Geffen Playhouse Presents Kitty Carlisle Hart in Here's to Life - Legendary Actress Creates a Stellar Evening of Timeless, Classic Songs and Endearing Memories

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) April 6, 2005

Geffen Playhouse Producing Director Gilbert Cates proudly announces an exclusive performance by legendary leading lady, Kitty Carlisle Hart in Here's to Life. In her one-woman, cabaret-style show, Hart recalls stories from her illustrious 70-year career, singing famous melodies by some of the world’s greatest musical theater composers such as Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, Rodgers and Hammerstein, and Lerner and Loewe, many of whom were also close, personal friends to the actress. Hart and musical conductor David Lewis bring their show to the Geffen Playhouse at the Brentwood Theatre as part of the Geffen’s celebration of Moss Hart’s centennial birthday. The Geffen Playhouse presents Here's to Life for one night only on Monday, April 18, 2005 at 7:30pm. On April 20, the Geffen premieres the opening night production of Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play You Can't Take it With You, which is being directed by Kitty Carlisle and Moss Hart’s son, Christopher Hart.

“Kitty Carlisle Hart has left an indelible impression on all of us who have loved her work over the years. We are so delighted to welcome her to our Geffen stage,” said Cates. “Here’s to Life is one of those rare moments where an intimate audience has the opportunity to hear personal stories told by one of the most legendary actresses today. What’s more is that amidst these wonderful stories, Hart beautifully belts out some of the most beloved songs in Broadway history. We think it will be an evening our audience will never forget.”

New York Magazine raved that Hart’s show is filled with “delicious anecdotes about…songwriters, whom she has known personally, so that the evening becomes a history of the American musical from the inside out, joyously and artfully exuded from the heart of Hart.” The New York Times said that Hart’s one-woman show “is a seamless weave of popular standards strung with gentle anecdotes about many of the theater artists she knew before, during and after her marriage to the playwright and director Moss Hart.”

The song list for the Geffen Playhouse presentation of Here's to Life includes Gershwin’s “The Man I Love,” Lerner and Loewe’s “I Could Have Danced All Night,” Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Something Wonderful,” Kern’s “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes,” Porter’s “Just One Of Those Things,” among many more.

Kitty Carlisle Hart is an actress and singer with a long record of achievement in the arts and public service. She studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and first appeared on Broadway in Champagne Sec. In Opera, Hart created the role of Lucretia in the American Premiere of Benjamin Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia. Her film credits include A Night at the Opera with the Marx Brothers, and She Loves Me Not and Here Is My Heart, both of which she starred in with Bing Crosby. Her more recent film roles include Radio Days and Six Degrees of Separation. Hart is perhaps most well known for her role as a regular panelist in the long-running television show To Tell The Truth, which she appeared on for 15 years.

Arranger, musical director and pianist David Lewis began his career in New York as the conductor of the original cast of Godspell. He has created nightclub acts and conducted for Patti LuPone, Tovah Feldshuh, Larry Kert, and the Stephen Sondheim evening at Michael’s Pub for Julie Wilson. He has appeared numerous times at the Algonquin Hotel’s famed Oak Room with Andrea Marcovicci, also touring with her throughout the United States and abroad. Lewis has toured internationally with Barbara Cook, Jane Olivor, Lorna Luft, and Andrea McArdle. His music can be heard of the film soundtracks of Fame, Shoot the Moon, Tempest and The Fan, in which he also played the role of Lauren Bacall’s musical director. Lewis has been touring with Kitty Carlisle Hart for the past 10 years.

Tickets for Here's to Life are currently on sale for $49 and can be purchased in person at the Geffen Playhouse box office at the Brentwood Theatre, online at http://www.geffenplayhouse.com, or by phone at (310) 208-5454. The Geffen Playhouse is located at the Brentwood Theatre at 11301 Wilshire Boulevard, building 211 on the campus of the Veterans Administration in Brentwood. Here's to Life will be performed for one night only on Monday, April 18, 2005 at 7:30 p.m. at the Brentwood Theatre.

The Geffen Playhouse production of You Can't Take it With You begins in previews at the Brentwood Theatre on April 12, 2005 and runs through May 22, with an official press opening on Wednesday, April 20, 2005. Directed by Christopher Hart, this classic American comedy focuses on one of the most irrepressible and eclectic families ever created for the stage. The Geffen Playhouse production of You Can't Take it With You stars Tony Abatemarco, Tim Chiou, Tony Award-winner Roy Dotrice, Magda Harout, Alexandra James, Dagney Kerr, Michael Laskin, Michael Loeffelholz, Jeff Marlow, Chris L. McKenna, Brendan O’Donnell, Ethan Phillips, Emmy nominated-actress Christina Pickles, Darryl Alan Reed, Carla Renata, Lisa Richards, Conrad John Schuck and Spencer Wilson.

The Geffen Playhouse is headed by Producing Director Gilbert Cates, Artistic Director Randall Arney and Managing Director Stephen Eich.

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