Tony nominee Charles Busch and his dramatic partner in crime, Julie Halston, will return to Sag Harbor's Bay Street Theatre this summer in a revival of Shanghai Moon, running June 3-29, 2008. Bay Street previously staged Busch's The Lady in Question under the direction of Christopher Ashley with Halston and Busch heading the cast. Shanghai Moon follows the American-born wife of an aged British diplomat who travels to Shanghai with her husband. She begins a fatal love affair with the mysterious General Gong Fei. Busch's play is based on such movie and stage melodramas as "The Bitter Tea of General Yen," "The Letter," The Green Hat, "The Cheat" and "Shanghai Express." Shanghai Moon premiered Off-Broadway in 1999 at Theater for the New City.
Set to follow is a production of Noël Coward's Private Lives starring "30 Rock" star Alec Baldwin and three-time Tony nominee Kate Burton. Tony Award-winning director Jack Hofsiss (The Elephant Man) will stage the popular Coward work about two remarried divorcees who accidentally book adjoining hotel rooms on their individual honeymoons.
Private Lives, considered to be one of the best examples of Coward's cunning use of language, has been produced on Broadway seven times since debuting in 1931. The Bay Street production will run July 8-27.
Bay Street will conclude its summer offerings with the Fats Waller musical Ain't Misbehavin' from Aug. 5-31. Simeon's Gift director and choreographer Marcia Milgrom Dodge will stage the Bay Street production. Casting will be announced at a later date.
Tickets and subscriptions can be purchased online at www.baystreet.org or by calling (631) 725-9500.