Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Present Laughter by Noël Coward Present Laughter . 1967. Directed by Gordon Flemyng. Present Laughter . 1967. Great Britain. Directed by Gordon Flemyng. Written by Noël Coward. With Peter O’Toole, Honor Blackman, Isla Blair. 16mm. 100 min. Based on Noël Coward’s 1939 play, Present Laughter is a lighthearted comedy depicting a few days in the life of self-obsessed stage actor Garry Essendine as he grapples with a midlife crisis before setting sail for a theater tour in Africa. Peter O’Toole gives an inspired performance as Garry, with Honor Blackman as his estranged wife. Gordon Flemyng’s version was a part of the ITV Play of the Week anthology series, which ran from 1955 to 1974. This film accompanies Television Movies: Big Pictures on the Small Screen. Tue, Feb 25, 2020, 4:30 p.m. MoMA, Floor T2/T1, Theater 1. The Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 1. Thu, Feb 20, 2020, 6:30 p.m. MoMA, Floor T2/T1, Theater 1. The Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 1. If you would like to reproduce an image of a work of art in MoMA’s collection, or an image of a MoMA publication or archival material (including installation views, checklists, and press releases), please contact Art Resource (publication in North America) or Scala Archives (publication in all other geographic locations). All requests to license audio or video footage produced by MoMA should be addressed to Scala Archives at [email protected] . Motion picture film stills or motion picture footage from films in MoMA’s Film Collection cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. For licensing motion picture film footage it is advised to apply directly to the copyright holders. For access to motion picture film stills please contact the Film Study Center. More information is also available about the film collection and the Circulating Film and Video Library. If you would like to reproduce text from a MoMA publication, please email [email protected] . If you would like to publish text from MoMA’s archival materials, please fill out this permission form and send to [email protected] . Noël Coward’s Present Laughter. Kevin Kline’s Tony Award®-winning performance in Noël Coward’s Present Laughter, first produced in 1942 with Coward himself in the leading role, comes to PBS Friday, November 3, 2017 at 9/8c (check local listings). The play continues the Great Performances marathon within the Broadway's Best on PBS lineup. Kevin Kline’s Tony Award ® – winning performance in Noël Coward’s Present Laughter , first produced in 1942 with Coward himself in the leading role, comes to PBS Friday, November 3rd at 9 p.m. (check local listings) continuing the GREAT PERFORMANCES marathon within PBS’s Fall Broadway’s best lineup. Noël Coward’s Present Laughter follows a self-obsessed actor in the midst of a mid-life crisis. Juggling his considerable talent, ego and libido, the theater’s favorite leading man suddenly finds himself caught between fawning ingénues, crazed playwrights, secret trysts and unexpected twists. Noël Coward’s Present Laughter joins She Loves Me (October 20), and Indecent ( November 17 ), and Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn (November 24) as part of PBS’s Broadway’s best lineup, all directed for television by Emmy Award ® -winner David Horn, executive producer of both GREAT PERFORMANCES and THIRTEEN’s local Theater Close-Up series. The four titles are co-productions with theater streaming service BroadwayHD and THIRTEEN PRODUCTIONS LLC for WNET. Also airing as part of the Broadway festival are GREAT PERFORMANCES encore presentations of In the Heights: Chasing Broadway Dreams (November 10) and Hamilton’s America (in December), up-close looks at the making of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway hits, In the Heights and Hamilton respectively. Critics unanimously raved about Kline in this revival. David Rooney in The Hollywood Reporter enthused, “Talk about a match made in heaven. Kevin Kline was born to do Noel Coward, and his casting as Garry Essendine, the 1930s stage star and aging