Ivor & Noel in Concert
This Gala Concert to open the Festival features the music of both the giants of British musical theatre of the 1930s. Featuring songs from Ivor Novello’s Perchance to Dream, Noel Coward’s Bitter Sweet and many other enduring favourites, including Ivor’s My Dearest Dear, And Her Mother Came Too and We’ll Gather Lilacs and Noel’s A Room With A View, Mad Dogs & Englishmen and Dance Little Lady. Ivor and Noel were friends, not rivals, each a star in his own firmament.

Buxton Opera House

£12.40, £14.50, £16.50. Special discount: Buy for Both at the same time (concert & musical) and save £4 (this offer not available online). Online booking available. BO 0845 127 2190

The Vortex

A Bill Kenwright production with Peter Hall directing Felicity Kendall and Dan Stephens, goes on tour: w/c 21st January - Bath Theatre Royal; w/c 28th January - Woking New Victoria Theatre; w/c 4th February - Richmond Theatre; w/c 11th February - Malvern Festival Theatre BBC Review... The production moves to the Apollo theatre in the West End it will run from February 20 to June 7, 2008.

The Apollo
February 20 to June 7, 2008.

Lost Musicals: Sail Away (1961)
Noël Coward's last fully written musical comedy looks at brash bold Mimi Paragon, working as an American cruise hostess on a British cruise ship. Mimi, former actress and divorcee explains while dealing with passengers, kiddies, phrase books and a younger man, "It's part of my job to accost anyone who looks the teeniest bit lonely and make their life living hell". Sail Away has not been seen in London since its original production.

Director: Ian Marshall Fisher; Producer: The Lost Musicals Charitable Trust.

Lilian Baylis Studio
Sadler's Wells
BO: 020 7863 8000
Rosebery Avenue, London, EC1R 4TN Web. Review...
Opening night: 15 June 2008
Closing: 13 July 2008
Times: Sat 19:00; Sun 16:00
Prices: £21-£27.50

Private Lives

Thursday 3rd – Saturday 12th July (excluding Monday 7th July)

Originally produced in 1930 with Coward and Gertrude Lawrence in the lead roles, it was an immediate and enduring success. The words ‘famous’, ‘success’ and ‘Private Lives’ seem to have gone together ever since. The play, which Coward sub-titled An Intimate Comedy, is in essence a comic double battle of the sexes that at times achieves the status of a pitched battle of farcical intensity. As a result its audience is left exhausted as much by the physical exchanges of the characters as the humour of their verbal ones.

“Noel Coward is the playboy of the West End stage.
He has raised flippancy to the plane of genius….”

The London Post reviewing the first night performance in 1930

Blithe Spirit

Box Office: 01263 822347 email: enquiries@sheringhamlittletheatre.com

Hay Fever

Easy Virtue
Film Release in 2009

Director Stephan Elliott has started work on a new film developed from Noël Coward's 1924 three-act-drama of the same name. First filmed in 1928 by Alfred Hitchcock with Isabel Jeans in the main role, this new adaptation stars Jessica Biel, Colin Firth, Ben Barnes and Kristin Scott Thomas. It is currently being filmed at Engelfield House Berkshire and in Oxfordshire and is produced by Joseph Abrams with production companies: Ealing Studios and Endgame Entertainment. More...

Hay Fever

Circle Theatre is an artist-based company whose mission is to produce exciting and innovative theatre accessible to our widely diversified suburban and city audience. Through variety-filled seasons including drama, comedy, musicals, and new works, Circle Theatre challenges, entertains, and educates audiences and artists of all ages.No performance on Thurs, July 3rd and Fri, July 4th.

Tickets:$26 for adults $24 for students and seniors (over 62)

Circle Theatre

previews June 20, 21, and 24, 2008
June 25- August 24, 2008
written by Noel Coward
directed by Jim Schneider.

Web... Review...

A Marvelous Party
Devised by David Ira Goldstein, Carl Danielsen, Mark Anders, Patricia Wilcox and Anna Lauris.
“I’m an enormously talented man, and it’s no use pretending I’m not.” “She stopped the show. But the show wasn’t really traveling very fast.” “I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me.”
We kick up some devilishly good times with the Seattle premiere of A Marvelous Party. A musical tribute to one of the most celebrated and versatile talents of the 20th century, this energetic revue showcases more than 34 Coward tunes along with comedic sketches, anecdotes and musings—all delivered by a cast of Seattle luminaries."

The Falls Theatre
ACT Seattle

June 13 - July 13, 2008 Running Time: 2 hours, 5 minutes.

