First Priority Club News - Spring 2016

Spring 2016

Please join a host of Mint artists and friends - on May 23rd at Colony Club, for a joyful spring Celebration of Mint Theater Company.

As you know, Mint’s favorite way of looking forward is by looking back, so the evening will feature some of our favorite actors and authors, with a hint of things to come in the future.

Next at Theatre Row...

A Day by the Sea

M I N T T H E AT E R C O M PA N Y S P R I N G B E N E F I T

May 23, 2016

Colony Club

This year’s event will be at a new venue for us—the stunning Ballroom Suite at the Colony Club (564 Park Ave at 62nd St). Proceeds from the evening will launch our “Fund for the Next Fifty,” an important new initiative to support the Next Fifty Mint productions.

You should have received your invitation by mail. If not, let us know! Individual tickets begin at $600. To purchase tickets, or to contribute to the benefit, please call (212) 315-0231, or visit MintTheater.org.

Spring Raffle Enter our 2016 Spring Raffle for the chance to win one of two great prizes!

Raffle Tickets: $50 Each. Buy 4, Get 1 FREE! A DAY BY THE RIVER: A HUDSON VALLEY GETAWAY • 2 nights of accommodations at a local Cold Spring hotel • 2 tickets to the renowned Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival

by N.C. Hunter

“Can an older man give you a word of advice?

Don’t expect so much. Try to live in the world as it is, and not dream all the time of what it may be in five hundred years, when we’re all of us wiser and kinder and cleverer.”

— Humphrey Caldwell from A Day by the Sea

by N.C. Hunter

• A tour of Boscobel House & Gardens • Dinner at a top-rated local Cold Spring restaurant A DAY BY THE SEA: FIRST REHEARSAL AND OPENING NIGHT • Attend the first rehearsal and read-through of A Day by the Sea (June 28th*) directed by Austin Pendleton • Post-rehearsal cocktails and conversation with Jonathan Bank • A pair of tickets to the Opening Night performance of A Day by the Sea (August 25th at 7pm*) • Attend the Opening Night party at West Bank Cafe *If not available for these dates, this prize can be carried over to our next show.

On May 30th we will announce two winners: the first will be able to choose their prize. If you’re not chosen as one of our two winners, you will automatically be entered into a seperate raffle to win a first edition publication of A Day by the Sea, autographed by the original West End cast, including John Gielgud, Ralph Richardson, and Irene Worth.

TO PURCHASE RAFFLE TICKETS CALL 212.315.0231 OR VISIT WWW.MINTTHEATER.ORG

Next Production

A DAY BY THE SEA

MINT THEATER COMPANY REVISITS PLAYWRIGHT N.C. HUNTER The Beckett Theatre at Theatre Row, 410 West 42nd Street

CASTING NEWS Austin Pendleton returns to the Mint to direct a cast that features Julian Elfer, Katie Firth, Philip Goodwin, Sean Gormley, Polly McKie, Kylie McVey, George Morfogen, Mark Anderson Phillips, Athan Sporek, and Jill Tanner.

Tanner, Morfogen, and Firth also appeared in the Mint’s 2013 production of N.C. Hunter’s A Picture of Autumn.

Coming up next for Mint Theater Company will be the first ever New York revival of A Day by the Sea by N.C. Hunter, directed by Austin Pendleton. This will be the Mint’s first production as a resident theater company at Theatre Row. Performances will begin July 22nd and continue through September 24th. Opening Night is set for August 25th.

A Day by the Sea, set along the English seaside after the Second World War, is a moving and often funny depiction of the “crisis” of middle age. Julian Anson, a oncepromising Foreign Service employee, must face up to his own disappointment and failure. Will Julian resolve to do what is still undone, to re-shape his life and succeed, or will he sink into bitterness and regret?

A Day by the Sea opened on the West End in 1953 and ran for 386 performances in a production that starred Dame Sybil Thorndike, Irene Worth, Sir John Gielgud and Sir Ralph Richardson. In New York, the play opened in 1955 with Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn headlining the cast; Hunter’s only Broadway production.

In reviewing A Day by the Sea, Brooks Atkinson of The New York Times called Hunter “a writer with a lot of charm, skill and taste” and went on to call the play, “a subtle, civilized comedy… humorous, touching, gentle, wistful, and wise.” Atkinson continued to praise the playwright, comparing him to Anton Chekhov: “To call a playwright ‘Chekhovian’ today is to utter opprobrium and to consign him to the doghouse. For ‘Chekhovian’ has become a synonym for preciousness and languor. But the word is not applied to [N.C. Hunter] maliciously…For he is a reflective writer in his own right. The dawdling pace, the improvised narrative, the characterizations of people who associate but never blend, the random remarks—are methods of style that become him.”

Jill Tanner and George Morfogen A Picture of Autumn 2013

Austin Pendleton has a long association with the Mint dating back to before the company turned its attention to reviving lost and neglected plays. In 1995 Mint produced the World Premiere of Pendleton’s play, Uncle Bob, featuring George Morfogen in the title role, which was written for him. George went on to provide Mint audiences with many memorable performances, in The Voysey Inheritance, The Lonely Way, The Madras House, Donogoo, and of course, in N.C. Hunter’s A Picture of Autumn.

