Noël Coward’s Correspondence by Dreyfuss and Mason

Bay Street Theater is pleased to announce the virtual staged reading of “The Letters of Noël Coward,” directed by Bob Balaban, on Tuesday, August 25, at 8 p.m. at baystreet org. Academy Award and Golden Globe-winning actor Richard Dreyfuss and Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-winning actor Marsha Mason read the correspondence in conversation.

Following the screening, a question-and-answer session will take place via Zoom with Balaban.

[caption id="attachment_102248" align="aligncenter" width="478"] Marsha Mason. Photo courtesy of Bay Street Theater.[/caption]

“The Letters of Noël Coward” features correspondence between English playwright Noël Coward, writer Graham Greene and actor Sir Alec Guinness in the years following their collaboration on the 1959 comedic spy film, “Our Man in Havana,” based on the novel of the same name by Greene. The letters, curated by Balaban, celebrate the wit, bonhomie and jaundiced eyes of three veterans of show business, as they discuss life, art, and everything from Cole Porter to varicose veins.

[caption id="attachment_102246" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Bob Balaban. Courtesy Bay Street Theater.[/caption]

During its release, “Our Man in Havana” broke box office records in New York and London, and with a screenplay written by Graham Greene, and featuring Ernie Kovacs and Burl Ives (in addition to the aforementioned stars) the film has since developed a cult following. Shot on location in Cuba two years after the fall of the Batista regime, during filming the set was visited by Fidel Castro, who complained that the novel did not accurately portray the brutality of the prior regime.

This edition of “The Letters of Noel Coward,” serving as an informal reunion of the stars of the beloved 1977 film, “The Goodbye Girl,” is full of infectious and irresistible enjoyment that Dreyfuss and Mason take in each other, as they caper through these witty epistles. Dreyfuss won the Academy Award and Golden Globe for his role in “The Goodbye Girl” opposite Mason, who was nominated for an Academy Award nomination and won the 1978 Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture for her role in the film. Dreyfuss and Mason both appeared at Bay Street Theater in the 1998 world premiere of “House” by Jon Robin Baitz and Terrence McNally.

[caption id="attachment_102247" align="aligncenter" width="468"] Richard Dreyfuss. Photo courtesy of Bay Street Theater,[/caption]

Academy Award-nominated actor, producer, and director Bob Balaban is known for his work in several films. He directed the 2015 Bay Street production “The New Sincerity,” and recently made a special appearance at Bay Street Theater’s 29th annual virtual Starry Night Gala Telethon.

Ticket purchasers will receive a private link where they can watch “The Letters of Noël Coward,” which will also include a link to the Zoom broadcast for the Q & A. Tickets are available for $30 and can be purchased at baystreet.org.