Stage

Diana Vreeland Holds Court in Full Gallop at Stages Repertory Theatre

Diana Vreeland was an American fashion icon for more than 50 years. As a columnist and fashion editor for Harper's Bazaar and then editor for Vogue, the undisputed fashion bible of the era, Vreeland influenced styles, set trends and ran with a very famous crowd (she "discovered" Lauren Bacall, advised Jacqueline Kennedy, and was an early champion of Diane von Furstenberg, Manolo Blahnik and Oscar de la Renta).

She was also witty, tough, passionate, opinionated and difficult to work with.

She was 70 when she was eventually fired from Vogue, and that's where playwrights Mark Hampton and Mary Louise Wilson's comedy Full Gallop picks up. Vreeland, played by Sally Edmundson in this Stages Repertory Theatre production, arranges for an impromptu dinner party, inviting several friends and allies. Also on the guest list is one especially wealthy acquaintance that Vreeland hopes will fund her new venture -- a magazine of her own. The barbs fly as Vreeland plans the next stage of her career.

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