playboy at the center of his own eternal melodrama in Present Laughter , yields a performance of unimpeachable skill, made all the more delectable by its lightness of touch.” The performance earned Kline the best actor honors at the 2017 Tony Awards, Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk Awards. The cast is also headed by three-time Tony ® and Emmy ® Award nominee Kate Burton( Scandal , Grey’s Anatomy ), Tony Award ® nominee Kristine Nielsen ( Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike ), and Cobie Smulders ( How I Met Your Mother , Jack Reacher: Never Go Back ) in the Broadway debut which earned her the Theatre World Award for Outstanding Broadway Debut. Stage direction is by Tony Award ® nominee Moritz von Stuelpnagel ( Hand to God ). The ensemble of Noël Coward’s Present Laughter includes Matt Bittner, Ellen Harvey, Peter Francis James, Tedra Millan, Bhavesh Patel, Reg Rogers and Sandra Shipley, with Kelley Curran, Rachel Pickup, James Riordan, and David L. Townsend. The creative team for Present Laughter features set design by Tony Award ® winner David Zinn, costume design by Tony Award ® winner Susan Hilferty, lighting design by two-time Tony Award ® nominee Justin Townsend, sound design by Fitz Patton, and hair design by Josh Marquette. Casting by Telsey + Company. Noël Coward’s Present Laughter was produced on stage by Jordan Roth, Jujamcyn Theaters, Spencer Ross, A.C. Orange International, Eric Falkenstein, Grove Entertainment, Bruce Robert Harris and Jack W. Batman, Stephanie P. McClelland, Harbor Entertainment, Joe Everett Michaels / Robert F. Ryan, Daryl Roth. For BroadwayHD, this performance of Present Laughter is produced by Stewart F Lane; Jordan Roth, Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley are executive producers. GREAT PERFORMANCES is produced by THIRTEEN PRODUCTIONS LLC for WNET, one of America’s most prolific and respected public media providers. Throughout its more than 40 year history on public television,GREAT PERFORMANCES has provided viewers across the country with an unparalleled showcase of the best in all genres of the performing arts, serving as America’s most prestigious and enduring broadcaster of cultural programming. For GREAT PERFORMANCES, Mitch Owgang is producer; Bill O’Donnell is series producer; David Horn is executive producer. Present Laughter review – Kevin Kline finds the funny in classic, creaky comedy. D ressing gown enthusiasts can rejoice at the return of Garry Essendine in the latest Broadway revival of Present Laughter. Not that Garry ever stays offstage very long. Noël Coward’s creation, he made his debut in 1942, played by his author, and hasn’t strayed far from the boards ever since. Has he aged well? Yes and no, as demonstrated by Kevin Kline’s silky turn in the current production, a performance of stupefying charm that reveals some of the wrinkles and sag in the surrounding play. Kline plays Garry, a matinee idol well into his 50s who still sometimes dreams of accomplishing more serious work. (There’s a running joke about Peer Gynt that should delight Soapdish fans.) Estranged from his wife (an elegant Kate Burton), needled by his secretary (a delightful Kristine Nielsen) and irked by his work, he fills the weeks before departing on a tour of Africa by sleeping, griping and bedding silly debutantes who claim to have lost their latchkeys. This busy schedule is further besieged when his business partner’s predatory wife (a Machiavellian Cobie Smulders) attempts his seduction. As directed by Mortiz von Stuelpnagel (Hand to God), Present Laughter starts slowly. (So slowly that one wonders if Eventual Laughter might be the more judicious title.) During the opening scene, the latest deb (Tedra Millan) finds herself in Garry’s ritzty London duplex, waiting for him to wake up, as several other characters bustle in and out, freighted with breakfast trays and exposition. Present Laughter. Photograph: Joan Marcus/2016 Joan Marcus. There’s a lot of business and a lot of jokes – about the heating, say – that are not exactly uproarious. There’s some creakiness in the way the play shunts characters