Archive

Identifier: DON'TDRESS2012

Inclusive Dates: 2012

Production Files documenting the 2012 production of Marc Camoletti's Don't Dress for Dinner, adapted by Robin Hawdon, at the American Airlines Theatre.  Directed by John Tillinger, with set design by John Lee Beatty, costume design by William Ivey Long, lighting design by Ken Billington, sound design by David Van Tiegham, and hair and wig design by Paul Huntley.

The production starred Ben Daniels as Robert, Adam James as Bernard, Patricia Kalember as Jacqueline, and Jennifer Tilly as Suzanne; with Spencer Kayden as Suzette and David Aron Damane as George.  Tom Galantich, Frances Mercanti-Anthony and James Andrew O'Connor acted as understudies.

2012 Awards and Nominations:
Tony Award, Best Performance by an Actress with a Featured Role in a Play, Spencer Kayden (nominee)
Tony Award, Best Costume Design of a Play, William Ivey Long (nominee)

Set in a renovated French farmhouse about two hours outside Paris, Bernard plans to send his wife Jacqueline away for a weekend visit to her mother's house so he can entertain his Parisian mistress Suzanne; he has hired a cook named Suzette for the occasion and invited his best friend Robert to round out the party.  Little does he know that Jacqueline is having an affair with Robert, and opts to stay home instead; Bernard panics, tells Robert of his affair with Suzanne and asks Robert to introduce "Suzy" as his girlfriend when she arrives.  Left on his own in the house, Robert mistakes the cook Suzette (who arrives first) as his "girlfriend" Suzy, and when the real "Suzy" (Suzanne) arrives she is plopped into the role of cook--couples are hilariously mismatched and rematched in the romantic farce that follows.

The play was initially produced in Paris in 1987 titled Pyjamas Pour Six, written in the original language of its French playwright Marc Camoletti. After a rewrite by Robin Hawdon, the adaptation opened in 1991 at the Apollo Theatre in London’s West End and ran for 6 years, during which time it transferred to the Duchess Theatre. The original cast included Simon Cadwell, Su Pollard, Jane How, and John Quayle. It has since been produced throughout the world including a run at the Papermill Playhouse before its Roundabout Broadway staging in 2012.

Production Files are contained in one deep Hollinger box consisting of 19 folders and one Playbill.

Digital holdings on the Archive 1 server include the following folders:
Company Manager Documents (11 folders including Box Office Statements, Budgets, Contacts and Lists, Housing and Travel, Ticketing, etc)
Costume Design (21 Archive-created jpeg scans)
Costume Photographs (Archive produced jpegs of costumes held in the collection)
Education (Pdf files of the Upstage study guide and the lecture)
Marketing Audience Services (Pdfs of on-sale calendar and memo)
Media (B-roll video footage, mp3 and mp4 files of radio and tv spots, opening night video, etc)
Opening Night (139 jpeg photos)
Playbill (21 jpeg scans)
Press (Archive-scanned selects)
Production Photographs (482 unedited jpegs, and captioned selects)
Prop Images (Archive-produced photos of props held in the collection, plus rehearsal room and backstage photos contributed by Bobby Dowling)
Show Art
Stage Management (One pdf file titled "SM Archive")

There doesn't appear to be a related collection of marketing materials for this production.  Contracts and other confidential documents are stored in the Contracts cabinets and access is restricted.  There is a hard copy of the poster for the production on the Poster Shelves, and there are prints of the cast/family photo in the Photographs cabinet.

The Archive has five full costumes from the show, two for Jacqueline, one for Suzanne and two for Suzette; the costumes are stored on the Costume Racks and images of these items are on the Archive 1 server.  Props from the show are stored in on the Office Prop shelves; images of them are also on the Archive 1 server.


 

Access Restrictions: Open and available to approved researchers by appointment only. See folder details for specific restrictions.

Preferred Citation: Don't Dress for Dinner 2012, Roundabout Theatre Company Archive