COWARD, Noël.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Private Lives Playbill. A copy of Playbill produced for the Lunt Fontanne Theatre's premiere of Coward's Private Lives, inscribed by Richard Burton, "To Ann Blair, you have a fine son. Congratulations", and signed by Elizabeth Taylor, "love."The irony of this casting was not lost on the twice-divorced duo. In fact, the idea was suggested when Noel Coward was working with Burton and Taylor on a Tennessee Williams adaptation in 1968 called Boom! during their first marriage. Taylor recollects in the playbill's introduction, "I don't know whose idea it was this time - I think it was mine, actually - but the whole notion of Richard and me doing that play goes back to Noel. He thought it'd be perfect for us." Coward's play was first performed in 1930. This star-studded revival was directed by Milton Katselas, had a pre-Broadway run at the Shubert Theatre in Boston, then premiered at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on 8 May 1983. It ran for a total of 63 performances. From the library of Clive Hirschhorn (b. 1940), the film and theatre critic for the Sunday Express for over three decades, with his pencil ownership inscription on the front free endpapers.

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