Promo Video: Design for Living, Austin Shakespeare at the Rollins Theatre, February 6 - 24, 2013

Jonny Pascoe's video for the

 

presentation of

Design for Living

by Noel Coward

February 6 - 24, 2013
Rollins Theatre of The Long Center for the Performing Arts

Tickets on sale now at thelongcenter.org or (512) 474-5664.

Join us in this merry dance of three friends who begin as Bohemian artists and rise to high society, as they discover that real love and true friendship often collide. Delight in Noel Coward songs, too! Featuring Martin Burke, Helen Merino and Michael Miller in the lead roles.

Design for Living by Noël Coward, Austin Shakespeare at the Rollins Theatre, Long Center, February 6 - 24, 2013

by Christine El-Tawil and Michael Meigs

Kara Bliss greets you with song as you enter the Rollins Studio Theater at the Long Center for Austin Shakespeare’s production of Design for Living by Noël Coward. Jason Connor accompanies her on the upright piano. 


 Bliss’s soulful delivery of witty and fun compositions by Coward and by Cole Porter instantly transports you to the 1920’s. The puns and clever humor set the audience laughing even before the action began, particularly with references to “gay” behavior. In Coward’s time, “gay” usually meant “loose” or “sexually libertarian” rather than “homosexual,” but our 21^st-century audience took the modern meaning. Director Ann Ciccolella’s interpretation of the progressive partnering within this free-thinking trio was exactly in line with that modern understanding.


Bliss and Connor perform before the show and at each of two intermissions in this three-hour production. They function as a cheerful and attractive chorus, for the songs allude to themes and social issues explored throughout the play. Their final offering is Coward’s “Marvelous Party,” an account of lovely drunken frivolity foreshadowing the happy ending.

Michael Miller, Martin Burke, Helen Merino (photo: Austin Shakespeare)

Coward wrote the play in 1932 for his friends Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, and the three of them appeared in it in New York to great acclaim. London audiences didn’t get to see it until much later because the ménage-à-trois and sexual innuendo were judged inappropriate by British authorities.


Design for Living tells the story of three young aspiring artists struggling up from poverty. They’re firm friends who first met in bohemian Paris. At the opening, Helen Merino as Gilda the designer is in a terrible flutter, and we soon discover why. Living unmarried with one of her male friends, she has just spent the night with the other. 


The dilemmas of sentiment and coupling are the heart of the play; these spirits scorn convention but jealousies upset and bewilder them. The three protagonists portrayed this drama and comedy so powerfully and effortlessly that the audience found itself gasping one moment and then laughing in the same breath.

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Opportunity: Dresser Needed for Austin Shakespeare's 'Design for Living,' January 29 - February 24

Seeking Dresser for Austin Shakespeare's Design for Living @ Rollins Theatre, The Long Center. Some pay.
Production Dates Needed: Tech: (weekday evenings and weekend day/evenings) from join date (1/29 preferred) to final dress( 2/3) Previews: evenings Feb. 5-6 Performances: Thur-Sat evening performances Feb. 7-23, Sunday afternoon performances Feb. 10-24; Strike: duties Feb. 24 following final performance.

Dresser: May include, but not limited to - pre/post performance prep, laundry, ironing, folding, dressing, hair/makeup support, wardrobe support, quick changes, minor repairs, run crew support as needed for transitions ** there will be flex between positions & departments as necessary

Pls send resume and/or description of related experience to Production Coordinator Melinda Parr - melinda.parr@gmail.com

Design for Living by Noel Coward, Austin Shakespeare at the Rollins Theatre, Long Center, February 6 - 24, 2013

presents

by Noel Coward

Savor the wit of Noel Coward's provocative comedy Design for Living!

February 6 - 24, 2013
Rollins Theatre of The Long Center for the Performing Arts

Tickets on sale now at thelongcenter.org or (512) 474-5664.

Join us in this merry dance of three friends who begin as Bohemian artists and rise to high society, as they discover that real love and true friendship often collide. Delight in Noel Coward songs, too!

Featuring Martin Burke, Helen Merino and Michael Miller in the lead roles. This will be Martin Burke's first time with Austin Shakespeare. Martin has been drawing crowds at ZACH for more than a decade. Local audiences can see him currently in The Santaland Diaries at ZACH. Austin Shakespeare audiences are familiar with Helen Merino for her performances in Mary Stuart, Anthem and Hamlet. Our audiences will remember Michael Miller as Mr. Darcy in our recent production of Pride and Prejudice.

FULL CAST

Otto - Michael Miller

Gilda - Helen Merino

Leo - Martin Burke

Ernest - Michael Dalmon

Miss Hodge - Kathy Lagaza

Mrs. Helen Carver - Sara Cormier

Mr. Henry Carver/Mr. Birbeck - Ben McLemore

Chanteuse - Kara Bliss McGregor

Introducing Martin Burke to Austin Shakespeare: ZACH: The Santaland Diaries (1998-2012), Fully Committed (2003 & 2012), The Laramie Project (2002 & 2012), The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, The Drowsy Chaperone, Take Me Out, Shakespeare’s R&J, The Mystery of Irma Vep, Angels in America. Imagine That Productions: House of Several Stories, A Writer's Vision(s), Down the Drain. Other: Celebrity Autobiography (The Long Center), Greater Tuna with Joe Sears, Twelfth Night (Sneck Up!, Vortex), Richard III/2 Actors (Public Domain), Shopping and F**king and Fur (Vortex).


Awards: Austin Critics' Table Award "Best Actor in a Leading Role" forThe Drowsy Chaperone, B. Iden Payne Award “Outstanding Ensemble” for The Drowsy Chaperone, The Laramie Project, and Shakespeare’s R&J; B. Iden Payne Award “Outstanding Lead Actor, Comedy” for House of Several Stories; B. Iden Payne Award “Outstanding Featured Actor in a Drama” for Take Me Out; Austin Critics’ Table Award “Best Actor, Drama” and B. Iden Payne Award “Outstanding Lead Actor, Comedy” for Circumference of a Squirrel; Austin Critic’s Table Award “Best Actor, Comedy” for The Santaland Diaries; B. Iden Payne Award “Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play” for Twelfth Night, Angels in America: Perestroika and Family Affair; Austin Critic’s Table special citation, “Show Savior” for Richard III/2 Actors, Family Affair, and Lucifa. Martin holds a B.F.A. in Acting from UT.

Join us in this merry dance of three friends who begin as Bohemian artists and rise to high society, as they discover that real love and true friendship often collide. Delight in Noel Coward songs, too!

(Click to go to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

2012-2013 tickets for Austin Shakespeare Now on Sale via Long Center

announces that season tickets its two-play season at the Rollins Theatre are now on sale through the Long Center box office.

Prices for the season package are approximately $32 per ticket plus a $4 service charge.

Individual tickets are approximately $28 per ticket plus a $4.75 service charge for general admission and $17 + $2.75 service charge for students.

Click HERE to go to the Long Center ticketing service page for Austin Shakespeare.