In 2009, we'll see Geraint Wyn Davies back for another season and Jonathan Goad return to the classics.
Julius Caesar will be directed by James MacDonald and run May 23 through October 31 at the Avon Theatre. Its principal cast includes:
-- Geraint Wyn Davies as Julius Caesar
-- Ben Carlson as Brutus
-- Jonathan Goad as Marc Antony
-- Tom Rooney as Cassius
-- Yanna McIntosh as Calphurnia
-- Cara Ricketts as Portia
Macbeth will be directed by Des McAnuff and run May 22 to October 31 at the Festival Theatre. Its principal cast includes:
-- Colm Feore as Macbeth (previously announced)
-- Yanna McIntosh as Lady Macbeth
-- Geraint Wyn Davies as Duncan
-- Dion Johnstone as Macduff
-- Gareth Potter as Malcolm
-- Sophia Walker as Lady Macduff
A Midsummer Night's Dream will be directed by David Grindley and run August 7 to October 30 at the Festival Theatre. Its principal cast includes:
-- Geraint Wyn Davies as Bottom
-- Dion Johnstone as Oberon
-- Yanna McIntosh as Titania
-- Tom Rooney as Puck
-- Laura Condlln as Helena
-- Gareth Potter as Lysander
-- Sophia Walker as Hermia
Showing posts with label Des McAnuff. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Des McAnuff. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
2009 Musicals Announced!
There's a press release, but this Playbill article provides a lot more background:
"West Side Story and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, with Broadway directors, have been announced as two musicals planned for the 2009 season at Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario.
"Des McAnuff, the Tony Award-winning director of The Who's Tommy and Jersey Boys, and artistic director of Stratford, will stage Stephen Sondheim, Larry Gelbart and Burt Shevelove's Forum, inspired by ancient Roman funnyman Plautus (whose works also inspired Shakespeare). Wayne Cilento (Wicked, The Who's Tommy, How to Succeed…) will choreograph.
"Gary Griffin, the always-busy Chicago director whose Broadway credits include The Apple Tree and The Color Purple, will stage West Side Story, with choreography by Sergio Trujillo (Jersey Boys). West Side Story also has roots in a classic: The musical drama by Leonard Bernstein, Sondheim and Arthur Laurents was inspired by Romeo and Juliet. (Laurents is directing a new Broadway production for 2008-09.)
"McAnuff stated, 'There is no question that these two musicals play legitimate roles in the classical theatre repertoire and I am very proud that we are producing them side by side.'
"McAnuff, a two-time Tony winner, also directed the hit Broadway musical Big River, which won seven Tonys, including Best Director. McAnuff's production of Jersey Boys won four Tonys, including Best Musical of 2006.
"Never before presented by the Festival, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (to play the Avon Theatre) 'is a wonderfully irreverent musical that combines aspects of the 2,000-year-old comedies of the Roman playwright Plautus with classic vaudeville humor,' according to Stratford. 'Forum, which features the hit song 'Comedy Tonight,' is the story of Pseudolus, a slave in ancient Rome who will do anything to win his freedom. With book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart, it is the first Broadway musical for which Stephen Sondheim wrote both music and lyrics.'
"Director Griffin will make his Stratford debut with West Side Story. He made his Broadway debut directing Oprah Winfrey's production of The Color Purple. His London production of Pacific Overtures received the Olivier Award for outstanding musical production. Griffin has received eight Joseph Jefferson Awards for his work in Chicago, where he is associate artistic director of the Chicago Shakespeare Theater.
"Produced once before at the Festival, in 1999, West Side Story 'is set in New York, where two rival gangs, the Jets and the Sharks, wage a war fuelled by racial intolerance.'
"Choreographer Trujillo also choreographed the 1999 production at the Festival's Avon Theatre. This time, however, Trujillo "will have the opportunity to produce on the thrust stage as West Side Story will be mounted at the Festival Theatre."
"Trujillo will be collaborating with McAnuff on a new production of Guys and Dolls set to open on Broadway in spring 2009. His other credits include the European debut of Disney's Tarzan and the London production of Peggy Sue Got Married.
"Rick Fox, the Festival's director of music, will serve as musical director of West Side Story.
