Multiple Tony winner Angela Lansbury and multiple Tony nominee Dana Ivey star in a one-night-only staged reading of Peter Shaffer's Lettice and Lovage June 13 at 7 PM at The Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College, 68th Street between Park and Lexington Avenues.
The benefit for The Acting Company co-stars Patricia Conolly and original Broadway cast member Paxton Whitehead as well as a group of Fustian House tourists played by recent alumni of The Acting Company. Mark Lamos directs.
The evening is dedicated to the memory of playwright Shaffer, who passed away last week.
The play, according to press notes, “tells the story of an eccentric tour guide, Lettice Douffet [Lansbury]. She channels her flair for the dramatic into embellishing the history of dreary Fustian House, the least stately of London’s stately homes. Lettice’s flights of fantasy are cut short when she encounters ‘Lottie Schoen,’ a straitlaced bureaucrat from the Preservation Trust. As their animosity gives way to an unlikely friendship born of a shared enthusiasm for historical reenactments, Lettice and Lottie discover that their elaborate fantasies have unintended real-world complications.”
Designing lights is Greg MacPherson, and Tim Boyce is designing sound.
The performance will be followed by dinner with the cast at the Union Club, 101 East 69th Street. This portion of the evening is only available at certain ticket levels.
Maggie Smith and Margaret Tyzack won Tony Awards for their performances in the original Broadway production of Lettice and Lovage, which played 286 performances at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in 1990. Michael Blakemore directed.
Show-only tickets may be purchased through The Kaye Playhouse, either online Hunter.cuny.edu/kayeplayhouse or by phone, (212) 772-4448. They are priced at $250 for front/middle orchestra; $175 for rear orchestra and front mezzanine; $100 for rear mezzanine; and $75 for the back two rows. Donor-level tickets with priority seating without dinner are $500. Tickets with dinner start at $1,000 each. The donor-level tickets can be purchased through The Acting Company by calling (212) 258-3111.
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Since 1972, The Acting Company has developed the talents and skills of nearly 400 actors, including the young Kevin Kline, Patti LuPone, Rainn Wilson, Harriet Harris, Frances Conroy, Jesse L. Martin, Jeffrey Wright, David Ogden Stiers, David Schramm, Keith David, Stephen DeRosa and Hamish Linklater, all of whom began their careers with it.
