Classic Noel Coward Comedy 'Blithe Spirit' Performed At Gulfshore Playhouse

Gulfshore Playhouse to Perform Stylish Noel Coward Comedy "Blithe Spirit"

Gulfshore Playhouse is closing their fabulous fifth mainstage season with the Noel Coward comedy Blithe Spirit. This production will run April 8 through 23, with a preview performance April 7.

This funny and stylish comedy from Noel Coward, the author of Private Lives and Hay Fever, is the story of a cantankerous novelist, Charles Condomine, who is re-married but haunted - literally - by the ghost of his late first wife, Elvira. When a "happy medium", one Madame Arcati, conjures up the specter of his former spouse, all the personalities, worldly and otherwise, clash with rib tickling results.

Blithe Spirit stars Cody Nickell as Charles. Cody most recently appeared in In the Next Room or the vibrator play and Clybourne Park at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre in Washington D.C. He received two Helen Hayes nominations for his roles as Karl/Steve in Clybourne Park this year and as Septimus in Arcadia last year. He has also performed at the Lincoln Center Theater, Arden Theatre and The Shakespeare Theatre. Beth Hylton will return to the Gulfshore Playhouse stage as Ruth. Gulfshore Playhouse audiences will remember Beth as Nora in last season's A Doll's House. One of her favorite roles is Amanda in Private Lives, another Noel Coward classic, at the Pittsburgh Irish & Classical Theatre. Mary Ellen Ashley will play Madame Arcati. Mary Ellen has appeared in various Broadway productions such as Annie Get Your Gun and Yentl. Caroline Hewitt will play Elvira. A graduate of American Conservatory Theatre's M.F.A program, Caroline recently starred in ACT's The Caucasian Chalk Circle. Jeff Williams and Gillian Wiggin will make their Gulfshore Playhouse debuts as Dr. & Mrs. Bradman. Morgan Rosse rounds out the cast as Edith.

Producing Artistic Director Kristen Coury will direct. Dennis W. Moyes will serve as Scenic Designer and Lighting Designer. Dennis has spent the last 13 years as Staff Associate Designer for Disney Theatrical Productions in New York, working on such productions as Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Tarzan, Aida and tours of The Lion King. Jennifer Murray will lend her talent as both Costume Designer and Properties Mistress.

"I am delighted to work with a cast full of such incredible talent. It is a pleasure to bring such a charming and stylish comedy to the stage," notes Producing Artistic Director Kristen Coury.

Noel Coward starred in the Broadway production of his romantic musical Bitter Sweet, which was popular in both Great Britain and the United States. This play's popular song, "I'll See You Again," is one of his notable efforts as a composer; among his other songs are "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" and "I'll Follow My Secret Heart." Many of his works, such as Hay Fever, Private Lives, Design for Living, and Present Laughter have remained in the regular theatre repertoire. Recently, his film Brief Encounter was adapted for the stage, which Roundabout Theatre Company produced for a successful Broadway run.

Gulfshore Playhouse's production of Blithe Spirit will play April 7 through 23, exclusively at the Norris Center, 755 8th Avenue South in Downtown Naples, FL. Single tickets are on sale now. Tickets start at $35 and are available by calling 1-866-811-4111 or on their website www.gulfshoreplayhouse.org.

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