High Society
Book by Arthur Kopit, music and lyrics by Cole Porter
Town & Gown Players, 2003-4 Mainstage season
Amy W. directs this perfectly delightful musical comedy, with choreography by Scott. The publicity coordinator is creating a scrapbook of cast photos on the T&G site (click the link above). I did the set design and worked on building it with the cast and crew. As we go along, I'll put up some images of the set under construction.
High Society goes up on March 26 for a two-weekend run. On the day this show closes, April 4, Town & Gown will have a big party (next door at the Taylor-Grady House) to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the first performance the company gave. I'll look for a chance to take some photos there.
Joke's on me: As we prepared for the golden anniversary, the planning committee engineered the 2003-4 season. Every Mainstage legitimate show represents one of "our" decades, but we don't revive any title we ever did before. Well, frankly, one of the secret reasons was to avoid the temptation to put up the tired Philadelphia Story, which was our very first production and also marked our 25th and 40th anniversaries. The play reading committee sifted through a long list of musicals and settled on this one as the best for our audience and talent and the one that best suited our house style. But High Society is a musical adaptation of what mid-20th-century American classic? Right you are, The Philadelphia Story. Good one, play reading committee. (There is nothing tired about this property, though; even Virginia Weidler fans will find it fresh and diverting.)
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High Society