Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Dinner at Eight A Play in Three Acts by George S. Kaufman Dinner at Eight: A Play in Three Acts by George S. Kaufman. Completing the CAPTCHA proves you are a human and gives you temporary access to the web property. What can I do to prevent this in the future? If you are on a personal connection, like at home, you can run an anti-virus scan on your device to make sure it is not infected with malware. If you are at an office or shared network, you can ask the network administrator to run a scan across the network looking for misconfigured or infected devices. Another way to prevent getting this page in the future is to use Privacy Pass. You may need to download version 2.0 now from the Chrome Web Store. Cloudflare Ray ID: 658cbaa71960c429 • Your IP : 188.246.226.140 • Performance & security by Cloudflare. Dinner at Eight: A Play in Three Acts by George S. Kaufman. Completing the CAPTCHA proves you are a human and gives you temporary access to the web property. What can I do to prevent this in the future? If you are on a personal connection, like at home, you can run an anti-virus scan on your device to make sure it is not infected with malware. If you are at an office or shared network, you can ask the network administrator to run a scan across the network looking for misconfigured or infected devices. Another way to prevent getting this page in the future is to use Privacy Pass. You may need to download version 2.0 now from the Chrome Web Store. Cloudflare Ray ID: 658cbaa7499df146 • Your IP : 188.246.226.140 • Performance & security by Cloudflare. Dinner at Eight. There's plenty for swank lovers in the very look of Lincoln Center Theater's Dinner at Eight revival. John Lee Beatty, than whom no one alive today does better upscale stage interiors, is so on form that he's practically sailing. The play, presented here in three acts as written, takes place in many rooms of the Oliver Jordans' palatial Manhattan home as well as in a top-flight hotel, the office of a physician to the rich, and the bedroom of a battling arriviste couple. So Beatty gets to create numerous, lavish surroundings in silver and gold tones; the set pieces glide across the stage of the Vivian Beaumont theater or rise regally from below. The cast members who populate the ravishing sets are clad in equally ravishing costumes, designed by Catherine Zuber in styles that bring to mind couturiers like Molyneux and MGM's brilliant Adrian. The women ooze through doors and perch on settees in fur-trimmed day clothes; in the final party scene, they swish about in flowing, glowing fabrics made to appear even more stunning by David Weiner's soft lighting. Of course, the drawback of a production that causes the audience to leave humming the sets, costumes and lighting (and maybe even Robert Waldman's original score) is that the emphasis is on the wrong things. It's something of a theatrical equivalent to relying on special effects to distinguish a movie. What should be hummed is the play itself and its ability to entertain while illuminating; also memorable should be the players' part in bringing such discussion about. Most people's affection for Dinner at Eight is probably based on the film version. The story of this comedy-drama, retained when transferred to celluloid, is simple enough: Millicent Jordan (Christine Ebersole), a feather-headed socialite and wife to shipping mogul Oliver (James Rebhorn), decides to entertain Lord and Lady Ferncliffe, who are due in New York. Included on her guest list are a doctor to the well heeled named J. W. Talbot (John Dossett) and his wife, Lucy (Joanne Camp); fading film star Larry Renault (Byron Jennings); retired stage actress Carlotta Vance (Marian Seldes); and the coarse Dan and Kitty Packard (Kevin Conway, Emily Skinner). During a time when the populace was wondering how to pay the rent, it was sly of Kaufman and Ferber to jolly up a plot that went behind the figurative and literal facades of the fabulously wealthy to declare that things weren't so rosy there, either. It's amusing and affecting to watch some of these self-centered folks unravel and to hear Millicent rage that no one understands the troubles she sees. But the Kaufman-Ferber script doesn't go very far or in too deep. Indeed, here's an instance where the film adaptation -- executed by Francis Marion and Herman J. Mankiewicz, with additional dialogue by the reliable Donald Ogden Stewart -- improves on the original. No doubt it was these Tinseltown fellows who threaded running gags into the action and intensified the characters' woes so that the accumulating