"Production dates and casting have not been announced."
"West Side Story and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, with Broadway directors, have been announced as two musicals planned for the 2009 season at Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario.
"Des McAnuff, the Tony Award-winning director of The Who's Tommy and Jersey Boys, and artistic director of Stratford, will stage Stephen Sondheim, Larry Gelbart and Burt Shevelove's Forum, inspired by ancient Roman funnyman Plautus (whose works also inspired Shakespeare). Wayne Cilento (Wicked, The Who's Tommy, How to Succeed…) will choreograph.
"Gary Griffin, the always-busy Chicago director whose Broadway credits include The Apple Tree and The Color Purple, will stage West Side Story, with choreography by Sergio Trujillo (Jersey Boys). West Side Story also has roots in a classic: The musical drama by Leonard Bernstein, Sondheim and Arthur Laurents was inspired by Romeo and Juliet. (Laurents is directing a new Broadway production for 2008-09.)
"McAnuff stated, 'There is no question that these two musicals play legitimate roles in the classical theatre repertoire and I am very proud that we are producing them side by side.'
"McAnuff, a two-time Tony winner, also directed the hit Broadway musical Big River, which won seven Tonys, including Best Director. McAnuff's production of Jersey Boys won four Tonys, including Best Musical of 2006.
"Never before presented by the Festival, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (to play the Avon Theatre) 'is a wonderfully irreverent musical that combines aspects of the 2,000-year-old comedies of the Roman playwright Plautus with classic vaudeville humor,' according to Stratford. 'Forum, which features the hit song 'Comedy Tonight,' is the story of Pseudolus, a slave in ancient Rome who will do anything to win his freedom. With book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart, it is the first Broadway musical for which Stephen Sondheim wrote both music and lyrics.'
"Director Griffin will make his Stratford debut with West Side Story. He made his Broadway debut directing Oprah Winfrey's production of The Color Purple. His London production of Pacific Overtures received the Olivier Award for outstanding musical production. Griffin has received eight Joseph Jefferson Awards for his work in Chicago, where he is associate artistic director of the Chicago Shakespeare Theater.
"Produced once before at the Festival, in 1999, West Side Story 'is set in New York, where two rival gangs, the Jets and the Sharks, wage a war fuelled by racial intolerance.'
"Choreographer Trujillo also choreographed the 1999 production at the Festival's Avon Theatre. This time, however, Trujillo "will have the opportunity to produce on the thrust stage as West Side Story will be mounted at the Festival Theatre."
"Trujillo will be collaborating with McAnuff on a new production of Guys and Dolls set to open on Broadway in spring 2009. His other credits include the European debut of Disney's Tarzan and the London production of Peggy Sue Got Married.
"Rick Fox, the Festival's director of music, will serve as musical director of West Side Story.
"Production dates and casting have not been announced."
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Bringing Success Home
Choreographer Sergio Trujillo (at Stratford: 1999's West Side Story and 2000's The Sound of Music) may be mentioned in the latest article about Jersey Boys, but director Des McAnuff is once again the focus.
From James Bradshaw at the Globe and Mail:
"McAnuff, artistic director of the Stratford Festival (the last remaining member of its leadership triumvirate that imploded in spectacular fashion in March), said he was surprised it took this long to bring Jersey Boys to his hometown.
"'We started at [California's] La Jolla Playhouse in the summer of 2004, and audiences were literally standing up during the acts, which never happens. Ever. We were suspicious that we had a tiger by the tail, and because we were both Toronto boys, we started talking about Toronto immediately,' he said.
"The Toronto Centre seemed an attractive venue to McAnuff and the partnership with Dan came about through talks conducted by McAnuff's producer, Michael David.
"Rick Elice, who co-wrote Jersey Boys with Marshall Brickman, has high praise for McAnuff and said the initial search for a director was brief.
"'I worked for Des as an actor back in 1982 when he was this freakishly talented, very strange Canadian boy who came to New York and was going to make his name. And so when we got to the point where we wanted to talk to a director, there was no list. It was Des. Des was the only guy who could have done this show, and he is absolutely at the top of his form,' Elice said.
