prior to Broadway. Cattrall will be joined by Paul Gross in the role of Elyot. One of Canada's most acclaimed actors, Gross starred in such TV shows as Due South and Slings and Arrows. The cast is completed by Simon Paisley Day; Anna Madeley and Caroline Olsson.
Considered one of the greatest comedies ever written, Noël Coward's Private Lives premiered in London in 1930 and has been produced around the world ever since; it premiered on Broadway in 1931. Glamorous, rich and reckless, Amanda (Cattrall) and Elyot (Gross) have been divorced from each other for five years. Now both are honeymooning with their new spouses in the South of France. When, by chance, they meet again across adjoining hotel balconies, their insatiable feelings for each other are immediately rekindled. They hurl themselves headlong into love and lust without a care for scandal, new partners or memories of what drove them apart in the first place...for a little while, anyway.
The design team is Rob Howell (set and costumes) and David Howe (lighting). Private Lives is produced by Duncan C. Weldon, Paul Elliott, Theatre Royal Bath, Terri and Timothy Childs, Sonia Friedman and David Mirvish.
Kim Cattrall previously starred in Private Lives in London's West End also directed by Sir Richard Eyre, and in the UK stage production of Antony and Cleopatra for director Janet Suzman. She made her Broadway debut in Wild Honey with Sir Ian McKellen. Her TV and film roles include HBO's "Sex and the City," as well as the two screen adaptations of the series; PBS's "Any Human Heart" based on the William Boyd novel; Meet Monica Velour; and Roman Polanski's, The Ghost Writer, starring opposite Pierce Brosnan and Ewan McGregor. She is recipient of a Golden Globe Award; a Gemini Award (Canadian Emmy); two Screen Actors Guild Awards; five Emmy Award nominations and three Screen Actors' Guild nominations. Cattrall has also written several books, including the best seller Sexual Intelligence; Being a Girl: Navigating the Ups and Downs of Teenage Life; and Satisfaction: The Art of the Female Orgasm, a New York Times best seller. She is the founder of Fertile Ground Productions, a Canadian-based Production Company. In 2009 Cattrall was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame and in 2011 was honored by GLAAD with the prestigious Golden Gate Award for her support of the organization.
Paul Gross is one of Canada's most popular actors and is internationally known as Constable Benton Fraser on the award-winning series Due South and received two Gemini Awards (Canada's Emmy) for his portrayal of Geoffrey Tenant in the acclaimed series Slings & Arrows. He received the Golden Nymph Award for H2O at the Monaco Film Festival. He wrote, directed, produced and starred in the feature films Men with Brooms, and Passchendaele, two of the highest grossing Canadian films and winner of a combined six Genie Awards (Canada's Oscar) including Best Picture. He recently starred on TV's "Eastwick," based on the movie The Witches of Eastwick. Other credits include Armistead Maupin's "Tales of the City" and Barney's Version. On stage, Gross has received Dora Awards for Romeo and Juliet and Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Toward the Somme. He performed the title role in the Stratford Festival's 2000 production of Hamlet.
Simon Paisley Day's London stage credits include Private Lives; Timon of Athens; Entertaining Mr. Sloane; The 39 Steps; The Philanthropist (Donmar); The Coast of Utopia, Twelfth Night and Anything Goes (all at The National Theatre). TV includes "Doctor Who," "Red Dwarf," and "Spartacus."
Anna Madeley's London credits include three seasons with the RSC; The Roman Actor opposite Antony Sher; Colder Than Here; The Philanthropist; The Cosmonaut's Last Message... (Donmar); and Coram Boy at The National.
Caroline Lena Olsson's London credits include Private Lives; Carmen at the Royal Opera House directed by Francesca Zambello; This Child; War Crime; GOF and Dickens of a Christmas. Film and TV includes Children of Men and "Vanity Fair. "
Richard Eyre was director of London's Royal National Theatre from 1988-1997. He has directed many classics and new plays by David Hare, Christopher Hampton, Tom Stoppard, Alan Bennett, Trevor Griffiths, Tony Harrison and Nicholas Wright. His Broadway and London credits include Arthur Miller's The Crucible, Amy's View, Vincent in Brixton, Judas Kiss, Stanley, Skylight; Racing Demon; Indiscretions; Arcadia, An Inspector Calls and Mary Poppins. He has won five Olivier Awards, four Evening Standard Awards, three Critics Circle Awards and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Directors Guild, and has directed many award-winning films for TV and four feature films: The Ploughman's Lunch, the Oscar®-nominated Iris (which he co-wrote), Stage Beauty and Notes on a Scandal.
NOËL COWARD is widely known as the creator of a number of stage classics and as the composer of songs such as "I'll See You Again," "Mad About the Boy" and "Mad Dogs and Englishmen." His comedies include Present Laughter; The Vortex; Private Lives; Blithe Spirit; Hay Fever; and Design for Living. Operettas and musical plays include Bitter Sweet; Cavalcade; Conversation Piece; Operette; and Sail Away. He appeared in several films, including Our Man in Havana; The Italian Job; Bunny Lake Is Missing and Boom! In 1942 he received an Academy Award for outstanding production achievement for In Which We Serve, that he produced, co-directed, scored and starred in. He wrote the screenplay to Brief Encounter based on his play Still Life. As a cabaret artist he appeared in Las Vegas in 1955 with a show of his own songs. In 1960, his first novel, Pomp and Circumstance, was on the best seller list in the U.S. for 16 weeks. He was the author of two autobiographical books, Present Indicative and Future Indefinite, and a book of poems entitled Not Yet the Dodo. Coward was knighted in 1970 and died in 1973.
Tickets will be available through www.telecharge.com beginning September 5.
The playing schedule is Tue. @ 7 PM, Wed.-Sat. @at 8 PM, Wed. & Sat. @ 2 PM, Sun. @ 3 PM.
Tickets are $121.50 and $66.50 at all performances except Wednesday matinee when they are $121.50 and $46.50.