financial collapses have a strong impact by the time "The End" flashes on the screen. Patrons of the Lincoln Center production who haven't seen the movie may have a perfectly pleasant time, but those who wait for the moment when Kitty Packard (played in the film by Jean Harlow) remarks that she was reading a book the other day and Carlotta Vance (Marie Dressler on screen) reacts with an outlandish take will wait in vain. Not only is the line and other like it not there, but neither, of course, are Harlow and Dressler. Had these icons merely been cast because they were in the MGM stable and needed to be kept working, it would be one thing, but that wasn't the situation; they were ideally slotted, as was everyone in the movie, and their star wattage contributed invaluably to the property's mystique. That mystique is unmatched by players whom director Gerald Gutierrez helms with competence that infrequently rises to inspiration. Those scoring nicely include Christine Ebersole, who is made up to have a wide-eyed but blank expression. She connects with her role despite the fact that she's not precisely right for it; as always, her intelligence shines through. As the philandering doc and his wise but impatient wife, John Dossett and Joanne Camp make their turns count, while Joe Grifasi brings his usual, helpful, down-to-earth presence to the smallish part of Larry Renault's tolerant agent. Less impressive performances are given by Emily Skinner, who fills out Catherine Zuber's cleavage-focused outfits better than she fills out the sharp remarks handed her, and Kevin Conway. When these two face off, they don't have the caged-dog-and-cat ferocity they ought to have. Dinner at Eight – George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber. The extraordinary success of their dramatic collaborations in the 1930s has inextricably linked Kaufman and Hart as a classic tandem, like Gilbert and Sullivan or Rodgers and Hammerstein. But just as there was a Rodgers and Hart before Oklahoma! , Kaufman had behind him more than a decade of successful collaboration with others before the breakthrough of Once in a Lifetime propelled his partnership with Hart. The prodigiously prolific Kaufman had begun his playwriting career as a soloist, with uneven results, achieving some acclaim with The Butter and Egg Man (revived successfully last season by the Atlantic Company). He soon found it more congenial to work with others and for nearly a half century afterwards worked with sixteen different collaborators, finding in each a distinctive sensibility it was his talent to help shape. Working with Edna Ferber, Kaufman achieved two outstanding successes: The Royal Family (1927) and Dinner at Eight (1932). But where the former play, based on the flamboyant Barrymores, has been frequently revived professionally, the much darker latter play has seen only one revival since its opening. Part of the reason for this may be its elaborate cast and set demands, and part may be the definitive stamp imposed on the play by the MGM 1933 film version which gathered together a stellar ensemble including Lionel and John Barrymore, Marie Dressler, Wallace Beery, and Jean Harlow. But now comes another revival by Lincoln Center-and a first-rate one at that. The play is a sophisticated comedy set in the depths of the Great Depression. But it is not frivolously escapist. Indeed, even without specific social references, an aura of economic misery leeches into the ostentatious rituals of the wealthy here displayed. Although most high comedy contains elements of melodrama, in Dinner at Eight the serious elements nearly overwhelm the comic. Social-climbing Mrs. Oliver Jordan, whose husband’s firm is in financial trouble, feels obligated to reciprocate hospitality for a visiting British aristocratic couple by arranging a small dinner party. The guests are chosen both to impress–a faded stage star, a well-known if over-the-hill alcoholic actor–and to meet certain social obligations. This means the necessary inclusion of a philandering doctor and his wife, and a gauche, nouveau-riche couple who are loathed but powerful. The play shifts from one set of guests to the other as it traces their stories from the time the invitations are sent to the time of the party itself, gradually revealing their entanglements, deceits, and, in one instance, final reckoning. Add to the mix the Jordan’s daughter who is having an affair with the fading actor and a parallel tale of below stairs betrayal involving the servants and you have a most unsavory portrait of a parasitic class in deep trouble. Kaufman and Ferber’s unique