Sella, Arnold, Campbell and Cross Will Lead Private Lives in Chicago; Griffin Directs

By Kenneth Jones
01 Dec 2009

Director Gary Griffin's Chicago Shakespeare Theater production of Noël Coward's Private Lives will feature Tracy Michelle Arnold as Amanda, Tim Campbell as Victor, Chaon Cross as Amanda and Jeff Award nominee Robert Sella as Elyot.

Performances will play CST's Courtyard Theater Jan. 6-March 7, 2010. The designers "will reconfigure Chicago Shakespeare's Courtyard Theater with the addition of main floor seating on the proscenium stage itself, creating a theatre-in-the-round."

Griffin stated, "The decision to do Private Lives came out of the artistic team's discussions about plays that would lend themselves to our theatre specifically and its intimate space. There is nothing presentational about this piece at all. We are all voyeurs to its intimacy. That's what I think Coward was interested in exploring."

The comedy famously puts ex-spouses (Amanda and Elyot) on adjoining hotel balconies as they celebrate their honeymoons with new mates (Victor and Sybil).

The creative team includes scenic designer Neil Patel and lighting designer Robert Wierzel who are designing "an intimate, in-the-round performance space." They are joined by Paul Tazewell, who is designing costumes.

CST associate artistic director Griffin directed CST's Amadeus, featuring Sella as Salieri, and staged Broadway's The Color Purple and The Apple Tree.

The production team includes sound designers Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen; wig and makeup designer Melissa Veal; properties master Chelsea Meyers and fight choreographer Chuck Coly.

For more information and to purchase tickets, call the box office at (312) 595-5600, or visit www.chicagoshakes.com.

*

Chicago Shakespeare Theater won the Tony Award for Regional Theatre.