Donald Carrier: (Alfred Lunt) previously appeared at Cleveland Play House in Ten Chimneys (2012), Noises Off (2008), and Lincolnesque (2007). Regional credits include The Old Globe, Much Ado About Nothing, King Lear, and The Tempest; Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival, Twelfth Night; Great Lakes Theater, A Christmas Carol; Studio Theatre, Shining City; Maltz Jupiter Theatre, Noises Off; The Shakespeare Theatre, The Duchess of Malfi; Wilma Theater, Arcadia; Huntington and Intiman Theatres, Gross Indecency; TheatreWorks, Shakespeare in Hollywood; and Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, The School for Scandal. He spent nine seasons at Stratford Festival appearing in As You Like It, The Importance of Being Earnest, Measure for Measure and Coriolanus among many others. Directing credits include Two Gentlemen of Verona, Twelfth Night, Habeas Corpus, and The Love Stories. Television/film includes Guns, The Time Traveler’s Wife, The Passion of Ayn Rand, and Dead by Monday. Carrier wrote the musical Evangeline with Anaya Farrell. He is associate director of the Case Western Reserve University/CPH MFA Acting Program. less previously appeared at Cleveland Play House in Ten Chimneys (2012), Noises Off (2008), and Lincolnesque (2007). Regional credits include The Old Globe, Much Ado About Nothing, King Lear, and The Tempest; Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival, Twelfth Night; Great Lakes Theater, A Christmas Carol; Studio Theatre, Shining City; Maltz Jupiter Theatre,... more

Gail Rastorfer: (Louise Greene) just appeared at Cleveland Play House as Louise Greene in Ten Chimneys. Her many Chicago area credits include The Gamester, Northlight Theatre; Murder by the Book, Drury Lane EP; Romeo and Juliet, Griffin Theatre; Shear Madness, The Chicago Theatre; Short Shakespeare! Comedy of Errors, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre; Twelfth Night, First Folio Theatre; The Rose Tattoo, Goodman Theatre; and As Bees in Honey Drown (understudy) at Northlight. Recently she portrayed Elder Kate and Helen in Marisa Wegrzn’s premiere of Hickorydickory at Chicago Dramatists. Regional appearances include Indiana Repertory Theatre, Madison Rep, Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre, Hope Summer Rep and the Hangar Theatre. She is a proud participant in free to the public staged readings with The Shakespeare Project of Chicago. Television includes Chicago Code, Boss and a wide range of commercial work. Rastorfer is a member of Actors’ Equity Association, Screen Actors Guild, and is on the Chicago Board of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA).  less just appeared at Cleveland Play House as Louise Greene in Ten Chimneys. Her many Chicago area credits include The Gamester, Northlight Theatre; Murder by the Book, Drury Lane EP; Romeo and Juliet, Griffin Theatre; Shear Madness, The Chicago Theatre; Short Shakespeare! Comedy of Errors, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre; Twelfth Night, First Folio Theatre; The Rose Tattoo, Goodman Theatre;... more

Jeremy Kendall: (Carl Sederholm) was at Cleveland Play House first thing this season playing the role of A Little Monk in The Life of Galileo, the inaugural production at the newly revamped Allen Theatre. Kendall recently played the role of Denny in A Steady Rain at Dobama Theatre. Before moving to Cleveland he originated the role of Tricky Pete/Matthias Paine in Christopher Cartmill’s Home Land for Nebraska’s Lied Center for Performing Arts. Other credits include Resident Alien and Bus Stop for Nebraska Repertory Theatre, Hamlet and Much Ado About Nothing for Flatwater Shakespeare. less was at Cleveland Play House first thing this season playing the role of A Little Monk in The Life of Galileo, the inaugural production at the newly revamped Allen Theatre. Kendall recently played the role of Denny in A Steady Rain at Dobama Theatre. Before moving to Cleveland he originated the... more

