Season Select: Ring Round the Moon

RING ROUND THE MOON

By Jean Anouilh
Adapted by Christopher Fry
Directed by Laura Gordon

Fast Facts

Playing: Hill Theatre | June 8 – September 20
Featuring: La Shawn Banks, Nate Burger, David Daniel, Phoebe González, Colleen Madden, Sam Luis Massaro, Elizabeth Reese, Laura Rook and Triney Sandoval
Genre: Comedy of Manners, Satire
Last Seen at APT: 2001
Go If You Liked: The Liar (2023), The Rivals (2022), A Phoenix Too Frequent (2021)

About Ring Round the Moon

Get away to a fool’s paradise, where wit and money swirl like confetti to the beat of a big band. In this verdant garden estate, plans are set in motion to increasingly ridiculous results. Ignited by a mélange of egos, libidos and rivalries, and the staff that watches on in wry wonder at their foolishness. Lavish, musical and ever-so-clever, there are few companies in the country that handle this kind of high comedy with the elegance of APT. Come see them in all their charmed and charming glory.

If there ever was a perfect show to pop the champagne and toast our 45^th season, it would be Ring Round the Moon. Last seen up the Hill in 2001, we couldn’t be more thrilled for this elegant comedy to make its return to APT.

Adapted from French playwright Jean Anouilh’s 1947 Invitation to the Castle (fine… L'Invitation au Château), Christopher Fry’s 1950 play follows the same plot tightly: a menagerie of affluent partygoers experience an evening of reunions, surprises and, of course, some well-planned mischief to complete a memorable night. But look past the lavishness of the party and the Dior-inspired ballgowns and you’ll find a much more universal parable about identity and the disguises we wear around those who think they know us best. It’s a French satire dressed in silks and top hats, and pairs perfectly with an evening of laughter under the brilliant summer sky.

And a final fun fact for those who tend to fall down theatrical rabbit holes. The translation from the play’s original French to English in 1950 is not the final time the story served as source material on other projects. French composer Francis Poulenc composed an entire chamber suite to accompany the 1947 premiere and serve as incidental music for the stage. After its Broadway premiere in 1950, Ring Round the Moon attracted a young Stephen Sondheim. He and director Harold Prince pitched it for a full-scale musical adaptation in 1957. Sources vary on why the project didn’t work out, but what many musical historians believe is that the concept of aristocratic summer dramas later morphed itself into a different Sondheim/Prince production, A Little Night Music in 1973. Considered to be one of Sondheim’s lost projects, no demo recordings of Ring Round the Moon have been found.

Artistic Director Brenda DeVita Says

“This is a play we staged in 2001. And we don’t repeat many plays, Shakespeare notwithstanding. But we were looking for a fun, smart comedy that also has something relevant to say, on top of being charming and witty and just an all-around good time. And it seemed like the right time to bring back Ring Round the Moon, as it was such a romp last time we did it. And we have a dream team working on this one. Laura Gordon is directing, and she is such a genius with high comedies like An Ideal Husband and The Royal Family, both of which she directed at APT. And she wants it to feel like a big party. And there is a big party in the play, so that works out - music and dancing and the costumes will be just exquisite - Fabio Toblini is back with us designing the costumes, and if you remember Fabio’s work you know it’s always a feast for the eyes. And, of course there’s our company, who is extraordinarily adept at high comedy - the combination of language and hijinks. So you’ll see Nate Burger, Phoebe González, Colleen Madden, Laura Rook, David Daniel, La Shawn Banks and Triney Sandoval. And you know they’re just going to make the meal of every beat and every syllable. It’s going to be just a glorious confection. I can hardly wait.”