THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 23, 1995 TAG: 9503230058
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TERESA ANNAS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
VIRGINIA STAGE Company officials announced earlier this week that the spring production of Noel Coward's ``Blithe Spirit'' will be replaced by A.R. Gurney's ``Love Letters.''
``Love Letters'' is a popular two-person show that typically has a star cast seated at desks reading letters to each other. Virginia Stage had sold-out shows when the company mounted it in March 1993 featuring Charlton Heston and his wife, Lydia.
During the April 25 to May 14 run, three celebrity duos yet to be named will take to the stage at Wells Theater. The poignant and humorous play spans the lives of two childhood friends, would-be lovers Melissa Gardner and Andrew Makepeace Ladd III.
Three fund-raising evenings, one per star cast, are scheduled. On April 28, May 5 and 12, patrons may mingle with the celebrities backstage after the show. Tickets include supper and open bar: $40 per person or $75 per couple.
Charlie Hensley, Virginia Stage's artistic director, said he opted for the switch when performance rights for ``Love Letters'' became available again.
Hensley stressed that it was an artistic decision. In December, however, board president A.W. ``Van'' VanderMeer Jr. said the large-cast ``Blithe Spirit'' might be canceled because of the production's high cost.
With its small cast, spare set and minimal rehearsal time, ``Love Letters'' is a less expensive show.
VSC audiences can still see the classic drawing-room comedy, which was rescheduled for mid-October to open the 1995-1996 season, also announced on Monday.
Next season features five plays, one less than the current season. Hensley said he cut one show because ``it was a little tight for us. Technically, it was very difficult to squeeze in six,'' he said.
To make up the difference, several shows will be mounted in the small, black-box theater on Granby Street now used by the Governor's School for the Arts, he said. No titles or dates have been selected, although Hensley said he had a spring series in mind.
For the main subscription series, the holiday musical will be ``Once on This Island,'' a romantic fable with a Caribbean beat opening in December.
Shakespeare's ``Hamlet,'' the classic tale of murder, intrigue and revenge, opens in February. The March show is ``A Penny for the Guy,'' a new play by Lanie Robertson, whose ``Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill'' opens Friday at the Wells.
``Penny'' was developed at a Rochester, N.Y., theater and will receive its Virginia premiere at the Wells. Set in 1950s London, the show centers on an abandoned boy and the woman who rescues him.
The season ends in April with Ira Levin's ``Deathtrap,'' about a Broadway playwright who arrives at a devilish plot to overcome writer's block.
Subscriptions for the five-play season range from $45 to $125. A three-play subscription (``Blithe,'' ``Penny'' and ``Island'') also will be available for $30 to $75.
For all tickets and subscriptions, call the stage company box office at 627-1234. Or stop by at Monticello Avenue and Tazewell Street in downtown Norfolk. by CNB