Coward on the Coast • News • March 24, 2009

Opening Soon at Moon: The Eureka Theatre in San Francisco 42nd Street Moon: Craig Jessup Sings Coward April 5, 7, 8 12 at 7:00 PM

Jessup created this show to honor the centennial of Noel Coward’s birth, and it has received the highest critical acclaim. The San Francisco Examiner called it “A grand show … a real treat,” while the Bay Area Reporter declared it “superbly rendered … Jessup effortlessly evokes the vulnerability behind Coward’s sardonic mask.”

Bitter Sweet and Star Quality on April 16th: NCS Member Discount on Tickets Brad Rosenstein, Curator at the Museum of Performance & Design, has kindly arranged with the Lamplighters and with the MPD for Coward Society members to receive discounted pricing for two events on April 16th : the performance of Bitter Sweet and the Exhibition Opening Gala, “A Marvelous Party,” celebrating Star Quality: The World of Noël Coward. (See page 2 for the Gala announcement.) To reserve your individual tickets for the Gala, which is a fundraiser for the MPD, call Museum reservations: (415) 255-4800. Regular price is $75; NCS member’s price is $50. To receive the discount, be sure to tell them you are a member of the Coward Society. For Bitter Sweet, we will need a group of at least 10 NCS members to obtain a 10% discount on seats (regularly priced tickets are: $30, $50, and $65.) You may purchase a discounted ticket for a guest who is not a member. If you want to join us for Bitter Sweet, please contact me as soon as possible, preferably by Friday, March 27th, at: kathywilliams@noelcoward.net or (650) 529-9050. Coward on Campus: Hay Fever at Cal State Fullerton Directed by Paul Barnes Young Theatre, Clayes Performing Arts Center, California State University, Fullerton 800 North State College Blvd, Fullerton, CA 92834 April 17 - May 3, 2009 Alan Farley - KALW 91.7 - Interviews April 2: Lamplighters director of Bitter Sweet, Barbara Heroux, will appear on “Open Air” (Thursday at 1 PM). April 7: Craig Jessup will be the guest on "My Favorite Things" (Tuesday at 8 PM). April 9: Brad Rosenstein will talk about Star Quality on “Open Air” (Thursday at 1 PM).

Coward on the Coast: March 24 News Page 2 of 3

Coward on the Coast: March 24 News Page 3 of 3

Spring and Summer in California

• High Spirits continues at 42nd Street Moon through April 12th.

Directed by Moon’s Founding Artistic Director, Greg MacKellan, this production stars Megan Cavanagh, of Moon’s production of Out of This World, and the TV series Exes and Ohs, in the role of the eccentric medium, Madame Arcati. Michael Patrick Gaffney, last seen in the company production of Coco, is the harried Charles Condomine; Maureen McVerry, who also appears in the upcoming Wildcat is his current wife Ruth, while Dyan McBride, who appeared as Venus in Out of This World and Flora in Flora the Red Menace, plays Charles’ ghostly former wife Elvira. Rena Wilson, who starred as Merry May Glockenspiel in last year’s The Student Gypsy, doubles as Edith — the maid of many talents — and one of Madame Arcati’s Inner Circle Beatniks.

• New release in paperback of The Letters of Noël Coward, edited by Barry Day. (Copies will be presented as one of the perks for Sponsorship of Star Quality at the MPD.) No public book event is planned for San Francisco at this time.

• Bitter Sweet in Concert. One-night-only performance by the Lamplighters at the Herbst Theatre. Adapted by Barry Day. (April 16, 8:00 PM)

• A Marvelous Party to celebrate the opening of Star Quality: The World of Noël Coward at the San Francisco Museum of Performance & Design (MPD). Reception and cabaret performance. (April 16, 6:00 – 8:00 PM)

• A range of programs (panel discussions, play readings, concerts, film screenings, etc.) at the MPD during Star Quality (April 17 – August 29)

• A.C.T. Young Conservatory: Coward Revue in San Francisco (May)

• Workshop Reading by the Antaeus Academy at the Deaf West Theatre in North Hollywood (June date tbd)

• Private Lives at the California Shakespeare Theater in Orinda (July 8 – August 2)

Cheers, Kathy Williams U. S. West Coast Liaison The Noël Coward Society kathywilliams@noelcoward.net