Rehearsals begin for Arizona Theatre Company's world premiere production of Jeffrey Hatcher's Ten Chimneys this week in Genesee Depot, Wisconsin at Ten Chimneys, the historical former estate of Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne. Playwright Jeffrey Hatcher, Director David Ira Goldstein, and the entire cast begin rehearsals Friday, December 17, 2010. This unique rehearsal opportunity was made possible by additional rehearsal time provided by the Edgerton Foundation New American Plays Award. Support is also provided by Ten Chimneys Foundation by providing the rehearsal spaces, access to research, staff support and extensive dramaturgical materials. Ten Chimneys rehearsals will return to Arizona at the end of December in preparation for the opening on January 28, 2011 in Tucson and February 19, 2011 in Phoenix.
Love, intrigue, romance and suicide. And that's just in the play they're rehearsing. In the late 1930s, Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, the two most revered stars of the Broadway stage, decide to perform Chekhov's masterpiece The Sea Gull. But first they must retreat to 'investigate' the play at Ten Chimneys, their legendary Wisconsin estate, where they are surrounded by actors, family and hangers-on. When a young actress named Uta Hagen arrives, a romantic triangle begins to mirror the events in Chekhov's play about passion and art. The result is a sweet, sad, funny and revealing look at the private lives of artists who are always on the stage. Ten Chimneys is a world premiere by Jeffrey Hatcher, author of ATC's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Ella and Tuesdays with Morrie.
On May 26, 2003, the Lunts' gorgeously restored estate in the Wisconsin woods opened to the public as a world-class museum and a national resource for theatre and the arts. Exactly one year later, it was formally dedicated as a National Historic Landmark. Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne are widely considered the greatest acting team in the history of American theatre. Summer after summer, the Lunts came to Ten Chimneys to retreat, relax, and rejuvenate. Because the Lunts were so widely loved and respected, "anyone who was anyone" in theatre, arts, and literature wanted to come to Ten Chimneys to be with and work with the Lunts. The estate, almost inevitably, became an important place for artistic creation, discussion, and inspiration. More than just the Lunts' home, Ten Chimneys was a home for the arts-literally and metaphorically.
"Jeffrey's remarkable and delightful new play is a work of imagination, speculation and outright invention about the Lunts and their circle. But it is based on very real people who lived and worked in a very real place, " remarked Ten Chimneys director and ATC Artistic Director David Ira Goldstein, "Sean Malone and his staff at Ten Chimneys have been supportive and generous every step of the way as we developed the play over the past two years. In a very real way, this rare opportunity to rehearse in the rooms where the play takes place could not be more fitting. Jeffrey Hatcher's Ten Chimneys is about the Lunts spending the summer at their estate in Wisconsin 'investigating' Chekhov's play, The Seagull, before facing the quick and sudden rigors of New York rehearsals and opening. In the same way that the Lunts appreciated the need for time and space to "ripen" the work they were tackling, this opportunity will allow the ATC artists the benefit of time for further rehearsal and investigation."
"Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne would have loved what's about to happen this week," said Sean Malone, President of Ten Chimneys Foundation, "and not just because the play Ten Chimneys is funny, and poignant, and powerful, and has fantastic central characters. The excitement of the week goes deeper than that; actors at the top of their craft are retreating to Ten Chimneys to work on a brand new production with a playwright and a director both at the top of their craft. It's exactly what happened at Ten Chimneys in the Lunts' day (with playwrights like Noël Coward and George Kaufman, actors like Laurence Olivier and Helen Hayes, and the Lunts doing all of the directing.) Both then and now, the great power of Ten Chimneys is its ability to inspire great art and great artists. I can't wait to see what unfolds. I'm thrilled to welcome home Lunt-Fontanne Fellows Suzanne Bouchard and Naomi Jacobson. And I'm proud to be associated with Jeffrey Hatcher, David Ira Goldstein, Arizona Theatre Company, and the new play, Ten Chimneys."
