PRIVATE LIVES Opens at Hartford Stage

Brrr . . . Does just thinking of the weather in January make you shiver? Then make your reservations now to escape to a sunny French seaside resort with Noël Coward's comedic masterpiece, Private Lives, directed by Artistic Director and 2014 Tony Award-winner Darko Tresnjak, from January 8 to February 8 at Hartford Stage.

Amanda and Elyot were the epitome of a 1930's cosmopolitan couple . . . until the divorce. Five years later, they are horrified-yet intrigued-to bump into each while honeymooning in a French hotel with their new spouses. With its stinging barbs and clever wit, Private Lives is considered Coward's finest and funniest play.

The cast includes Jenni Barber as Sibyl (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and The Nance on Broadway); Ken Barnett as Elyot (A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder at Hartford Stage and Wonderful Town on Broadway); Henry Clarke as Victor (Venus in Fur at A.C.T. and No Man's Land at A.R.T.); Carine Montbertrand as Louise (Henry V at Classical Theatre of Harlem and Frankenstein at Soho Rep); and Rachel Pickup as Amanda (Two Gentlemen of Verona and A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Royal Shakespeare Company).

Tresnjak said, "Join Elyot and Amanda, the couple who wrote the book on The War of the Roses and taught Mr. and Mrs. Smith everything there is to know about the battle of the sexes."

Last spring Tresnjak earned the Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle awards for Best Direction of a Musical for the Broadway production of A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, which he debuted at Hartford Stage in 2012. "Inspired and hilarious," according to The New York Times, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder won a total of four Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical (Robert L. Freedman), and Best Costume Design for a Musical (Linda Cho). Tresnjak's other Hartford Stage credits include Bell, Book & Candle, The Tempest, Twelfth Night, Breath & Imagination, Macbeth, and last month's critically-acclaimed production of Hamlet.

The Private Lives creative team also includes Alexander Dodge, Set Designer (A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder at Hartford Stage and on Broadway, nominated for a Tony Award for Best Scenic Design); Joshua Pearson, Costume Designer (La Dispute at Hartford Stage); York Kennedy, Lighting Designer (Breath & Imagination at Hartford Stage and The Ghosts of Versailles at LA Opera); and Michael Miceli, Sound Designer (Freud's Last Session and The Mountaintop at TheaterWorks).

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