Today in the ArtZany Radio studio Paula Granquist welcomes guests Julianna Skluzacek, Tania Larson Legvold, and Dean Lamp from the Merlin Players production of Noël Coward’s Present Laughter performed at the Paradise Center for the Arts.
Present Laughter
by Noël Coward
Directed by Julianna Skluzacek
themerlinplayers.org
Talk about a match made in heaven. Michael Lambert and this cast were born to do Noël Coward. “In a vehicle he wrote for himself, Coward was poking mischievous fun at the frothy commercial comedies that were his bread and butter, with their sophisticated repartee, winking sexual shenanigans, luxurious settings, silk dressing gowns and free-flowing cocktails.”
Unpacked here over four scenes in two acts covering roughly 10 days, the play charts the escalating chaos Garry whips up around himself as he prepares to leave London to tour Africa with six plays in repertory. Juggling his commitments and keeping his more reckless impulses in check is his long-suffering secretary Monica. But despite the efforts of Monica and his estranged wife Liz, whose condescending indulgence toward Garry can’t hide her enduring affection, he gets drawn into the messy intrigues of his inner circle.
July 30, 31, August 5, 6, 7 at 7:30pm
August 1 at 2pm
Paradise Center for the Arts
321 Central Avenue N., Faribault
paradisecenterforthearts.org
Tickets are available at paradisecenterforthearts.org
or by calling 507-332-7372 during box office hours:
Wednesday – Friday noon – 5:00 pm and Saturday 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
Featuring an all-star cast of Michael Lambert, Kim Schaufenbuel, Susan Dunhaupt, Patrick Braucher, Larry Tolle, Stephanie Weiss, Dean Lamp, Faith Jameson, Sam Temple, Marcia Morris-Beck, and Tania Legvold.
