PRIVATE LIVES

Dates: June 22 – July 2

Style: Comedy
Run Time: 2:15 with two intermissions
Ages: Ten and up
(There is no official rating system for live theatre. We invite you to use your own judgment.)

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Show Summary

By Noël Coward
www.NoelCoward.com

Private Lives is one of the most sophisticated, entertaining plays ever written. Elyot and Amanda, once married and now honeymooning with new spouses at the same hotel, meet by chance, reignite the old spark and impulsively elope. After days of being reunited, they again find their fiery romance alternating between passions of love and anger. Their aggrieved spouses appear and a roundelay of affiliations ensues as the women first stick together, then apart, and new partnerships are formed. A uniquely humorous play boasting numerous successful Broadway runs with stars like Coward himself, Laurence Olivier, Tallulah Bankhead, Gertrude Lawrence, Tammy Grimes, Richard Burton, and Elizabeth Taylor.

Duane Boutté
'Victor Prynne'

Duane is a NY based actor, director, and composer and is thrilled to make his return to The Cape Playhouse with Private Lives. He played “Professor Plum” in the Cape’s 2018 production of Clue. Duane performed on Broadway in Parade and played “Enoch Snow, Jr.” in Lincoln Center’s 1994 TONY-winning revival of Carousel. Off-Broadway appearances include Discord (Primary Stages), Civil Sex (Public Theater), The Bubbly Black Girl, and The Heliotrope Bouquet (both at Playwrights Horizons). He stars in the films Stonewall (as “Bostonia”), and Brother to Brother (as young “Bruce Nugent”). Duane has appeared on television in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Sex and The City and more – going back to early guest appearances on What’s Happening Now. He has enjoyed performing at many of the country’s leading regional theatres including Goodman Theatre, Arena Stage, La Jolla Playhouse, Berkeley Rep, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Dallas Theatre Center, Denver Center, Alliance Theatre, McCarter Theatre, Seattle Rep, Long Wharf Theatre and more. His directing credits include the world premiere of Neil LaBute’s Appomattox (Summer Shorts, NYC), LOL (Algonquin Productions, NY), Home (Rep Stage), The Merry Wives of Windsor (Worcester Shakespeare Festival), Stalag 17 (Good Company Players, Fresno), The Winter’s Tale and Everybody (Brooklyn College), Othello (Stella Adler Cons.), and Fences and Cabaret while on faculty at Illinois State University. Boutté was composer for Lyin’ Up a Breeze (Second Stage, Fresno), and Caravaggio Chiaroscuro (La Mama) and is currently writing his first full-length libretto. He wishes to thank Stephanie, Martin, David and The Cape Playhouse for the opportunity to play once again on this legendary stage and enjoy all the area has to offer. www.DuaneBoutte.com

Charlotte Bydwell
'Amanda Prynne'

Charlotte is a graduate of the Juilliard Dance Division and the Old Globe/USD MFA Acting Program. New York theater credits include: The Michaels (Public Theatre), The Michaels Abroad (Hunter Theater Project), HELP (The Shed), These Seven Sicknesses (The Flea), and PARIS! (Company XIV). Regional credits include: A Month in the Country (Williamstown), Much Ado About Nothing (The Old Globe), An Inspector Calls (Maltz Jupiter), and Venus in Fur (Virginia Stage Company). On TV, Bydwell’s has been seen on Elementary and The Good Fight and served as the season choreographer for Alternatino on Comedy Central. Professional dance credits include: Monica Bill Barnes & Company (The Joyce, American Dance Festival, Jacob’s Pillow), Keigwin + Co (The Joyce) and choreography for the National Tour of A Charlie Brown Christmas. Charlotte premiered her debut one-woman show, ‘Woman of Leisure and Panic’, as part of the 8th Annual soloNOVA Festival (New York Innovative Theatre Award for Outstanding Performance Art Production). A combination of dance, theater and comedy, the show was remounted for performances at the NY International Fringe Festival, Anita’s Way and the First Person Arts Festival. It has also been translated into Spanish and performed across Mexico. Her solo film, ‘The Nude Model’, premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and has screened at a variety of festivals around the world focused on boundary-pushing cinema. More info at www.charlottebydwell.com.

