'LUNT AND FONTANNE: THE CELESTIALS OF BROADWAY' to Play Stage Left Studio, 4/30-5/3

They were married actors. Who worked together, almost exclusively, for decades. Stage actors who chose to turn down big-money offers from Hollywood. Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne ruled Broadway, toured the nation and even played London's West End in the middle of World War II. With the Theatre Guild, they took low salaries to play in acclaimed productions of Shaw, O'Neill and Shakespeare; as well as three plays by their good friend Noel Coward. Laurence Olivier once said, "Everything I know about acting I learned from Alfred Lunt." A Broadway theater was named for them in 1958, and the Cole Porter musical "KISS ME KATE" was inspired by their on and off-stage battles. Hugely famous in their time, they are now almost completely forgotten by the general public.

In the new play "LUNT AND FONTANNE: THE CELESTIALS OF BROADWAY," playwright and actor Mark E. Lang unites with his wife of twelve years, Alison Murphy to celebrate The Lunts and examine their lives, their work and their legacy... to dig beneath their public personae and discover the all-too-real and sometimes fragile personalities beneath. The colorful and evocative period costumes are by Jessa-Raye Court, with original incidental music by Anthony Uva. Directing is Owen Thompson, the former Artistic Director of the Protean Theater Company.

The limited four performance run will be April 30 through May 3, (Thu, Fri & Sat at 7 PM, Sun at 2 PM) at Stage Left Studio, 214 West 30th Street, 6th Floor, New York City. Tickets are $22, available online at stageleftstudio.net.

The result of over five years of research and preparation, this project brought the Langs from the depths of the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts (original correspondence with biographer Maurice Zolotow) to The Paley Center (for video research), as well as an enriching pilgrimage to Genesee Depot, Wisconsin, where the Lunts' summer estate "Ten Chimneys" has become a beautifully restored world-class house museum and arts center.

"LUNT AND FONTANNE: THE CELESTIALS OF BROADWAY" is a work of imagination and of theatrical history, a love letter to marriage and the life of an actor... a play about a pair of married actors played by a pair of married actors. The play encompasses the essential thirty years in their lives, from their meeting and marriage in the 1920s through such milestones as "THE GUARDSMAN" (1924), "TAMING OF THE SHREW" (1935), the wartime drama "THERE SHALL BE NO NIGHT" (1940) and their final stage performance, Peter Brook's 1958 production of "THE VISIT."

Playing Alfred Lunt (and multiple roles) is actor-playwright Mark E. Lang. Regional and touring productions have taken him to 35 U.S. states and around the world, recently Tanzania. Favorite roles include Captain Robert Scott in Terra Nova and Jack in The Importance of Being Earnest (Hilton Head Playhouse, SC), The Actor in The Guardsman (with wife Alison J. Murphy, East Lynne Theater, NJ), seven roles in the Irish comedy Stones in his Pockets (Open Stage of Harrisburg, PA), and Kosti in Welcome Home Marian Anderson (Off-Broadway and tour, including Clinton Presidential Center in Arkansas). Graduate of Vassar College (Kazan Prize recipient).

In the role of Lynn Fontanne (and others) is Alison J. Murphy. She has performed extensively with East Lynne Theater in Cape May, NJ; including productions of The Late Christopher Bean, The Dictator, The New York Idea, Voice of the City, Four by Four, Why Marry?, You and I and The Guardsman. New York credits include Aurora Leigh, Mary of Shippensburg and The Wound of Love. She also teaches acting workshops with her husband Mark E. Lang.

Owen Thompson's NYC directing credits include several productions of the Protean Theatre Company, including The London Cuckolds and his own adaptation of Moliere's The Doctor in Spite of Himself. Also How I Learned to Drive (Queens Theatre in the Park), Tennessee Williams' A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur (Triangle Theatre), the NY Premiere of James McLure's Thanksgiving (Chernuchin Theatre), and a number of readings for Abingdon Theatre Company. Regionally, several productions for the River Rep at the Ivoryton Playhouse, including Lettice and Lovage and The Mikado (Connecticut Critics Circle Award, Outstanding Direction of a Musical).

As a gift back to the theater community, the production has offered to play a free performance at the Lillian Booth Actors Home in Englewood, New Jersey following the New York engagement.

For more about the show, visit luntandfontanne.com. Tickets available at stageleftstudio.net.

Pictured: Mark E. Lang and Alison Murphy in "The Guardsman," courtesy East Lynne Theater Co.

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