Jordan Baker: (Lynn Fontanne) created the role of C in Edward Albee’s 1994 Pulitzer Prize-winning play Three Tall Women and received a Theatre World Award for her Broadway debut in Tennessee Williams’s Suddenly, Last Summer. She recently appeared off-Broadway in Night Sky; Milk; and with her husband Kevin Kilner in Is Life Worth Living? Regional credits include Folger Shakespeare Theatre, Othello opposite Avery Brooks and Andre Braugher; Philadelphia Drama Guild; The Pasadena Playhouse; The Laguna Playhouse; and The Old Globe. Film includes Another Earth, winner of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival’s Alfred P. Sloan Award; Childless with Diane Venora, Barbara Hershey and Joe Mantegna; The Out of Towners with Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn; and City Hall with Al Pacino and John Cusack. Television includes Blue Bloods; The Onion; I Just Want My Pants Back; Frasier; The Practice; Buffy the Vampire Slayer; The New Adventures of Old Christine; Picket Fences; Brothers and Sisters; Cold Case; and Medium. less created the role of C in Edward Albee’s 1994 Pulitzer Prize-winning play Three Tall Women and received a Theatre World Award for her Broadway debut in Tennessee Williams’s Suddenly, Last Summer. She recently appeared off-Broadway in Night Sky; Milk; and with her husband Kevin Kilner in Is Life Worth Living?... more

Kelli Ruttle: (Uta Hagen) Kelli was recently seen in an acclaimed performance as Uta Hagen in Ten Chimneys at Cleveland Play House.  Also at CPH, she appeared in The Life of Galileo and in Bill W. and Dr. Bob as a performing understudy.  Other Cleveland credits include Silent Sky and Eyes Forward (CPH FusionFest), Grizzly Mama (Dobama Theatre, VO), and the CWRU/CPH MFA Acting Program productions of The Winter’s Tale, Present Laughter, An Orchard and Cloud 9. Regional theatre credits include Tartuffe, directed by Tony Award winner Des McAnuff, and the premiere workshop of Guitar, La Jolla Playhouse; Hamlet, Idaho Shakespeare Festival; Stories of the Night Told Over, Hayworth Theatre; As You Like It, La Jolla Stage Company; The Ladies of the Camellias, The Clearing and The Kid from Stratford, Carlsbad Playhouse; and Hay Fever, Onstage Playhouse.  She came to the program from Los Angeles where she worked in TV/film, commercials, as well as theatre.  Besides her Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from San Diego State University, she is a British American Drama Academy alumna and Chloe Oldenberg scholarship recipient. less Kelli was recently seen in an acclaimed performance as Uta Hagen in Ten Chimneys at Cleveland Play House.  Also at CPH, she appeared in The Life of Galileo and in Bill W. and Dr. Bob as a performing understudy.  Other Cleveland credits include Silent Sky and Eyes Forward (CPH FusionFest),... more

http://www.kelliruttle.com

Mariette Hartley: (Hattie Sederholm) performed in Cabaret on Broadway; Ancestral Voices, Lincoln Center; Sylvia, Manhattan Theatre Company; Enchanted April, Pasadena Playhouse; Measure for Measure and King John, Joseph Papp Public Theatre; and national tours of Copenhagen (Helen Hayes Award and League of American Theatres and Producers National Touring Broadway Award), The Sisters Rosenzweig, and Death Trap. Regional credits include Williamstown Festival, The Old Globe, Ahmanson Theatre, La Mirada, Mrs. Warren’s Profession (director Michael Bloom), The King & I, and Mame. The Emmy award-winning actress’s films include Marnie and Ride the High Country. She has played recurring roles on Law and Order: SVU and Dirt. Over 300 television appearances include Grey’s Anatomy, Big Love, The Cleaner, Star Trek, M*A*S*H, and The Incredible Hulk. A three-time Clio Award-winner for her Polaroid commercials with James Garner and recipient of a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, she hosted the CBS Morning Program, nine seasons of Healthy Solutions and is currently hosting her tenth season of Wild About Animals. Her best-selling autobiography Breaking the Silence was recently reissued in paperback. less performed in Cabaret on Broadway; Ancestral Voices, Lincoln Center; Sylvia, Manhattan Theatre Company; Enchanted April, Pasadena Playhouse; Measure for Measure and King John, Joseph Papp Public Theatre; and national tours of Copenhagen (Helen Hayes Award and League of American Theatres and Producers National Touring Broadway Award), The Sisters Rosenzweig, and... more

