Private Lives
Initially
Private Lives was to be a one-off show and recorded, but plans
quickly escalated and it became a touring production. Unfortunately, the
show was never recorded.
While Private Lives was not a critical success, it was a massive
commercial success, with the public loving the idea of Taylor and Burton
playing a divorced couple who run into one another on their separate
honeymoons. Elizabeth said Amanda and Eliot were “two middle-aged people
who, though miles down the road from their once all-consuming passion, still
care deeply for each other”.
While rehearsing for Private Lives, Elizabeth stayed at old friend
Rock Hudson’s apartment near Central Park.
Architectural Digest magazine published a story on Elizabeth and Richard’s
dressing rooms. Elizabeth’s sported a massive fish tank and had lavender
walls.
Many nights the curtain would go up late as the audience was still getting
to their seats—they could usually be found outside awaiting Elizabeth’s
grand arrival.
Elizabeth introduced Alvin, a parrot into the final act of the play. Her
companion since 1980, Alvin appeared in most shows, but was forced to sit
out the Chicago run due to a cold.
Mike Todd had asked Elizabeth and then husband Michael Wilding to appear on
Broadway in Private Lives many years before. Todd’s production of
course never materialized.
Tour:
Shubert Theatre, Boston (April 7, 1983-?)
Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, New York (May 8, 1983-?)
Forrest Theatre, Philadelphia (August 1983-?)
Kennedy Center, Washington (three weeks)
Chicago
Wilshire Theatre, Los Angeles (?-November 1983)
Back to
Stage.
|