on and offstage and a lot of stage time given to characters who quickly come to seem tedious or bizarre, like an unhinged playwright (Bhavesh Patel). The comedy also takes its maddening time establishing anything that looks like conflict. That’s because the conflict is mostly internal. Garry has been an actor so long that it’s unclear if there’s a person under his pajamas or just an accumulation of lines and roles. “I’m always acting,” he says, “watching myself go by – that’s what’s so horrible.” He makes love by reciting bits from his famous roles and it’s not clear if he’s charming because he means to be or if he’s simply forgotten most other ways to behave. Kline, who follows the likes of Victor Garber, Nathan Lane, Peter O’Toole, and Ian McKellen, fills out the dressing gown nicely. Garry is a hollow character, but Kline puts him together with care and shrewdness. As the play continues, his performance gathers increasing force until even a glancing gesture, like a darting look into the mirror can summon helpless giggles. As an actor who has often been more celebrated for his light comedy roles than his dramatic performances, Kline might have particular sympathy for Garry. His Garry seems a dandy, a meanie, a child, but Kline makes us fall for him anyway. If a whole audience suddenly arrives at the stage door, claiming to have lost their latchkeys, he will know why. Behind the Curtain of Noël Coward’s Present Laughter. Go behind the curtain of Noël Coward’s Present Laughter with Director Moritz Von Stuelpnagel, Executive Producer Jordan Roth and cast members Cobie Smulders and Kate Burton. Noël Coward’s Present Laughter comes to GREAT PERFORMANCES on Friday, November 3rd at 9PM (check local listings) . The play continues the Broadway’s Best lineup on PBS. KRISTINE NIELSEN: How would I describe Present Laughter in one word scrumptious. [Instrumental music] MORITZ VON STUELPNAGEL: Present Laughter follows egocentric celebrity Garry Essendine in a series of philandering escapades as he confronts a new kind of mid-life crisis. KEVIN KLINE AS GARRY ESSENDINE: Good God. I look ninety-eight! COBIE SMULDERS: Present Laughter is about this group of characters, all sort of revolving around Mr. Garry Essendine. KEVIN KLINE AS GARRY ESSENDINE: Where''s my present? KATE BURTON AS LIZ ESSENDINE: On the piano bench. KEVIN KLINE AS GARRY ESSENDINE: It''s not another glass horse, is it? KATE BURTON AS LIZ ESSENDINE: No, it''s a dressing gown for Africa. KEVIN KLINE AS GARRY ESSENDINE: A dressing gown, Monica! Just what we wanted! COBIE SMULDERS: It''s sort of an insight into this world in the late 1930s. KEVIN KLINE AS GARRY ESSENDINE: Don''t anybody say anything important for five minutes. COBIE SMULDERS: It''s really Garry Essendine''s world. He has his secretary, who he''s had for decades, and his ex-wife, and his producer, director. They''re characters that are sort of on the outskirts of this circle, who all, for one reason or another, want to be a part of it. KEVIN KLINE AS GARRY ESSENDINE: Like a sunbeam upon the tide which the dark shadows hide TEDRA MILLAN AS DAPHNE STILLINGTON: But Garry--! KEVIN KLINE AS GARRY ESSENDINE: Quiet! KRISTINE NIELSEN: He is a superstar of the stage. KATE BURTON: And we kind of meet him at a crisis moment, thinking about his life and who he loves, and who loves him. MORITZ VON STUELPNAGEL: And what is this strange community of people that I have assembled to represent a kind of family? KEVIN KLINE AS GARRY ESSENDINE: I was in love with you for longer than I was with anyone else, you can''t grumble. KATE BURTON: I can honestly say with a lot of love in my heart that Kevin Kline is probably one of the most extraordinary actors. KRISTINE NIELSEN: One of our great, great, great, great, great comedians, I think. JORDAN ROTH: Watching Kevin Kline explore and experiment, and, find ways to engage with everyone and everything around him and then watching that process come back the next night with something a little more perfected that was for me the great gift of this production. KEVIN KLINE AS GARRY ESSENDINE: For thirty years I''ve given you everything. I