Ali Rose Dachis
'Sibyl Chase'

ALI ROSE DACHIS has worked off-broadway cultivating new work in New York City as well as around the country. She made her Broadway debut in Larry David’s FISH IN THE DARK, and pre -pandemic premiered Ming Peiffer’s USUAL GIRLS at the Roundabout Theatre Co., THE WEDGE HORSE at Fault Line Theatre, THE WANDERERS at The Globe, and others. Ali has made a career in developing new work in the theater with extraordinary playwrights and artists including : Annie Baker, Adam Rapp, Anna Ziegler, Rajiv Joseph, Anna Shapiro, Celine Song, Davis McCallum, Tony Taccone, Deborah Zoe Laufer, Nick Gandiello, and more. Before moving to New York, Ali made an artistic home at The Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. She earned a BFA through their Actor Training program, as well as appearing in 10 plus shows, including the regional premiere of Adam Rapp’s one woman show THE EDGE OF OUR BODIES. She has had the good fortune of working at many other wonderful regional and off-broadway theater companies including MCC, MTC, Labyrinth, Second Stage, The Pearl, The Acting Company, Baltimore Center Stage, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Arizona Theater Company, The Children’s Theater Co (Tony Award Winning), Park Square Theater, and others. Ali is a voice-over artist and can be heard in commercials for Target, Disney, and many PSA’s Ali has served as a responder, teacher, and judge at the Kennedy Center’s American College Theater Festival and for the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship Awards for several years. In the last 8 years Ali has used her experience and education to teach art and storytelling in underserved communities through Arts Ignite. She specializes in teaching and creating workshops to use art for good in the world and to promote social change.

Marceline Hugot
'Louise'

It is a joy to be joining The Cape Playhouse community for the first time with the opportunity to bring to life the irascible Louise! Past theatre credits include Broadway: Prelude to a Kiss (Roundabout); Lincoln Center: Marys Seacole (LCT3), Measure for Measure (Mitzi Newhouse); Off Broadway: Cider House Rules (Atlantic), Christina Alberta’s Father (Vineyard). Some of her favorite regional theatre experiences have been at The McCarter, The Guthrie, The Old Globe, Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, Berkeley Rep, Paper Mill Playhouse, and D.C. Shakespeare Theatre Company. Films include, I’m Your Woman, A Call to Spy (speaking French again!), Blow the Man Down, Certain Women, Indignation, Cold Comes the Night, The Dictator, Our Idiot Brother, Julie and Julia, The Messenger, United 93, To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything Julie Newmar, Alice, Working Girl, and the upcoming Mr. Harrington’s Phone. TV includes most recently, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, FBI:Most Wanted, Chicago Fire, Dickinson, Dr. Death, and Evil. Other favorite TV experiences have been Ozark, Love Life, What We Do in the Shadows, Gotham, Better Call Saul, Godless, Chicago PD, The Americans, The Leftovers, and The Big C. Lastly, for any 30Rock fans, you may recognize Marceline as another irascible character – Kathy Geiss.

Chris Thorn
'Elyot Chase'

Broadway: Bernhardt/Hamlet (Roundabout) Off-Broadway: Greater Clements (Lincoln Center), Pride and Prejudice (Primary Stages), Twelfth Night (Pig Iron), Miss Lily Gets Boned (Studio 42), King John (NY Shakespeare Exchange), The Bird and the Two-Ton Weight (EST), The Most Damaging Wound (The Production Co. NYIT Award nomination), Dead Man’s Socks (Ma-Yi), Henry V, Romeo and Juliet, and As You Like It in three seasons with The Acting Company. Regional: The Guthrie, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, CATF, Barrington Stage, Delaware Theater Company, The Fulton Theatre Company, Theaterworks Hartford, Boston Playwright’s. Film/TV: Madam Secretary, Still on the Road, Sonnet Project. Training: Boston University, LAMDA. He is a native of South Berwick, ME.

Martin Platt
Director

Martin most recently directed D.H. Lawrences’s THE DAUGHTER IN LAW for the Mint Theatre off Broadway. He has directed more than 150 plays, musicals, and operas in the US, UK, and Europe. He was also the founding artistic director of the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. As a producer he has won the Tony Award, Drama League and Drama Desk Awards, among others. His recent NY productions have included the award winning THE WOMAN IN BLACK at the McKittrick Hotel, and the new musical ISLANDER. Mr. Platt is a partner in Pemberley Perry, a producing, management, and tour booking organization. This summer they will be co-producing the 35th Anniversary production of SARAFINA! in South Africa, prior to a US and World Tour. For more than fifteen years he was in a producing partnership with Cape Playhouse Artistic Director David Elliott, and is very pleased to be re-uniting with David this summer.

