The Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy, “Harvey,” will be read by Westport Country Playhouse actor alumni and audience favorites Jayne Atkinson, Bill Buell, Brian Carter, Donald Corren, Andrea Maulella, Sarah Peterson and Mark Shanahan, and others to be announced, on Monday, March 22, 7 p.m., at Westport Country Playhouse. Tickets to the one-night-only event are $15. Directed by Anne Keefe, Playhouse artistic advisor, the reading is the second in the Script in Hand Series that brings together professional actors to read works by master playwrights.
The new playreading series is a continuation of the highly successful “Funny Mondays” and “The Classical Series,” produced by the Playhouse from 2005 through 2008.
“Harvey” is the story of the affable Elwood P. Dowd and his presumably imaginary friend Harvey, a six-foot-tall rabbit. When Elwood introduces Harvey to guests at a society party, his society-obsessed sister, Veta, has seen enough of his eccentric behavior. She decides to have Elwood committed to a sanitarium to spare the family from future embarrassment.
"’Harvey’ has always struck me as a funny yet very touching play with a great message," said Ms. Keefe.
Westport Country Playhouse alumni and their respective WCP productions are: Jayne Atkinson, “Our Town” (2002), “Triangles for Two” (2000); Bill Buell, “David Copperfield” (2005), “Don’t Make Me Laugh” (2001), “Nicolette and Aucassin” (2000) and a reading of “Arsenic and Old Lace” (2008); Brian Carter, reading of “Golden Boy” (2008); Donald Corren, “Souvenir” (2007), “The Streets of New York” (2003) and a reading of “Arsenic and Old Lace” (2008); Andrea Maulella, “Tryst” (2008), for which she won the Connecticut Critics Circle Award as Outstanding Actress, readings of “Golden Boy” (2008) and “They Knew What They Wanted” (2008); and Mark Shanahan, “Around the World in 80 Days” (2009), “Tryst” (2008), “Sedition” (2007), “Journey's End” (2005), “David Copperfield” (2005), and readings of “Arsenic and Old Lace” (2008) and “And Then There Were None” (2010).”
Director Anne Keefe co-directed with Joanne Woodward the WCP production of “David Copperfield.” She is a former Westport Country Playhouse artistic director and currently serves as artistic advisor.
Playwright Mary Chase (1906–1981) is an American author of 14 plays, mostly comedies, one of which, “Harvey,” ran on Broadway for four years and earned her the 1945 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The play was adapted into a film starring James Stewart in 1950. There were three television adaptations; the first starred Art Carney in 1958.
The Script in Hand Series is supported, in part, by the White Barn Program of the Lucille Lortel Foundation and the Newman’s Own Foundation.
About the Playhouse
Westport Country Playhouse, a not-for-profit theater, serves as a treasured home for the performing arts and is a cultural landmark for Connecticut. Under the artistic direction of Mark Lamos and management direction of Michael Ross, the Playhouse creates quality productions of new and classic plays that enlighten, enrich and engage a diverse community of theater lovers, artists and students. The Playhouse’s rich history dates back to 1931, when New York theatre producer Lawrence Langner created a Broadway-quality stage within an 1830s tannery. The Playhouse quickly became an established stop on the New England “straw hat circuit” of summer stock theatres. Now celebrating its 80th season, Westport Country Playhouse has produced more than 700 plays, 36 of which later transferred to Broadway, most recently the world premiere of "Thurgood" and a revival of Thornton Wilder's "Our Town" with Paul Newman, and in earlier years "Come Back, Little Sheba" with Shirley Booth, "The Trip to Bountiful" with Lillian Gish, and "Butterflies Are Free" with Keir Dullea and Blythe Danner. For its artistic excellence, the Playhouse received a 2005 Governor's Arts Award and a 2000 "Connecticut Treasure" recognition. It was also designated as an Official Project of Save America's Treasures by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and is entered on the Connecticut State Register of Historic Places. Following a multi-million dollar renovation completed in 2005, the Playhouse transformed into a year-round, state-of-the-art producing theater, which has preserved its original charm and character. In addition to a full season of theatrical productions, the Playhouse serves as a community resource, presenting educational programming and workshops; a children's theater series; symposiums; music; films; and readings.
For more information or ticket purchases, call the box office at (203) 227-4177, or toll-free at 1-888-927-7529, or visit 25 Powers Court, off Route 1, Westport. Tickets may be purchased online at www.westportplayhouse.org.