"And though Elice said he considers Toronto a great theatre city, he hinted strongly that it was largely due to McAnuff that the show made it there. 'Des, of course, wanted this to be a real event here. And we'd walk through fire for him, which is why we're here,' he said.
"McAnuff's commitment to direct Jersey Boys in the midst of a full Stratford season has prompted talk that he is stretching himself too thin. When he signed on with the festival, the artistic directorship was shared three ways; now he fills the post alone. He is candid about the strain he will be under but insists he can weather the storm.
"'The key is just being willing to work seven days a week and 12 hours a day. I have a great team at Stratford that's evolving; you don't do this by yourself. I dare say Stratford wanted artistic directors who had outside careers, and this was a conscious decision of the board of governors. They thought this would be a good thing for the Stratford Festival. So hopefully I don't burn out,' he said.
Jersey Boys opens at the Toronto Centre for the Arts on August 21.
Romeo and Juliet, which McAnuff directed for the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, runs until November 8.
From James Bradshaw at the Globe and Mail:
"McAnuff, artistic director of the Stratford Festival (the last remaining member of its leadership triumvirate that imploded in spectacular fashion in March), said he was surprised it took this long to bring Jersey Boys to his hometown.
"'We started at [California's] La Jolla Playhouse in the summer of 2004, and audiences were literally standing up during the acts, which never happens. Ever. We were suspicious that we had a tiger by the tail, and because we were both Toronto boys, we started talking about Toronto immediately,' he said.
"The Toronto Centre seemed an attractive venue to McAnuff and the partnership with Dan came about through talks conducted by McAnuff's producer, Michael David.
"Rick Elice, who co-wrote Jersey Boys with Marshall Brickman, has high praise for McAnuff and said the initial search for a director was brief.
"'I worked for Des as an actor back in 1982 when he was this freakishly talented, very strange Canadian boy who came to New York and was going to make his name. And so when we got to the point where we wanted to talk to a director, there was no list. It was Des. Des was the only guy who could have done this show, and he is absolutely at the top of his form,' Elice said.
"And though Elice said he considers Toronto a great theatre city, he hinted strongly that it was largely due to McAnuff that the show made it there. 'Des, of course, wanted this to be a real event here. And we'd walk through fire for him, which is why we're here,' he said.
"McAnuff's commitment to direct Jersey Boys in the midst of a full Stratford season has prompted talk that he is stretching himself too thin. When he signed on with the festival, the artistic directorship was shared three ways; now he fills the post alone. He is candid about the strain he will be under but insists he can weather the storm.
"'The key is just being willing to work seven days a week and 12 hours a day. I have a great team at Stratford that's evolving; you don't do this by yourself. I dare say Stratford wanted artistic directors who had outside careers, and this was a conscious decision of the board of governors. They thought this would be a good thing for the Stratford Festival. So hopefully I don't burn out,' he said.
Jersey Boys opens at the Toronto Centre for the Arts on August 21.
Romeo and Juliet, which McAnuff directed for the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, runs until November 8.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Growing Up McAnuff
From Richard Ouzounian at the Toronto Star:
"To tell the story of Des McAnuff, the new artistic director of the Stratford Festival, you actually have to begin three months before he was born, on Dec. 15, 1951.
"That was the night his father William died at the age of 26 on an ice-slicked highway just outside of Princeton, Ill.
"For years, that's all that McAnuff knew, and he assumed it was one of those unfortunate coincidences of bad weather and careless driving that could happen to anyone.
"But, in his 40s, he went back to Princeton and discovered the truth. His father had been drinking that night and was drag-racing.
"'There's a very good chance,' says McAnuff, '"that one of the kids he was racing knocked him off the road.
"'That kid was the mayor's son; that's why there wasn't any investigation.'
"Speed, danger and going against the odds. Three things that may have killed his father, but three things upon which McAnuff has built a successful career.
"It's a few weeks before the opening of his first season as artistic director of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival and McAnuff is taking a journey into his past to examine how he got to the exalted position he holds today.
"But he's not exploring the years at California's La Jolla Festival, where he took a sleepy suburban theatre to international glory, nor is he bathing in the bright lights of Las Vegas or Broadway, where his mega-hit Jersey Boys is breaking box-office records each week.
