Present Laughter
Broadway Show Tickets: Show Closed No Longer Available
Present Laughter on Broadway: Show Is Now Closed
Present Laughter Summary
- Show Status: Closed
- Genre: Play - Revival
- Present Laughter is 2.5 Hours long, including an intermission of 15 Minutes
- 8 Shows per week
- Previews Began: March 10, 2017
- Show Opened : April 5, 2017
- Show Closed: July 2, 2017
The director of the 2017 revival of Present Laughter, Moritz von Stuelpnagel (Hand to God), called this, Noël Coward’s most personal play. It is the story of Gary Essendine, an actor who is having a midlife crisis as he prepares to go on a tour in Africa. The play demonstrates how without the glamour of celebrity, we are left with nothing but ourselves. This portrayal is particularly striking with the tragic character of the comedian who is experiencing anguish while remaining comedic.
What's Present Laughter Like?
This sexual farce is a critique of celebrity, which is especially a propos for this day and age. Interestingly, many of the relationships on which the female characters in the play’s love affairs, were based on real-life homosexual affairs, but needed to be made heterosexual for the stage. It is also based on Coward’s firsthand experiences of touring with the British army as an actor and singer during the war, when he traveled to not only Africa, but Europe, Asia and America. Moritz von Stuelpnagel's direction of the comedy Hand to God, brought the show to greatness, traveling from Off-Off-Broadway to earning the Tony Award nomination for Best New Play.
Is Present Laughter Good for Kids?
The show is most appropriate for children over the age of 10. Children under the age of 4 are not permitted in the theatre.
Present Laughter on Broadway Background
Noël Coward wrote this role for himself, but the producer of Present Laughter, Jujamcyn Theatre President Jordan Roth, said that if he didn’t know that, he’d think the part was written for Kevin Kline. Indeed, Kevin Kline plays this lead part in the present revival of Present Laughter, which marks its sixth Broadway production.
The play was written in 1939 and first produced in 1942, with Coward in the lead role. Since then, other great actors have played the part including Ian McKellen, Simon Callow, Peter O’Toole, Albert Finney, Victor Garber and Frank Langella. This revival plays at the St. James Theatre, previously home to Something Rotten!, and which will be the future home of the musical revival of Frozen after a major renovation to the theatre. Kevin Kline is also one of the greatest actors working today. His skills in swashbuckling physical comedy are put to good use in Present Laughter, just as they were in the 1981 production of Pirates of Penzance and the 1978 production of On the Twentieth Century, both of which earned him Tony Awards. He also won an Academy Award for Best Actor for A Fish Called Wanda. With Kline as Essendine, this revival of Present Laughter is an unmissable treat.
Theatre Information
St. James Theatre
246 West 44th Street
New York, NY 10019
New York, NY 10019
Seats:
1,710
Entrance:
44th Street, between 7th and 8th Ave
Theatre
Information
Present Laughter Marquee
Gallery
Cast Members
- Gary Essendine
- Kevin Kline
- Monica Reed
- Kristine Nielsen
- Miss Erikson
- Ellen Harvey
- Roland Maule
- Bhavesh Patel
- Joanna Lyppiatt
- Cobie Smulders
- Henry Lyppiatt
- Peter Francis James
- Liz Essendine
- Kate Burton
- Lady Saltburn
- Sandra Shipley
- Daphne Stillington
- Tedra Millan
- Fred
- Matt Bittner
- Morris Dixon
- Reg Rogers
Producers
Jordan Roth Productions
Spencer Ross
A.C. Orange International
Production Credits
- Direction
- Moritz von Stuelpnagel
- Set Design
- David Zinn
- Costume Design
- Susan Hilferty
- Lighting Design
- Justin Townsend
- Sound
- Fitz Patton
- Book
- Noël Coward
- Production Stage Manager
- James Fitzsimmons
Creative Team
- General Manager
- Bespoke Theatricals LLC
- Casting Director
- Telsey + Company
- Company Director
- Thom Clay at Bespoke Theatricals LLC
- Technical Supervisor
- Juniper Street Productions
- Advertising Representative
- Serino Coyne
- Press Agent
- DKC O&M