accomplishment is to offer their mordant observations with style and wit. There may not be an admirable individual in the bunch, but they are fascinatingly distinct. As the complex intertwined relationships unfold, we–the present audience– recognize with pleasure an almost extinct dramatic profligacy. In our impoverished age of small casts and one-person shows it is exhilarating to see a non-musical with a cast of 28! There are no bread lines on this stage as Kaufman and Ferber feel free to add characters and scenes to amplify their corrosive portrait. One reason the play adapted so well to the movies is the range of its settings. Three acts, eleven scenes, six different sets, ranging from the Jordan’s sitting room and butler’s pantry in their town house to the actor’s fraying apartment in a residential hotel. With the aid of modern technology we segue from one set to another effortlessly. The broad physical spectrum brings an Elizabethan or Restoration scale to the proceedings. Dinner at Eight presents, then, a challenge, one well met by director Gerald Gutierrez, by a splendid if essentially non-stellar cast, and, most particularly, by designer John Lee Beatty whose lovingly detailed sets all but steal the show.. Beatty begins each act with a spectral upstage vision of the beautifully set dinner table we never see occupied. Then each individual interior beautifully places the characters in the specificities of their era, a visual distillation aided by the subtle flamboyance of Catherine Zuber’s costumes. The show is a joy to look at as well as to listen to. There are no above-the-title, A-list stars here, just a group of first-rate actors who make the most of their opportunities. Of the many excellent characterizations first place goes to Christine Ebersole’s aspiring, crisis-plagued hostess (much less fluttery than Billie Burke in the movie). As the engine of the play’s plot she has a job to do which she does with energy and charm as well as exasperation. Kevin Conway and Emily Skinner as the nouveau-riche parvenus are noticeably less over-the-top than were Wallace Beery and Jean Harlow but, consequently, more believable. The least effective of the major characterizations is given by Byron Jennings as the fading actor, not, one might note, due to deficiencies in his acting ability, but rather because he seems too young and undissipated for the part. The irony with this character is that it was based on the dissolving career of John Barrymore. And who played it in the film? Barrymore himself offering a lacerating self-portrait which accurately observed that he would never be taken seriously as an actor again. This production cannot, of course, contain that level of irony, but still it disturbs as it charms which was surely its authors’ intent. Dinner at Eight: A Play in Three Acts by George S. Kaufman. Dinner At Eight. Theatre Review by Matthew Murray - December 19, 2002. Dinner At Eight by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber. Directed by Gerald Gutierrez. Sets by John Lee Beatty. Costumes by Catherine Zuber. Lighting by David Weiner. Original Music by Robert Waldman. Sound by Aural Fixation. Cast: Joanne Camp, Rhys Coiro, Kevin Conway, John Dossett, Christine Ebersole, Julian Gamble, Enid Graham, Joe Grifasi, Byron Jennings, Simon Jutras, Joseph Kamal, Karl Kenzler, Mark La Mura, Anne Lange, Philip LeStrange, Mark Lotito, Charlotte Maier, Peter Maloney, Deborah Mayo, Ann McDonough, James Rebhorn, Brian Reddy, Marian Seldes, Sloane Shelton, Emily Skinner, Samantha Soule, David Wohl. Leadership support for Dinner at Eight is generously provided by The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation. Dinner at Eight has been made possible, in part, by a gift from the estate of Edith K. Ehrman. Special thanks to the Eleanor Naylor Dana Charitable Trust for Supporting Dinner at Eight. LCT gratefully acknowledges extraordinary support from The Lila Acheson and DeWitt Wallace Endowment Fund. American Airlines is the official airline of Lincoln Center Theater. Lincoln Center Theater thanks the Theatre Development Fund for its support of this production. Lincoln Center Theater at the Vivian Beaumont is under the direction of Andre Bishop and Bernard Gersten. Theatre: Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center, 150 West 65th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Running time: 3 hours 15 minutes with two 15 minute intermission Schedule: Limited engagement through January 26. Tuesdays through Saturday at 8 PM. Wednesday and Saturday at 2 PM. Sunday at 3 PM. Schedule from December 31: Tuesdays at 7 PM. Wednesdays through