Michael McCarty: (Sydney Greenstreet) appeared on Broadway in Mary Poppins, To Be or Not to Be, Oklahoma! (2002 revival), 42nd Street (2001 revival), Amadeus, King of Hearts, Teddy & Alice, Sweeney Todd (1989 revival), Big River, Oliver! (1984 revival), and Dirty Linen. He just completed a year with the national tour of Mary Poppins. Numerous regional theatre appearances include Guthrie Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, McCarter Theatre Center, Hartford Stage, and Geffen Playhouse. McCarty was a member of Sir Peter Hall’s Shakespeare Repertory Company at Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles and spent a year as J.P. Morgan in the L.A. run of Ragtime. He has been seen or heard in over 100 commercials, over 50 television series including recurring as Father Clarence on All My Children, and several films including Legend of Bagger Vance, directed by Robert Redford. McCarty was also professor of theatre arts, University of Louisville. less appeared on Broadway in Mary Poppins, To Be or Not to Be, Oklahoma! (2002 revival), 42nd Street (2001 revival), Amadeus, King of Hearts, Teddy & Alice, Sweeney Todd (1989 revival), Big River, Oliver! (1984 revival), and Dirty Linen. He just completed a year with the national tour of Mary Poppins.... more

Ten Chimneys: Playbill: Click here for a digial version of the playbill for Ten Chimneys

Experience Summer Fun in January with Ten Chimneys: When you direct a show there are usually a few highlights you can point to. I’m having trouble with Ten Chimneys—the production has so many amazing features. Let me tell you about the theatre itself—the brand new Second Stage in the Allen Theatre Complex. ‘Wow’ is what everyone who walks into it says. We’ve loaded in the set, which represents parts of the summer estate of Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, and it feels like you’re right there in Genesee Depot, Wisconsin. The audience surrounds the ‘stone’ floor, and rustic set pieces surround the audience. As if to celebrate the first act’s outdoor setting, a small bird flew around the room.   What a space! Not only are we able to configure the space to the play, there are only seven rows of seats. Even after sitting in our beautiful proscenium mainstage, the experience of watching a play in the Second Stage will be startlingly different. You can hear the actors breathe and watch them sweat. I’m hard pressed to think of another regional theatre—in Washington, D.C., Boston, Chicago, Seattle—with two better venues. And there are so many more ways the space can be used with a fully trapped floor and a fly system. It’s a theatre artist’s dream.   Jeffrey Hatcher’s play is a delicious confection of Coward and Chekhov—funny, illuminating, and deeply human. It’s so rare to work on a new play that has such grace and wit. It’s like discovering a lost work by Mr. Coward himself.   Then there’s the stellar cast from all around the country led by Don Carrier (Alfred Lunt), Jordan Baker (Lynn Fontanne), and Mariette Hartley (countless movies and television shows and a sterling theatre career). Two wonderful local actors, Jeremy Kendall (Alfred’s brother Carl) and our third year MFA student Kelli Ruttle (Uta Hagen). Michael McCarty in a brilliant impersonation of Sydney Greenstreet and Chicago’s Gail Rastorfer as Alfred’s sad half-sister.   Ten Chimneys is the best way to experience summer fun in Cleveland in January.    less When you direct a show there are usually a few highlights you can point to. I’m having trouble with Ten Chimneys—the production has so many amazing features. Let me tell you about the theatre itself—the brand new Second Stage in the Allen Theatre Complex. ‘Wow’ is what everyone who walks into... more