Previews: June 13-18, 2008. Opens: June 19, 2008. Closes: July 13, 2008.

Web...

Private Lives

Produced by Cape May Stage, New Jersey.

"One of the finest small theatre companies in the country, producing first-class shows in a gorgeous setting."

History of theatre...

The Robert Shackleton Playhouse
at Bank & Lafayette Streets, Cape May, New Jersey

BO:(609) 884-1341

July 2 to August 16

Private Lives

"The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey (formerly called "New Jersey Shakespeare Festival") is one of 22 professional theatres in the state. One of the leading Shakespeare theatres in the nation — serving 100,000 adults and children annually — it is New Jersey's only professional theatre company dedicated to Shakespeare's canon and other classic masterworks. Through its productions and education programs, the company strives to illuminate the universal and lasting relevance of the classics for contemporary audiences."

The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey

6 to 31 August 2008

Directions... Web...

Light Opera Oaklahoma (LOOK) - Oh Coward!

LOOK’s cabaret season returns in 2008 with “Oh, Coward!” featuring the sassy and smart songs of Noel Coward. The embodiment of elegance and wit, Noel Coward’s writing evokes jazz-age attitude with sensuous dances, lush melody and rapid-fire patter. Each one-of-a-kind performance of “Oh, Coward!” opens with a short cabaret presentation designed by Andrea Leap and members of the 2008 LOOK ensemble.
The Tulsa Performing Art Center is located at Second Street and Cincinnati Avenue.

Light Opera Oaklahoma
Main Street, Tulsa, OK Sundays: June 5, 22, 29, July 6 Tickets for "Oh, Coward!" are $25-$29.

Website

Noël Coward in Two Keys
'Noël Coward in Two Keys' at the Berkshire Theatre Festival directed by Vivian Matalon as the fourth Main Stage production, running August 12 – August 30.

'Noël Coward in Two Keys' (1966) was British playwright Sir Noël Coward's final stage work in The US. It is composed of a pair of intriguing one-act comedies, Come into the Garden, Maud and A Song at Twilight. Vivian Matalon directed the esteemed author himself in the work's London premiere, as well as the 1974 Broadway version that featured BTF alums Thom Christopher, Hume Cronyn, and Jessica Tandy. Founded in 1928, Berkshire Theatre Festival is one of the oldest professional regional theatres in the United States and the longest-running cultural organization in the Berkshires. Now under the leadership of Artistic Director and CEO Kate Maguire, BTF presents theatre that matters—world premieres, contemporary works, and classics that speak to who we are in our world today.

Berkshire Theatre Festival
Main Stage performances are Monday through Saturday evenings at 8pm with 2pm matinees on Thursdays and Saturdays. Tickets range from $23 to $68.

For tickets contact the BTF Box Office at 413-298-5576 or visit www.berkshiretheatre.org

Houston Grand Opera - Brief Encounter

An Opera in Two Acts • Music by André Previn • Libretto by John Caird

Houston Grand Opera presents the world premiere of André Previn’s Brief Encounter, based on David Lean’s classic film adaptation of a play by Noël Coward. An honest and compassionate look at emotional infidelity, Brief Encounter stars Elizabeth Futral and Nathan Gunn as Laura and Alec, the couple torn between love and honour, and Kim Josephson as Laura’s bewildered husband; Patrick Summers conducts. Based upon the play Still Life and the screenplay to the 1945 film Brief Encounter, both by Noël Coward. More...

Houston Grand Opera

Brown Theater

May 1, 5, 7, 9, 2009 at 7:30pm
May 3, 2009 at
2:00pm

Web...

Blithe Spirit

Czech Republic: HATA Theatre Company on tour until 2010.

Hungary: Ida Turay Theatre Company touring to culture houses, theatre halls in the countryside and in Budapest until end 2008;
The Vidcim Szinpad Company, Budapest and National Theatre,
Gyor repertory company.

Slovenia: production in Ljubliana - opened in May 2007 (70 performances)

Ukraine: production by Dnipropetrovsky State Russian Drama Theatre

Italy: Planning to open in Summer 2008 at the Versaliana Festival and then Rome's presigious Eliseo Theatre.

Hay Fever

Israel: Beit Lessin Theatre in their repertoire.

Present Laughter

Hungary: Jatekszin Theatre in Budapest - acclaimed production continues in their repertoire.

Italy: La Contrada in Trieste opens this autumn/winter into 2008/09 season. With Johnny Dorelli as Garry Essendine. This production to be transmitted on Italian TV.

