Luke Yankee
After 15 years since the Long Beach Civic Light Opera (LBCLO) folded, the company’s former artistic director Luke Yankee has come back to the Long Beach Performing Arts Center to direct Noël Coward’s Private Lives for International City Theatre (ICT).
The sight of the center brings memories of his years at LBCLO rushing back. “As I walk into the loading dock and go into the stage door, I’m flooded with memories of the Civic Light Opera,” he says. The Center Theater, where ICT’s productions take place, shares its backstage area with the Terrace Theater, LBCLO’s former home. It’s no wonder Yankee might feel like he is in a bit of a time warp.
Yankee knew he wanted to direct at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center since the moment he saw it. During his first week in Los Angeles, a friend invited him to a production at LBCLO, he recalls. “As I stood in front of this gorgeous theater with these big fountains—what I consider to be one of the West Coast equivalents of Lincoln Center—I said to myself boy, if I could ever direct here I would know I have really arrived in the LA theater community,” he says. Within a year, he became artistic director.
LBCLO’s 47-year run came to an end in 1996, when the company failed to bounce back from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. “In a sense it’s like the wheel coming full circle,” he says of his return. “It feels incredible to be back.” Yankee says he is often approached by community members about LBCLO. “People are always coming up to me and telling me how much they miss the Civic Light Opera and how incredible it was,” he says.
Although much of Yankee’s joy in working at the center comes from his memories of LBCLO, he emphasizes his excitement be directing for ICT. “Since I moved to Long Beach six years ago it has been a dream of mine to direct at ICT. It’s a lovely company,” he says. Ask him about ICT, and he will gush not only about the theater but also about its artistic director/producer caryn desai. Says Yankee, “I am so incredibly grateful to caryn desai for giving me this opportunity. She has been so lovely and supportive and she has really made it a wonderful experience.”
Adam J. Smith, Jennice Butler, Freddy Douglas and Caroline Kinsolving in "Private Lives"
For Yankee, directing Private Lives at ICT is the cherry on top. “Private Lives is one of my absolute favorite plays. I’m thrilled to have this be my first show at ICT,” he says.
The play is one of Coward’s most successful works. It has recently seen a resurgence. In 2010, Kim Cattrall starred opposite Matthew Macfayden in Richard Eyre’s production in London. In November, Cattrall will reprise her role on Broadway, again under the direction of Eyre. Yankee understands the show’s appeal—he has directed it three times in his career, the last production starring David Canary and his wife Maureen Maloney.
One of the reasons Yankee loves the play is its ability to transcend age. “I saw different things in it in my 20s than when I directed it in my 30s. Now that I’m 50 there are different elements that are resonating,” he says. When he was younger, he was primarily drawn to the show’s witty criticism of what Yankee refers to as “the entitlement of the rich.” Now, he sees more of the story’s deeper meaning. “Now I’m seeing more of Coward’s philosophy that we must be able to laugh at ourselves. We must cherish every day because you never know when this one might be your last. Live every day with passion,” he explains.
Yankee believes Coward himself is inextricably tied to the play, noting the playwright wrote the role of Elyot for himself. Coward’s personality and philosophies pervade the script. Yankee refers to this phenomenon as “the ghost of Coward.” His production plays around with this concept: “We’re using a lot of Coward’s music to sort of underscore certain scenes and in between acts, we have him singing, and we use the piano music throughout. In a sense you could say Noël Coward himself is another character in this production.”
Freddy Douglas and Caroline Kinsolving
As for the physically present characters onstage, Yankee has many words of praise for his cast. Starring in the production are Freddy Douglas as Elyot and Caroline Kinsolving as Amanda, with Jennice Butler as Sibyl, Adam J. Smith as Victor, and Wendy Cutler as Louise. “I really feel these people were born to play these parts,” Yankee says.”They are all incredibly intelligent actors, and they’re all classically trained. Those are two traits I think one really has to have, because the play is so much about language. There really is such a rhythm and musicality to this play in particular,” he explains. Douglas’ performance as Hamlet at A Noise Within garnered him considerable critical acclaim. Kinsolving recently appeared in Kingsmen Shakespeare Company’s production of Taming of the Shrew. Yankee’s faith in the cast combined with his love of Coward and the play itself lead him to predict that “it’s going to be a very solid production.”
What the Future Holds
After his tenure at LBCLO ended, Yankee began to flex his writing muscles. His first published play, A Place at Forest Lawn, was an extension of a one-act play entitled Save a Place for Me at Forest Lawn. It follows two elderly women as they begin to prepare for their deaths. A reading in LA featured Betty White, Marion Ross, John Glover, Marcia Cross, and Steven Culp.
Freddy Douglas and Adam J. Smith
In 2010 Yankee’s The Jesus Hickey opened at the Skylight Theatre in a Katselas Theatre Company production, starring Harry Hamlin. The comedy follows the story of a poor family whose chance at celebrity and wealth comes in the form of a hickey on their daughter’s neck that looks like Jesus. The show is the winner of the TRU Voices Award and the Joel and Phyllis Ehrlich Award. Next week, Yankee is off to Dublin to talk with Irish producers about bringing The Jesus Hickey to Ireland, the play’s setting. In addition to the show traveling across the pond, it may soon be seen on the big screen. “I have several producers who are very interested in the screenplay. An investor with fairly deep pockets has it in his stack right now,” he says. His dream cast? “I have certainly thought about this. It’s like, who’s the dream cast this week? Helen Mirren, Dakota Fanning, and Pierce Brosnan,” he says.
The Jesus Hickey may not be the only Yankee-written script to make it to the big screen. One of Yankee’s biggest projects at the moment is his screenplay entitled The Last Lifeboat, which follows the story of John Ismay, the chairman of the White Star Line at the time of the Titanic’s sinking. “Ismay is always depicted as this awful man who insisted the captain speed up the ship and caused it to hit the iceberg, or that he sneaked into the last lifeboat wearing a woman’s hat and coat—none of this is true. He was really very much a victim of circumstance,” he explains. “The script deals with how no matter how hard this man tried to make amends, he could never wash the blood off his hands for the rest of his life.” Yankee says the screenplay has been optioned by a film producer who is attempting to attach a cast and generate interest from a studio. While the screenplay is shopped around, Yankee has been working on adapting it for the stage. One of the reasons he finds the concept so interesting is its relevance—this coming April will mark the 100th anniversary of the Titanic’s sinking.
With these burgeoning projects in the works and more in various stages of development on his desk at home, chances are we will be hearing quite a bit more from Yankee.
***Photos from “Private Lives” by Carlos Delgado
Private Lives opens August 26; plays Thu.-Sat, 8 pm; Sun, 2 pm; through Sept. 18. Tickets: $37-$44. International City Theatre, Long Beach Performing Arts Center, 300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach.562-436-4610. http://ictlongbeach.org/