The Lunts on The Dick Cavett Show (1970) : Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne were universally regarded as the greatest acting team in the history of the English speaking theatre (on stage from 1920s through 1950s). On February 19, 1970, to honor playwright Noel Coward on the occasion of his being knighted, Dick Cavett interviewed not only "The Master" himself, but also his close friends, Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne. Click here to watch the interview! less Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne were universally regarded as the greatest acting team in the history of the English speaking theatre (on stage from 1920s through 1950s). On February 19, 1970, to honor playwright Noel Coward on the occasion of his being knighted, Dick Cavett interviewed... more

An Interview with Michael Bloom, Director of Ten Chimneys: Beau Buccilli interviews Cleveland Play House’s Artistic Director and director of Ten Chimneys, Michael Bloom, about his thoughts on the play, the Lunts, and their home.   Ten Chimneys- The Play and the Place   Beau Buccilli:  Why Ten Chimneys?  What first drew you to the play?  What made you want to do it? Michael Bloom:  First, I thought it would be fun to open a new theater with a backstage comedy.  The play is a tribute to the most famous theatrical couple in American history, the Lunts.  But you don’t have to know the Lunts to enjoy the play.  It’s a wonderful romantic comedy about a couple who is already married.  I thought it would appeal to theatre lovers, people who knew the Lunts, and people who wanted to have a fun theatrical evening. And I think that Cleveland audiences like to laugh in January.  To have a summer experience in January is pretty unusual in Cleveland unless you’re a snowbird.    BB:  Before the play, how familiar were you with the Lunts and their work? MB:  I was very familiar with them.  I had seen the Lunts’ movie The Guardsman which was the only movie they did together.  I actually directed a stage version of The Guardsman with Christopher Reeve at Williamstown years ago.  So I knew about the Lunts, but I didn’t know they had a summer home in Wisconsin named Ten Chimneys, so it’s been a fantastic experience to research it.  I visited there last week, and it is a truly transforming place.  It’s in part a gentleman’s farm. Lunt, who was a chef with a diploma from the Cordon Bleu school, raised all sorts of plants and vegetables, milked cows, and tended the farm when they were at Ten Chimneys.  And starting in 1925, the Lunts had it written into their contracts that they would never work in the summer so they could come back to Ten Chimneys.  BB:  How did going to Ten Chimneys affect your understanding of the play? MB:  Tremendously.  I now completely understand why Jeffrey Hatcher wrote a Chekhovian comedy.  The only thing it lacks is a lake to be a truly Chekhovian setting.  But the great thing about the play is that you don’t need to know any Chekhov.    BB:  Would you say that Ten Chimneys is a theatrical landmark for America? MB:  Oh it is.  It’s actually a national historic landmark.  I’m not sure there’s another stage actor’s home that is honored nationally.  It gave me a sense of how devoted the Lunts were to the theatre because the whole house is like a series of stage sets; the rooms are painted with murals.  They made their house a work of art. First of all, it’s so quaint and whimsical.  It has such a great sense of humor.  A tiny sitting room called the “Flirtation Room” has six doors in it, and it evokes a French farce.  Some of it’s ornate; some of it’s very subtle.  Something else I enjoyed was that you can really tell the Lunts were fantastic hosts.  When you came to see them, it was for a long stay, it wasn’t for a weekend.  And that’s why their friends loved coming to Ten Chimneys.  Their generosity of spirit comes through in the home.   BB:  There are three separate buildings, right?  There’s the main house, the studio, and the hen house or the chicken coop. MB:  Yes, that’s right.  The play takes place in the studio in the second act, and in the first act outside of the studio near the pool.  They unceremoniously kicked out Alfred’s mother from the main house into what was originally the chicken coop, which they renamed the “Hen House” when they put her in there. She was never that happy about it.  But the Lunts really made the main house an artistic refuge. It was a place for them to recharge their batteries and think about future projects.    BB:  What about the other famous actors in the play like Uta Hagen and Sydney Greenstreet?  How familiar were you with them before this play? MB:  Pretty familiar.  What I didn’t know is that they were in the Lunts’ company.  It’s been fun to research the play because you’re dealing with all of this American theatrical history.   BB:  Since these are real people, do you feel obligated to try to portray them as realistically as possible? MB:  No.  Not at all.  Much of what Hatcher has written is fiction, although it has the spirit of the real people in it.  I don’t feel the necessity of imitating the people and the setting.  We’re after the essence of the place and the people.   On this Production:   BB:  What is your personal take on the show?  How will your production be different from others? MB:  First of all, it’s going to be staged in the round.  We want to create an environment in this new theater that makes people viscerally feel what it’s like to be at this very inspiring, evocative summer place where the Lunts would bring very famous theatre people like Olivier and Coward and Helen Hayes.  Then I think it’s got to have a real comic sophistication because it’s in the vein of both Chekhov and Coward.   BB:  So it merges everything they would have done in their careers? MB:  It does.  It’s a pastiche of a typical Lunt comedy, a Coward comedy, and a Chekhovian comedy.   BB:  You said Chekhov isn’t going to be prominently featured in your production.  You don’t need to know anything about Chekhov to enjoy it. MB:  No.   BB:  Then, how significant is it that it mirrors The Sea Gull? MB:  It’s only significant to people who know The Sea Gull.  But certainly, you can appreciate the play completely without knowing The Sea Gull.  It’s just another layer.  The play is also very much about balance --finding a balance in one’s life.  In The Sea Gull, you have a famous actress returning to her summer home and dealing with her lover and the servants, and in Ten Chimneys, a famous theatrical couple returns to their home each summer to revive themselves, work on plays, and deal with Alfred’s family.    BB:  There are many different acting styles represented in the play.  There’s the pre-Lunt Delsarte system with exaggerated gestures, then the Lunts moved into a more realistic style, and then Uta Hagen went on to develop her own style.  Will these be seen in your interpretation of the play? MB:  I think you need to have a uniform style.  What’s fun is one of the scenes is actually a debate about acting style between Uta and Alfred.  That’s a very cleverly written scene that I think will be fun even if you don’t know much about either of their approaches to acting.   BB:  A lot of this play is a celebration of the theatre, and there’s also a lot about the concept of home.  How much does this relate to CPH’s move to a new home downtown? MB:  Well, I think it does.  As I said, it’s fabulous to open a new theater with a play about the theatre.  And it is our new home. You’re right, the play is very much about home and the way that actors try to balance the life in the theatre and their personal lives.  It is certainly a tribute to theatre people, but it’s also a very humorous portrayal of the foibles of an acting family. BB:  Great.  Thank you very much. less Beau Buccilli interviews Cleveland Play House’s Artistic Director and director of Ten Chimneys, Michael Bloom, about his thoughts on the play, the Lunts, and their home.   Ten Chimneys- The Play and the Place   Beau Buccilli:  Why Ten Chimneys?  What first drew you to the play? ... more