Saturday at 8 PM. Wednesday and Saturday at 2 PM. Sunday at 3 PM. Ticket price: $70, $55 Tickets: Tele-Charge. Though the characters in the George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber's 1932 play Dinner at Eight are living in the depths of the Great Depression, they don't have a lot of time to be depressed. Financial problems or no, they have too much living to do. Audiences attending the new revival of the play at the Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center may experience something similar. The times may have changed, but the country's financial problems and emphasis on status make Dinner at Eight particularly relevant today. The production also has the happy fortune of being well directed (by Gerald Gutierrez), appropriately cast, and effectively acted. If the revival has a significant flaw, it's that Gutierrez and his company are too aware of the problems facing the world outside the Vivian Beaumont, and want the audience to see all the same connections too vividly. This tends to place some unnecessary weight on the actors and their performances, removing a certain buoyancy that might make the play more entertaining still. But, as the actors are well suited to their roles, this is a minor complaint. With such performers as Marian Seldes, James Rebhorn, Emily Skinner, John Dossett, and Byron Jennings present, little else matters. You're guaranteed an intricately acted and thoughtful production, whatever other problems may exist. Rebhorn plays Oliver Jordan, an uneasy businessman, whose wife Millicent (Christine Ebersole) is planning a dinner party ostensibly in honor of a couple of British aristocrats. She's actually doing it to be seen as one of the active social elite, so all the best people (or the best alternatives) must be invited. These include eccentric actress Carlotta Vance (Seldes), common-bred social climbers Dan and Kitty Packard (Kevin Conway and Emily Skinner), Rebhorn's physician Doctor Talbot (Dossett) and his wife (Joanne Camp), the fading matinee idol Larry Renault (Byron Jennings), and so on. But Kaufman and Ferber have provided two twists to this story. The first is that the play's dramatic tension is established almost entirely before the party begins. These characters have every reason to stay apart from one another, as nearly everyone is cheating on, lying to, or stealing from someone else. The second comes from the juxtaposition of the servant characters with their employers. The maid and butler (Enid Graham and Simon Jutras) serving the Jordans are enacting their own mini soap opera with the violent limo driver (Mark Lotito), and Kitty's maid Tiny (Charlotte Maier) makes an art of knowing how to keep her eyes open and her mouth shut. This is enough to create an exquisitely layered dish, and make Dinner at Eight a bountiful feast. The physical production itself proves to be solely the icing on this cake. Catherine Zuber's costumes are nice, period yet slightly comical, suggesting both an embracing and a detachment from the era. John Lee Beatty, however, makes an astounding impression with his expansive and intricate designs providing seven exquisitely designed sets displaying locales all over New York. Of the actors, Seldes stands above the rest (as usual), giving the sort of hilarious yet touching performance at which she excels. Rebhorn and Dossett make an art of understatement, while Jennings finds just the right notes to hit to make his stuffy yet frightened character seem heart- breakingly real. Skinner gives one of her most detailed characterizations yet as a would-be society wife, and Samantha Soule shines with a youthful charm as the Jordans' daughter. Christine Ebersole makes the play's most remarkable transformation, coming across as particularly stiff and frigid during the play's earlier scenes, yet raising the rafters when she loses control of her emotions in the last scene of the second act. It's a key scene, one that underscores the vital points at the heart of the show and a question we should all ask ourselves: What in life, is truly the most important? The ending of the play is inconclusive; it's entirely possible that the characters, left to their own devices, would never find the answers for themselves. Yet, taken as an object lesson, there's plenty in Dinner at Eight to ponder, and - taken as theatre - even more to savor, regardless of where your dramatic tastes lie. Dinner at Eight works on a number of levels, most of them intriguing and worthy of further exploration. So, should you find yourself invited to Dinner at Eight , go. If you're not, go anyway. This party is worth crashing.