"In recent months, the press have been anxious to paint him as a Lamborghini-racing playboy with money to burn.
"In actuality, he drives a hybrid and labours with a puritan fervour that puts work ahead of pleasure at all times.
"And, on this humid Tuesday night, McAnuff is creeping through the rush-hour traffic on the Don Valley Parkway to get back to where it all began for him: in Scarborough.
"Sure, there were a few tricky steps along the way, but he relates them with a nostalgia devoid of sentimentality."
Continue reading.
"To tell the story of Des McAnuff, the new artistic director of the Stratford Festival, you actually have to begin three months before he was born, on Dec. 15, 1951.
"That was the night his father William died at the age of 26 on an ice-slicked highway just outside of Princeton, Ill.
"For years, that's all that McAnuff knew, and he assumed it was one of those unfortunate coincidences of bad weather and careless driving that could happen to anyone.
"But, in his 40s, he went back to Princeton and discovered the truth. His father had been drinking that night and was drag-racing.
"'There's a very good chance,' says McAnuff, '"that one of the kids he was racing knocked him off the road.
"'That kid was the mayor's son; that's why there wasn't any investigation.'
"Speed, danger and going against the odds. Three things that may have killed his father, but three things upon which McAnuff has built a successful career.
"It's a few weeks before the opening of his first season as artistic director of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival and McAnuff is taking a journey into his past to examine how he got to the exalted position he holds today.
"But he's not exploring the years at California's La Jolla Festival, where he took a sleepy suburban theatre to international glory, nor is he bathing in the bright lights of Las Vegas or Broadway, where his mega-hit Jersey Boys is breaking box-office records each week.
"In recent months, the press have been anxious to paint him as a Lamborghini-racing playboy with money to burn.
"In actuality, he drives a hybrid and labours with a puritan fervour that puts work ahead of pleasure at all times.
"And, on this humid Tuesday night, McAnuff is creeping through the rush-hour traffic on the Don Valley Parkway to get back to where it all began for him: in Scarborough.
"Sure, there were a few tricky steps along the way, but he relates them with a nostalgia devoid of sentimentality."
Continue reading.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
McAnuff at Stratford
Martin Morrow writes a long piece, more on Artistic Director Des McAnuff than the season, for CBC.ca. Here's a snapshot:
"What brought him to the festival was the desire to direct Shakespeare and other classic plays on a scale comparable to the musicals that have made his name. 'The classics have definitely always been part of my menu as an artist,' he says, 'but it’s become more difficult to do large-canvas works at many theatres. That was one of my struggles at La Jolla. When we did do a classic, it would tend to be a smaller one, just due to resources. The chief reason that I’m here is to work with a company of actors on the classical repertory.'
"His multi-racial Romeo and Juliet (2008) pairs Canadian classical actor Gareth Potter as Romeo with a Juliet played by one of his musical-theatre protégées — U.S. singer-actress Nikki M. James. McAnuff directed James in a revival of The Wiz a couple of years ago, but he says he’s known her since she was a stage-struck kid.
"'She was actually a Stage Door Janie for a show I did on Broadway,' he recalls fondly, referring to his 1995 production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, starring Matthew Broderick and Megan Mullally. 'Nikki used to show up at the theatre as a fan. Megan took a real shine to her, and Nikki and her friend used to perform show tunes for the cast backstage.'
"McAnuff’s second production this season, opening in August, will be one of Stratford’s rare forays into Shaw country: a staging of George Bernard Shaw’s historical comedy Caesar and Cleopatra (2008), starring Christopher Plummer. McAnuff says the play was Plummer’s idea. 'We wanted to do a project together and [Julius Caesar] was a role he really wanted to play. Chris is really an exceptional actor who has a great sense of himself and what he should be doing. He was brilliant in Inherit the Wind on Broadway last year, as was Brian Dennehy.'
"Dennehy is also part of this year’s unusually starry season. Other notables making their Stratford debuts include Hamlet director Adrian Noble, the former head of Britain’s Royal Shakespeare Company, and British actor-author Simon Callow, who will be premiering a new solo show based on Shakespeare’s sonnets. McAnuff hopes to bring more star power to Stratford in the future.'From the Alec Guinness days, there’s been a history of that here,' he points out. 'I definitely embrace that tradition. And when you talk of stars,' he adds, 'I’m hoping the projects themselves are going to be stars as well. That’s going to be extremely important.'
