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Directed by John Tillinger, the comedy is set for April 1 – 19. Due to the incredible demand of last season’s production of “Relatively Speaking” and the same core talent returning, the Playhouse has added a fourth week of performances for “Time of My Life,” Thursday, Friday and two Saturday performances, April 24 - 26. Audience favorite Paxton Whitehead plays Gerry Stanton, family patriarch, who gets together with his sons and their significant others to celebrate their mother’s 54th birthday at their favorite family restaurant. Based on what transpires following the night of the birthday party, time begins to flow differently for each couple. Cast members are Jason Antoon, Geneva Carr, Carson Elrod, Cecilia Hart, Seana Kofoed, James Waterston and Paxton Whitehead. Carr, Hart, Waterston and Whitehead were a smash hit last season on the Playhouse stage in “Relatively Speaking.” Elrod received acclaim for his performance in “The Drawer Boy” at the Playhouse in 2006. Jason Antoon was on Broadway in “Contact,” for which he received a Drama Desk nomination. Off-Broadway, he appeared in “Burleigh Grimes,” “Picasso at the Lapin Agile” and “Scapin.” His films are “Music and Lyrics,” “Perfect Stranger,” “Minority Report,” directed by Steven Spielberg, “Little Black Book,” “Two Weeks Notice,” “The Producers” and “Live from Baghdad.” His television appearances include “Cashmere Mafia,” “The Lost Room,” three “Law & Order” series, “ Spin City ” and “Sex and the City.” Geneva Carr was most recently in Billy Aronson’s “The News” at Ensemble Studio Theatre’s Marathon 2007. Other Off-Broadway credits include “Rose’s Dilemma” at Manhattan Theatre Club, “The Vagina Monologues” at Westside Arts and “Betty’s Summer Vacation” at Playwrights Horizons. Her television work includes “Hope & Faith,” “Third Watch,” “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” and “Sex and the City.” Films include “One Last Thing,” “Restaurant” and “Neurotica.” Carson Elrod was in the Broadway productions of “Reckless” and “Noises Off.” Off Broadway, he appeared in “Based on a Totally True Story,” for which he received a Drama League nomination. His film work includes “When a Stranger Calls,” “The Wedding Crashers” and “Kissing Jessica Stein.” For television, he was seen on “The Medium” and HBO’s “Carnivale.” Elrod has an MFA degree from NYU. Cecilia Hart’s Broadway productions are “Design for Living,” “Othello,” “Dirty Linen” (Theatre World Award, Drama Desk nomination), “The Heiress” and “Macbeth.” Off-Broadway she appeared in “The Good Parts,” “ Division Street ” and “The Emperor of Late Night Radio.” Her regional work includes roles at Yale Repertory Theatre and the Kennedy Center . On television, she was on “Law & Order” and “The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd,” among others. Seana Kofoed can currently be seen in the ABC series “Men in Trees.” She appeared on Broadway in “Proof” and “Night Must Fall,” and has numerous off-Broadway credits. She has also performed regionally at Long Wharf Theatre and Berkshire Theatre Festival, among others. TV/film credits include “Law & Order: SVU,” “Ed,” “Third Watch,” “Queens Supreme” and “Windy Acres.” James Waterston’s New York theatre credits include Jack in “The Importance of Being Earnest” at BAM, Orlando in “As You Like It” at New York Shakespeare Festival and “Ashley Montana Goes Ashore in the Caicos” at The Flea. Regional work includes Edmund in “Long Day’s Journey into Night,” Konstantin in “The Seagull,” Richard in “Ah, Wilderness!,” and Sir Andrew in “Twelfth Night.” He also worked three seasons at Old Globe, three seasons playing piano for Greylock Project at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, and three seasons at The Sundance Institute June Lab. Film and television appearances include “Dead Poets Society”; “Six Feet Under” (HBO, recurring); and “Live from Baghdad ” (HBO). Paxton Whitehead appeared on Broadway in “Absurd Person Singular,” “My Fair Lady” (Helen Hayes Award), “Run for Your Wife,” “Noises Off” (Drama Desk Award), “Camelot” (Tony nomination), “The Crucifer of Blood” (also at Westport Country Playhouse), “Candida,” “Beyond the Fringe,” and others. From 1967 to 1977, he was artistic director of Canada ’s Shaw Festival. Television credits include “Desperate Housewives,” “The West Wing” and “Friends.” Films include “Kate and Leopold” and “Back to School.” Director John Tillinger directed “Relatively Speaking” at Westport Country Playhouse last season, and “The Drawer Boy” in 2006. He directed many Broadway plays including “Night Must Fall” with Matthew Broderick, “The Sunshine Boys” with Jack Klugman and Tony Randall, “Inherit the Wind” with Charles Durning and George C. Scott (Tony nomination, Outer Critics Circle Award), “The Price” with Eli Wallach (Tony nomination), “Sweet Sue” with Mary Tyler Moore and Lynn Redgrave, and “Loot!” with Joseph Maher (OCC Award, Tony nomination). His Off-Broadway directing work includes “Tea at Five” with Kate Mulgrew; “Sylvia” with Sarah Jessica Parker, “A Perfect Ganesh” with Zoe Caldwell and Francis Sternhagen, “Lips Together Teeth Apart” with Nathan Lane, Christine Baranski and Swoosie Kurtz, “After the Fall” with Frank Langella and Dianne Wiest, “Breaking Legs” with Vincent Gardenia and Philip Bosco, “The Lisbon Traviata” with Nathan Lane (Lortel Award), “Love Letters” with many stars including Jason Robards and Colleen Dewhurst (Lortel Award), “Little Murders” with Christine Lahti, “The Perfect Party” (OCC Award) and “Entertaining Mr. Sloane” (Drama Desk Award). Regionally, he directed many seasons at Long Wharf Theatre, including “Arsenic and Old Lace” with Joanne Woodward, “Another Country” with Peter Gallagher and Peter McNichol and “The Road to Mecca ” with Julie Harris. Playwright Alan Ayckbourn is the author of 70 plays, most of which were premiered at the Stephen Joseph Theatre , Scarborough . More than half have subsequently been staged in London . They have been translated into 35 languages, are performed throughout the world and have received many national and international awards. His works include “How the Other Half Loves,” “Absurd Person Singular,” “The Norman Conquests,” “Just Between Ourselves,” “Bedroom Farce,” “A Chorus of Disapproval,” “Woman in Mind,” “Comic Potential,” “Things We Do for Love,” “Improbable Fiction” and “Private Fears in Public Places.” His book, “The Crafty Art of Playmaking,” has been published in Spain , Sweden , Germany and the U.S. The holder of a number of honorary degrees, he is also the recipient of a Montblanc de la Culture Award for Europe and a Sunday Times Award for Literary Excellence. A Fellow of the RSA, he was appointed a CBE in 1987 and in 1997, was knighted for services to the theatre. The design team for “Time of My Life” is James Noone, set, Jane Greenwood, costumes, Rui Rita, lighting, Scott Killian, sound, Christine Catti, production stage manager, Stephen Gabis, dialect coach and Laura Stancyk, casting. Westport Country Playhouse’s 2008 season continues with a sweetly comic play, “The Pavilion,” written by Craig Wright, an award-winning and Emmy-nominated playwright who has also been the head writer and producer for HBO’s “Six Feet Under” and “Lost.” “The Pavilion” is a story of high school sweethearts Peter and Kari, voted the class of 1988’s “Cutest Senior Couple.” But at the end of senior year, Kari becomes pregnant and Peter runs off. After not seeing each other since graduation, they meet again at their 20th high school reunion wondering if they can turn back time. Scheduled May 13 through May 31, “The Pavilion” will be directed by Chad Rabinovitz, Playhouse artistic associate. A lively song and dance revue, “Hot ‘n Cole: A Cole Porter Celebration!,” will be staged June 10 through June 28. “Hot ‘n Cole” celebrates the life of one of the great songwriting masters in American musical history. The revue is jam-packed with fresh arrangements and contemporary twists on 48 Cole Porter standards, including “You’re the Top,” “It’s De-Lovely,” “Night and Day,” ”I Love Paris,” “Anything Goes,” “Just One of Those Things” and “In the Still of the Night.” The revue is devised by David Armstrong, Mark Waldrop and Bruce W. Coyle; musical arrangements by Bruce W. Coyle. From Westport Country Playhouse’s playwright-in-residence David Wiltse comes a delicious office comedy, “Scramble!,” about the howlingly incompetent staff of a golf magazine. When a rumor spreads that the magazine may be sold to a corporate publisher, the staff suspects a new hire is actually a “hatchetman,” brought in to decide whether or not certain employees are pulling their weight. As everyone fears that their job is on the line, office politics turn into farce with outlandish relationships, mistaken