Play Guide - Ten Chimneys: Click on the related files link below to view the Play Guide! Jeffrey Hatcher's hilarious and insightful new comedy is, as Artistic Director--and the show's director--Michael Bloom has said, "A valentine to the theatre." Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne were the king and queen of the golden age of Broadway, and Ten Chimneys lets us peek into the fine art of balancing art and life.   This Play Guide will give you some insight on these two legends, as well as their beautiful Wisconsin summer home (Ten Chimneys--from which the play takes its name), and members of their company, Uta Hagen and Sydney Greenstreet, who were both stars in their own right.   We're also very pleased to feature one of our 3rd year Case Western Reserve University/CPH Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Acting students, Kelli Ruttle, in this production. Kelli plays the young Uta Hagen, and tells us about her own journey to the stage.   And since the play takes a look at a life IN the theatre, we thought we'd take a look at the life OF the American theatre, to see how it's changed through time, and how the characters in Ten Chimneys were a part of it.   It may be cold in Cleveland, but it's a wild summer in the wilds of Wisconsin in Ten Chimneys. Enjoy! Click on the related files link below to view the Play Guide! less Click on the related files link below to view the Play Guide! Jeffrey Hatcher's hilarious and insightful new comedy is, as Artistic Director--and the show's director--Michael Bloom has said, "A valentine to the theatre." Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne were the king and queen of... more