At our “Playing Favorites” Benefit in 2013 Mint honored George. Below is an excerpt from a tribute that Austin wrote for that night, describing the first time they met, in 1960 at the Williamstown Theater Festival: I’d never met anybody like George. George’s work seemed to me—well, it didn’t just seem to me, it was, and everybody felt it—charged with mystery and power. But so was George himself. George’s power and mystery were to me a revelation. This was a balm to me. It was a bomb to me. Those two words sound the same, but are spelled differently, and George’s power and mystery were both those things. They soothed me and they exploded the world for me. I was changed. I’m still trying to figure out what the change was. It doesn’t matter, though. I was changed.

Katie Firth A Picture of Autumn 2013

We are thrilled to have George and Austin together for Mint’s production of A Day by the Sea by N.C. Hunter.

Tickets on sale now exclusively to First-Priority Club Members.

Call (212) 315-0231 to reserve your tickets before they go on sale to the general public!

upcoming

enrichMINT events

SATURDAY, AUGUST 13 after the matinee: CHARLES DUFF, AUTHOR OF THE LOST SUMMER: THE HEYDAY OF THE WEST END THEATRE Charles Duff is a British teacher, actor, theatre director, writer and critic. His first professional role was in N.C. Hunter’s The Adventures of Tom Random at Guildford’s Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in 1967. His book, The Lost Summer: The Heyday of the West End Theatre, focuses on the playwrights, plays, and actors of mid-century British theatre, and includes a chapter on N.C. Hunter.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 14 before & after the matinee: A DAY WITH CHARLES DUFF 12:30pm – Brunch and discussion at West Bank Café: Join Charles Duff for a delicious pre-matinee brunch at West Bank Café, where he will provide an introduction to A Day by the Sea and share his own personal memories of working with N.C Hunter on the author’s The Adventures of Tom Random.

2:30pm – Matinee performance of A Day by the Sea at Theatre Row. 5:00pm – Continue the conversation at the Theatre Row Lounge: Join Charles Duff, Jonathan Bank, and select members of the company for a post-show wine and cheese reception in the Theatre Row Lounge.

Brunch, one matinee ticket, and post-show reception: $75 for members of the First-Priority Club.

FURTHER READINGS SERIES Waters of the Moon by N.C. Hunter Featuring an introduction by Charles Duff MONDAY, AUGUST 15th at 7pm FREE for members of our First Priority Club N.C. Hunter’s gently comic Waters of the Moon centers on the lonely inhabitants of a quiet hotel, whose lives are shaken up by the arrival of the outspoken, cosmopolitan Helen Lancaster. Waters of the Moon was Hunter’s biggest hit, opening on the West End in 1951 and continuing to run for 835 performances in a production that starred Wendy Hiller, Sybil Thorndike, and Edith Evans.

For reservations, please call 212.315.0231.

Call 212.315.0231 to reserve your place.

EnrichMINT Events are supported in part by a grant from the Michael Tuch Foundation.

New Theater - New Seating!

Next for the Mint...

A Day by the Sea

by N.C. Hunter Directed by Austin Pendleton

July 22 - September 24, 2016 Tickets go on sale to the general public 5/25 - order now for the best seating!

FPC Hotline: (212) 315-0231 (M-F 10am - 6pm) Address: The Beckett Theatre at Theatre Row 410 West 42nd St. (between 9th and 10th Ave.) Performances: Tues.-Sat. 7:30pm Saturday & Sunday 2:30pm Wednesday Matinees: 8/24, 9/21 Full Price: $57.50 (plus $4.50 service charge)

FPC Price: $38.50 (no fees or charges)

Dear Friends, After several years of real estate uncertainty (and anxiety!), I’m happy to report that things have settled back into a good routine. My focus is back to where it belongs, on finding and reading plays that will surprise and delight you. This edition of the First-Priority Club newsletter will introduce you to our next play, a beautiful work called A Day by the Sea, written by N.C. Hunter, author of A Picture of Autumn which many of you enjoyed in 2013. Performances begin at the end of July, and the box office is now open exclusively for members of the First-Priority Club.

Before we begin rehearsing the new show, our job is to gather our friends and raise some money. This year’s Spring Benefit on May 23rd will be at the beautiful Colony Club. As always, our event will be in character for the Mint, which means that it will be a warm, elegant and entertaining evening featuring good friends, both at your table and on the stage. I sincerely hope that you’ll choose to join us!

FIRST PRIORITY CLUB NEWS Next from the Mint...

Spring Benefit 2016 Monday, May 23rd 6:30pm Colony Club, Upper East Side A Day by the Sea

by N.C. Hunter Directed by Austin Pendleton July 22 - September 24 The Beckett Theatre, Theatre Row 410 W. 42nd Street

Happy spring!

Jonathan

from your friends at Mint Theater

Happy Spring! www.minttheater.org (212) 315-0231 330 West 42nd Street, Suite # 1210 New York, NY 10036