gave you my youth. Where is my youth today? KATE BURTON: Well I have a very interesting relationship to this play, I think I''m the only person on Broadway who has been in two different Broadway productions of Present Laughter in the last thirty-five years. I played Daphne Stillington, the young ingénue with George C. Scott thirty-five years ago at the Circle in the Square, so I have played the very youngest lady in the play, now I''m playing one of the older ones! KATE BURTON AS LIZ ESSENDINE: How do you do? TEDRA MILLAN AS DAPHNE STILLINGTON: Mrs Essendine? Do you I mean, are you Garry''s wife? KATE BURTON AS LIZ ESSENDINE: Yes. TEDRA MILLAN AS DAPHNE STILLINGTON: Oh, I thought you were divorced? KATE BURTON AS LIZ ESSENDINE: Oh, we never quite got around to it. MORITZ VON STUELPNAGEL: Present Laughter carries forward a tradition of the comedic sex farce, championed in Broadway in the West End, and certainly Noel Coward is a comedic genius in that way. COBIE SMULDERS AS JOANNA LYPPIATT: I did the most idiotic thing. I lost my latchkey. KRISTINE NELSON AS MONICA REED: You lost your latchkey. JORDAN ROTH: It is some of the most extraordinary comedy writing. KRISTINE NIELSEN: It is much more verbally dexterous. It''s musical in a way, without being a musical, that you have to listen for the comedy. KRISTINE NIELSEN AS MR: What on Earth''s the matter? KEVIN KLINE AS GARRY ESSENDINE: Have you or have you not seen me over-act? KRISTINE NIELSEN AS MR: Frequently. KRISTINE NIELSEN: I''m outside the door in his office, and I listen every night to be able to come in and hit the right notes. COBIE SMULDERS: There is something in the language of Noel Coward. KEVIN KLINE AS GARRY ESSENDINE: Every word, every phrase, every change of mood cunningly planned. COBIE SMULDERS: Obviously it''s not how we talk now, I''m not even sure it''s how they talked then, but it''s, um, a refined way of speaking. COBIE SMULDERS AS JOANNA LYPPIATT: You look strangely young every now and then. COBIE SMULDERS: The words are like weapons, and especially for my character, who is sort of playing with Garry and I consider them to be sort of equal, so they''re constantly in this power struggle with each other. KEVIN KLINE AS GARRY ESSENDINE: There''s a certain arrogance about you, a little too much self-assurance. COBIE SMULDERS AS JOANNA LYPPIATT: You don''t care for competition, I see. KRISTINE NIELSEN: It''s like being in a fencing match with people, it''s really, really fun. PETER FRANCIS JAMES AS HENRY LYPPIATT: Now look here, Garry KEVIN KLINE AS GARRY ESSENDINE: No I won''t look here! JORDAN ROTH: In this play, we get to see actors at the top of their game, giving us truly a comedy Broadway masterclass. COBIE SMULDERS: People who have been doing this for many years, so they are pros, and, um, I get to not only have the experience of being on a stage in front of people every night, but I am a student as well, and I''m just absorbing all of this amazing creativity and, and passion from the people on stage. KATE BURTON AS LIZ ESSENDINE: You''d better take my car, Joanna, it''s downstairs. TEDRA MILLAN AS DAPHNE STILLINGTON: The chauffeur''s got red hair and his name''s Frobisher. SANDRA SHIPLEY AS LADY SALTBURN: Daphne! KATE BURTON: The reason this play gets done so often is because of the fact that it really resounds with audiences of all ages, and it is one of those universally-themed plays. KEVIN KLINE AS GARRY ESSENDINE: I see myself all the time! Eating, drinking, loving, suffering! Sometimes I think I''m going mad. TEDRA MILLAN AS DAPHNE STILLINGTON: I could help you if only you''d let me! Present Laughter. Noel Coward’s totally-irresistible and semi-autobiographical comedy follows a self-obsessed actor in the midst of a mid-life crisis. Freely indulging his considerable appetite for wine, women and sleeping late, the theatre’s favorite leading man suddenly finds himself caught between fawning ingénues, crazed playwrights, secret trysts and unexpected twists. von Stuelpnagel’s production starred Kristine Nielsen, Cobie Smulders, Kate Burton and Kevin Kline in a Tony Award winning performance.