"Does McAnuff see Stratford as a potential springboard for commercial productions — perhaps the way the Royal Shakespeare Company under Trevor Nunn spawned West End-Broadway hits like Les Misérables and Nicholas Nickleby?
"'I’d love to do something like that at Stratford,' McAnuff replies. 'There are skills and talents here that could be brought to bear on projects like that, which have a classical association. And I would love to see that happen to the festival in terms of [providing] income streams, too. Royalty income is an awfully nice thing to have.'
"McAnuff doesn’t rule out Stratford as a home for more offbeat efforts, too. Like, say, that Flaming Lips musical. 'It certainly would be unusual,' he admits. But it would fit in with his belief that the festival should be doing more new work. 'I feel it’s critically important, when you’re doing the great plays in the history of theatre, that you put living writers and their works side by side with them,' he says. 'The new work informs the old plays, and keeps them from turning into relics.'"
"What brought him to the festival was the desire to direct Shakespeare and other classic plays on a scale comparable to the musicals that have made his name. 'The classics have definitely always been part of my menu as an artist,' he says, 'but it’s become more difficult to do large-canvas works at many theatres. That was one of my struggles at La Jolla. When we did do a classic, it would tend to be a smaller one, just due to resources. The chief reason that I’m here is to work with a company of actors on the classical repertory.'
"His multi-racial Romeo and Juliet (2008) pairs Canadian classical actor Gareth Potter as Romeo with a Juliet played by one of his musical-theatre protégées — U.S. singer-actress Nikki M. James. McAnuff directed James in a revival of The Wiz a couple of years ago, but he says he’s known her since she was a stage-struck kid.
"'She was actually a Stage Door Janie for a show I did on Broadway,' he recalls fondly, referring to his 1995 production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, starring Matthew Broderick and Megan Mullally. 'Nikki used to show up at the theatre as a fan. Megan took a real shine to her, and Nikki and her friend used to perform show tunes for the cast backstage.'
"McAnuff’s second production this season, opening in August, will be one of Stratford’s rare forays into Shaw country: a staging of George Bernard Shaw’s historical comedy Caesar and Cleopatra (2008), starring Christopher Plummer. McAnuff says the play was Plummer’s idea. 'We wanted to do a project together and [Julius Caesar] was a role he really wanted to play. Chris is really an exceptional actor who has a great sense of himself and what he should be doing. He was brilliant in Inherit the Wind on Broadway last year, as was Brian Dennehy.'
"Dennehy is also part of this year’s unusually starry season. Other notables making their Stratford debuts include Hamlet director Adrian Noble, the former head of Britain’s Royal Shakespeare Company, and British actor-author Simon Callow, who will be premiering a new solo show based on Shakespeare’s sonnets. McAnuff hopes to bring more star power to Stratford in the future.'From the Alec Guinness days, there’s been a history of that here,' he points out. 'I definitely embrace that tradition. And when you talk of stars,' he adds, 'I’m hoping the projects themselves are going to be stars as well. That’s going to be extremely important.'
"Does McAnuff see Stratford as a potential springboard for commercial productions — perhaps the way the Royal Shakespeare Company under Trevor Nunn spawned West End-Broadway hits like Les Misérables and Nicholas Nickleby?
"'I’d love to do something like that at Stratford,' McAnuff replies. 'There are skills and talents here that could be brought to bear on projects like that, which have a classical association. And I would love to see that happen to the festival in terms of [providing] income streams, too. Royalty income is an awfully nice thing to have.'
"McAnuff doesn’t rule out Stratford as a home for more offbeat efforts, too. Like, say, that Flaming Lips musical. 'It certainly would be unusual,' he admits. But it would fit in with his belief that the festival should be doing more new work. 'I feel it’s critically important, when you’re doing the great plays in the history of theatre, that you put living writers and their works side by side with them,' he says. 'The new work informs the old plays, and keeps them from turning into relics.'"
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