Private Lives

Belgium: Theatre Royal des Galeries production current.
Israel: Reit Lessin production current.
Czech Republic: AP Prosper Co production in repertoire.
Portugal: Produções Teatrais Próspero opening Sept/Oct 2008 then touring.

Teatro da Trindade, Lisbon 29 May to 29 June.

Argentina: Javier Faroni producer. November 2008.

Japan: Toho Co - Theatre Crea, Tokyo October 2008 - John Caird directing.

Star Quality

Ukraine: Domino Art Co in Kiev in repertoire.

The Vortex

Brazil: Peramel Productions; Marilia Pera starring - Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo (current) then touring.

Waiting in the Wings

Hungary: Madách Theatre, Budapest current season.

Japan: Kayama Theatre Productions touring outside Tokyo March/April 2008 and at Space Zero in Tokyo 18 to 21 April 2008.

Slovakia: Jokai Theater of Komarom - Hungarian language production from 31 March 2008.

Noël Coward Trilogy Released in the US

A CELEBRATION OF AN EXTRAORDINARY LIFE
The three hour-long specials in the BBC Arena series produced in the Coward Centenary year have been made available on DVD in the US. This detailed evocation traces Noël Coward's life, career and legacy. Part 1: The Boy Actor follows his meteoric rise to international fame at thirty: including how early influences as a young man shaped his works such as Private Lives and The Vortex. Part 2: Captain Coward focuses on his journeys to the Far East with Earl Amherst, as well as entertaining the troops during the war years and films In Which We Serve and Brief Encounter. Part 3: Sail Away follows Coward's cabaret triumphs in London and Las Vegas after the Second World War and his in Switzerland and Jamaica, right up to his death. His long-term partner, the late Graham Payn shows us around Chalet Coward, and archive film reveals his time in Jamaica, as well as his late successes: a cameo performance in The Kitchen, and the musical Sail Away as recalled by its star Elaine Stritch. Nominated for the:1999 Huw Wheldon Award for the Best Arts Programme or Series BAFTA Award 1999.

‘The Letters of Noël Coward’

Edited by Barry Day will be published by Knopf in North America and Methuen Drama in all other territories on November 5th 2007. Barry Day's new essential guide to Noël's correspondence reveals his relationships with leading figures of the day and important moments in the development of his career.

There are launch events in the UK and the US - see United Kingdom 2007 and North America 2007.

"The Master had a singular impact on so many of our lives and Barry Day's perceptive analysis of his correspondence is both illuminating and irresistible. Noel's renowned wit,his unfailing generosity,his acute sense of contemporary history is here for everyone to enjoy." Richard Attenborough

"Noel Coward's letter are everything one would expect: witty,sentimental,peevish,touching. They are wonderful to read. What astounds me,however,is Barry Day's brilliant,imaginatively edited commentary. He sets the letters up with care and intelligence. Noel Coward comes vividly to life because the letters have been placed in such an informed and vivid context." Andre Bishop Artistic Director Lincoln Center Theater

"The sheen of the Coward legacy is further polished with this endlessly fascinating document of an important era in our collective cultural lives. Sir Noel continues to be impertinently pertinent in these changing times !"
Michael Feinstein

"Laughing is my favorite pastime, so it's not surprising that Noel Coward should be my Number One hero. As far as I'm concerned,the British have a monopoly on humor,and our beloved Noel has a monopoly within a monopoly." Hugh Martin

The Noël Coward Collection

This seven-disc box set with over 19 hours of high quality videos of Noël Coward's works (plus more than 12 hours of bonus audio interviews, musical performances, speeches, and radio plays) is released in the UK on 28 January. First seen in the US last year this version, in PAL format, will be welcomed in the UK and Europe.

Available in the US from the BBC American Shop in NTSC format only (in Europe playable only on multi-region DVD players).

A 7 disc set DVD of BBC Coward items - this collection features star-studded BBC productions of Coward's full-length plays, one-acts and short stories plus bonus features including several radio plays, interviews and profiles of Coward.

Includes the following:
Plays:
The Vortex
Hay Fever
Private Lives
Design for Living
Present Laughter

One-Acts:
Tonight at 8:30 (all with Joan Collins)
Hands Across the Sea
Red Peppers
The Astonished Heart
Family Album
Fumed Oak
Ways and Means
Still Life
Shadow Play
Suite in Two Keys
Come Into the Garden Maud
Song at Twilight

Dramatized Short Stories:
Star Quality
Me and the Girls
Bon Voyage
Mr. and Mrs. Edgehill
Mrs. Capper’s Birthday
What Mad Pursuit