Leigh Zimmerman
Intimacy Director

Leigh is an Olivier Award-winning entertainment industry professional with 30+ years of in-depth knowledge and experience in live theater, film, and television in the US and UK. Informed by her extensive and accomplished work as a professional actor, singer, dancer, and educator, Leigh specializes in the crafted delivery of consent-based, trauma-informed practices to develop, teach, and stage theatrical intimacy and physical storytelling. Leigh is passionate about the creative process and supporting the mental health, self-care, and personal/professional boundaries of all artists. Leigh is also certified in numerous additional competencies to support equity, diversity, and inclusion in the creative and artistic workplace. www.leighzimmerman.com

Rod Kinter
Fight Director

Rod is thrilled to be working on his first show at Cape Playhouse. He is a NYC based fight director with credits including Broadway: The Lightning Thief and Live from Lincoln Center: Porgy and Bess (NYCO). Off Broadway, Rod was the Resident Fight Director for 9 seasons for Pearl Theatre Company. Other Off Broadway credits: The Lucille Lortell, Lynn Redgrave, The Mint, The Minetta Lane,The Acorn, Signature and the East 13th Street Playhouse. Rod was the Resident Fight Director for New York City Opera at Lincoln Center from 1995 to 2010. Regional credits include: ART, Yale Rep, The Cleveland Playhouse, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, The McCarter,The Barter Theatre, Glimmerglass Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Opera Festival of NJ and Shakespeare on the Sound. Rod is on faculty at AMDA teaching Stage Combat. Rodkinter.com

Lara de Bruijn
Costume Designer

Lara loves her work in theatre, film, opera and dance. Recent and favourite projects include So Cold the River (1804 Productions), Salome (Irondale), Hi, My Name is Ben (Goodspeed Theatre), The Lion and the Firebird (Dark Tower Films), The Two Character Play (New World Stages), Party Face (City Center), The Good Catholic (Pigasus Pictures), Don Giovanni (Castleton Opera Festival), Billy Elliot (Neptune Theatre), Half ‘n Half ‘n Half (Merrimack Repertory Theatre), Blasted (Calderwood Pavilion), Devil of Choice (LABrynth Theater), Julian Po (Signature Theatre), Ms. White Light (Pigasus Pictures), The Rake’s Progress (Boston Conservatory), Christopher and Black Dolphin, (Project 44), Homestead Crossing (Berkshire Theatre Festival). MFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. See more at: laradawndesign.com. Thank you to my love MDC

Bill Clarke
Scenic Designer

Bill is happy to be a part of Dave Elliott’s first season at Cape Playhouse. He designed A Walk In The Woods on Broadway, abroad in Moscow and Vilnius, and on television for American Playhouse; at City Center he designed the new musical Abby’s Song. Off-Broadway work includes the recent revival DH Lawrence’s Daughter-In-Law, directed by Martin Platt, plus So Help Me God!, The Power Of Darkness, and John Ferguson. Also off-Broadway: MsTRIAL at New World Stages, Lemon Sky (Keen Co), Eccentricities Of A Nightingale (TACT), Secret Order (59E59), June Moon (Drama Dept), Ann Magnuson’s You Could Be Home Now (NYSF), Keith Reddin’s The Innocents Crusade (MTC), Alan Havis’ Morocco (WPA), and The Cherry Orchard (Juilliard). He works extensively in regional theaters including Seattle Rep, Old Globe, Alley, Denver Center, Asolo, Alliance, Huntington, A.R.T., Coconut Grove, St Louis Rep, Pittsburgh Public, Berkshire Theater Group, Resident Ensemble Players, Olney, Roundhouse, McCarter, Indiana Rep, Milwaukee Rep, PlayMakers, Merrimack Rep, Cleveland Playhouse and Cincinnati Playhouse. He was production designer for the independent film THE MASTER CLEANSE (2013). Design work at universities includes Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth, University of Virginia and others. He is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama and a recipient of a Hollywood Drama-Logue Award, a San Diego Theater Critics Circle Award, a Merrimack Rep Artistic Achievement Award, and an IRNE (New England) Award.