identities and hilarious situations. “Scramble!” will be staged July 8 through July 26. Tracey Brigden, who directed Wiltse’s comedy “A Marriage Minuet” at the Playhouse in 2006, will be at the helm. A thriller, “Tryst” by Karoline Leach, will play August 5 through August 23. Joe Brancato, who directed the Off-Broadway production, will direct. Set in mysterious Edwardian London, George Love has a habit of marrying simple, well off women who become inexplicably poor and husbandless the day after their honeymoons. He’s come to London to con his next bride into marriage, but meets his match in Adelaide , a milliner’s assistant. The enduring masterpiece, “Of Mice and Men,” will be directed by Paul Newman. The play is based on John Steinbeck's 1937 tale of two traveling companions, George and Lennie, who wander the country during the Depression, dreaming of a better life for themselves. “Of Mice and Men” will run October 7 through October 25. Due to the caliber of artists attached to this production, the Playhouse has added a fourth week of performances for “Of Mice and Men,” Thursday, Friday and two Saturday performances, October 30 – November 1. A December holiday production, not part of the subscription series, is to be announced. The performance schedule for the 2008 season will be Tuesday at 8 p.m., Wednesday at 2 and 8 p.m., Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 4 and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. Special series will feature Previews, Opening Nights, TalkBack Thursdays, Prologue, Symposium Sundays, Backstage Pass and Open Captioning. Following a multi-million dollar renovation completed in 2005, the Playhouse is now open year-round, welcoming 85,000 audience members annually. On its legendary stage are theatrical productions, educational programming and special events, including films, readings of short fiction and new plays, and a Family Festivities series. The rich history of the Westport Country Playhouse dates back to 1931, when New York theatre producers Lawrence Langner and his wife Armina Marshall created a Broadway-quality stage within an 1830s cow barn. Now celebrating its 78th season, the Playhouse has produced more than 700 plays, 35 of which later transferred to Broadway. Its roster of actors reads like a "Who's Who" of the American theatre. Westport Country Playhouse serves as a treasured home for the performing arts for audiences and artists alike, and as a true cultural landmark for Connecticut . “Time of My Life” board of trustees sponsors are Kim and Niv Harrizman. The Playhouse is a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization. Subscriptions for the 2008 season, now on sale, start at $185 for 5-play and 6-play series. Subscription benefits include discounted prices and preferred, renewable seating. Single tickets are now on sale ranging from $30 to $55; opening night tickets, including post-performance reception, are $65. Students and educators are eligible for 50% discounts. Groups of 10 or more save up to 30% off the regular ticket price. For group sales information call (203) 227-5137, x120. For subscriptions, single tickets or more information, call the box office at (203) 227-4177, or toll-free at 1-888-927-7529, or visit 25 Powers Court , off Route 1, Westport . Information about the Playhouse is also available at www.westportplayhouse.org. © Copyright by NorwalkPlus.com. Some articles and pictures posted on our website, as indicated by their bylines, were submitted as press releases and do not necessarily reflect the position and opinion of NorwalkPlus.com, Norwalk Plus magazine, Canaiden LLC or any of its associated entities. Articles may have been edited for brevity and grammar. Related Articles: Scott Burton inspires survivors as the featured guest speaker at the 11th annual National Cancer Survivors Day® event - May 15, 2008 - 11:09:21 AM Rogers to play Caesar in Shakespeare festival - May 14, 2008 - 6:57:30 AM Westport Country Playhouse symposium discusses “The Role of Media and Theatre: Creating the Social Environment of Our Lives” - May 8, 2008 - 10:00:15 AM “A Taste of Tuesdays” at Westport Country Playhouse on May 13 - May 6, 2008 - 7:15:02 AM Comedian Julia Sweeney is bringing her "Letting Go of God" monologue to The Ridgefield Playhouse - May 2, 2008 - 6:50:10 AM CURRENT HEADLINES: Top of Page
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