Jaron Hermanson
Lighting Designer

Jaron is the resident Lighting & Projections Designer for Hale Center Theater in Salt Lake City, Utah. Credits there include; School of Rock, Ken Ludwig’s Treasure Island, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Secret Garden, Les Miserables, A Tale of Two Cities, & the U.S. premiere of Baz Luhrmann’s Strictly Ballroom The Musical. Jaron is former Resident Lighting Designer for The Cape Playhouse, credits include Little Shop of Horrors, The Importance of Being Earnest, Deathtrap, Clue, Altar Boyz, Steel Magnolias, Art, and Red. Other credits include; Elf, Flashdance (Arizona Broadway Theater, Arizona) From on High (Oddknock Productions, Colorado) The Music Man, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Fiddler on the Roof (Sundance Summer Theatre, Utah); Eleemosynary (The Brooks, California). Jaron sits on the Board of Directors for the Intermountain Desert Region of USITT. He is a recipient of Broadway World’s Best Regional Lighting Design, the Gertrude Lawrence Award, and is a nominee for USITT’s Rising Star Award & 40 Under 40 In Lighting.

Bobbi René Fullerton
Sound Designer and Audio Engineer

Bobbi René is very excited to be working at the Cape Playhouse this season! She is a recent graduate of Wagner College, receiving a B.A. in Theatre Design, Technology & Management. Bobbi’s previous credits include: Sister Act (Assistant Sound Designer), On the Twentieth Century (Associate Sound Designer), and Molière (Sound Designer). She’d like to thank her parents for their support and Alexa for being the absolute best!

Arthur Atkinson
Stage Manager

Arthur is thrilled for the return of live theater at the Cape Playhouse! Most recent NYC theatre productions: Liz Swados’s Nightclub Cantata at the Cell Theatre, The Daughter-in-Law at City Center (Mint Theater), Brecht on Brecht (TBTB), Paradise Lost (FPA), Cagney – The Musical at the Westside Theatre; many shows at the Irish Repertory Theatre, the York Theatre Company, Keen Company, The Directors Company, et al. Toured internationally in Fiddler on the Roof starring Topol, then Harvey Fierstein and Theodore Bikel. A proud member of Actors Equity Association. Love to Lisa.

Stephanie Klapper
Casting Director

SKC’s award-winning work is frequently seen on Broadway, off-Broadway, regionally, film, television, and streaming media. They are known for their limitless imagination, creativity and for work on a wide range of projects. Stephanie, along with her exceptional team, is dedicated to continuing to expand and champion diversity, equity, and inclusion in the business. Ms. Klapper is passionate about arts education and working with creative teams to develop new work and expand the scope of established work. Ms. Klapper is a member of the National Board of the Casting Society of America, Casting Society Cares, and New York Women in Film. For Bob and Florence.

Noël Peirce Coward
Playwright

Noël Peirce Coward was born in 1899 and made his professional stage debut as Prince Mussel in The Goldfish at the age of 12, leading to many child actor appearances over the next few years. His breakthrough in playwriting was the controversial The Vortex (1924) which featured themes of drugs and adultery and made his name as both actor and playwright in the West End and on Broadway. During the frenzied 1920s and the more sedate 1930s, Coward wrote a string of successful plays, musicals and intimate revues including Fallen Angels (1925), Hay Fever (1925), Easy Virtue (1926), This Year Of Grace (1928) and Bitter Sweet (1929). His professional partnership with childhood friend Gertrude Lawrence, started with Private Lives (1931), and continued with Tonight At 8.30 (1936). During World War II, he remained a successful playwright, screenwriter and director, as well as entertaining the troops and even acting as an unofficial spy for the Foreign Office. His plays during these years included Blithe Spirit, This Happy Breed and Present Laughter (both 1943). His two wartime screenplays, In Which We Serve, and Brief Encounter quickly became classics of British cinema. Writer, actor, director, film producer, painter, songwriter, cabaret artist as well as an author of a novel, verse, essays and autobiographies, he was called by close friends ‘The Master’. His final West End appearance was Song At Twilight in 1966, which he wrote and starred in. He was knighted in 1970 and died peacefully in 1973 in his beloved Jamaica.