Wednesday Webcasts to be Regular Feature

This time last month, we were gearing up for a live webcast with General Director Antoni Cimolino (the archived version is available here).

This time this month, we’re sorry there wasn’t a great deal of notice about the live webcast behind the scenes of Taming of the Shrew (2008) with Cimolino and director Peter Hinton.

It will be archived soon (we promise), but until then, please enjoy this good news: the Stratford Shakespeare Festival will feature a live webcast every Wednesday at 4:30 ET.

There are eight more webcasts until the season begins on April 23. Here’s what you can look forward to:

MARCH 5 – Behind the scenes of Romeo and Juliet (2008) with Antoni Cimolino and director Des McAnuff;

MARCH 12 – See the 76 trombones being used in The Music Man (2008) with an as-yet-unidentified host.

MARCH 19 – A sneak peek of Cabaret (2008);

MARCH 26 – Discussions (participation welcome) about classical theatre and why it is relevant – and necessary – to us today;

APRIL 2 – Guest actors (to be announced) will be featured in this webcast about Romeo and Juliet (2008);

APRIL 9 – A guided tour of the renovations at the Festival, most likely including the new Festival Theatre lobby and Discovery Centre gift shop (and perhaps the Festival Pavilion);

APRIL 16 – Hamlet (2008) gets a facelift, and you get an exclusive preview;

APRIL 23 – Promoting and discussing the uncommon works on the playbill, such as Emilia Galotti (2008) and Fuente Ovejuna (2008). The season begins with a matinee preview of Hamlet (2008)!

We’ll be bringing you updates (yes, about the mysterious guest actors) and details each week on Webcast Wednesday. Just look for the tag.

Wednesday's Webcast Now Online

If you missed the live webcast with General Director Antoni Cimolino yesterday, or you want to see it again, it's now available online at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.

All segments will play by default, but you can open each individually from the video playlist.

PART A - Introduction from Antoni Cimolino. (5 minutes)

PART B - Backstage tour. (20 minutes)

You'll see maquettes for Romeo and Juliet (2008), The Taming of the Shrew (2008), Hamlet (2008), and The Music Man (2008) in the scenic arts shop.

Then it's off to the Avon Theatre, where Cabaret (2009) really does look as if it's "been through a war".

Backstage at the Festival Theatre, in the wardrobe department, you'll see sketches for Bruce Dow and Leah Oster, as well as shoes being made for Stephen Ouimette.

Finally, they'll spoil a plot point from Cabaret (2008) in the props shop.

PART C - Antoni Cimolino takes questions from live participants. (11 minutes)

Why do Shakespeare today? What can you tell us about new play development in the fall? (It's expanded, so news will be slow.) Why do musicals in the Avon? Are you really doing Shaw? (Yes, it's part of the repetoire.)

And then it lapses into promotional information about the new $20 ticket program, the Festival Pavilion, and whether or not passports are required for crossing the border on land.

Cimolino also announced that there will be seating available on the Tom Patterson stage for There Reigns Love (2009), a look at Shakespeare through his sonnets developed and performed by Simon Callow.

Just follow the link for your own guided tour behind the scenes of the 2008 season at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.

Panych Plays! Tonight on Bravo!

Playwright Morris Panych will be featured tonight in the documentary Panych Plays! (2008) on Bravo! at 9pm.

According to the Edmonton Journal, the one-hour special will bring "viewers into the real and imagined worlds of the passionate actor and playwright renowned for his biting wit and existential themes" as it follows Panych preparing for two shows:

Vigil (2007) at the Vancouver Playhouse. An original work, it premiered at CanStage's Bluma Appel Theatre in Toronto in 2004. That production of the characteristically dark comedy featured Martha Henry (who will be acting in this season at Stratford, as well as directing the Birmingham Conservatory) and Brent Carver (Elizabeth Rex [2000]) as dying aunt and estranged nephew.

Panych Plays! will also document preparations for What Lies Before Us (2007), which premiered at the Berkeley Street Theatre and starred Matthew MacFadzean (The Glass Menagerie [2006]), CanStage regular David Storch, and Wayne Sujo (The Adventures of Pericles [2003]) stranded in the wilderness, starving and discussing the meaning of life.

Runs for both shows have since ended, but Panych (above, in a picture from his website) has two adaptations opening this theatre season.

The Amorous Adventures of Anatol (2008), from text by Arthur Schnitzler, opens February 16 at the Vancouver Playhouse. It will feature Mike Shara, David Marr, and Jennifer Lines as all seven women. Background and preliminary creative designs are online in Panych's Workbook (a space shared with Ken MacDonald).

Moby Dick (2008), from the novel by Herman Melville, begins previews July 22 at the Studio Theatre in Stratford with David Ferry as Captain Ahab. Ideas and images for this, too, are available in the Workbook.

Panych will also be directing the Hugh Wheeler (book) and Stephen Sondheim (music and lyrics) musical A Little Night Music (2008) for the Shaw Festival. Previews begin June 1 at the Court House Theatre. Find images, sketches, and ideas in the Workbook.

Live Webcast at 4:30 ET

Just a reminder of the live webcast this afternoon at 4:30pm. Stratford Shakespeare Festival General Director Antoni Cimolino will be leading a tour of the backstage area and answering questions.

To participate, follow the links on the Festival website.

For more details, defer to this post.

Backstage in Webcast Wednesday

Rehearsals begin today for the 2008 Stratford Shakespeare Festival season.

Enthusiasts are invited backstage into the costume and scene shops during a webcast airing live this Wednesday, January 30.

General Director Antoni Cimolino will lead the tour, which will focus on the first four Shakespearian productions - Hamlet (2008), The Taming of the Shrew (2008), Love's Labours Lost (2008), and All's Well That Ends Well (2008) - as well as both musicals - The Music Man (2008) and Cabaret (2008).

Cimolino will also answer questions from participants.

While you're waiting for the 4:30pm ET webcast, check out the production construction photographs posted earlier this month.

2008 Production Construction Photographs

Scenic art and construction are featured in recent photographs posted on the Stratford Shakespeare Festival website. Not all productions are technically "in the works" yet (not in a way that is accomidating to a photograph, anyway), but photographs are available for those with the earliest preview dates.

-- The Festival Theatre stage is rounded during the fitting for Romeo and Juliet (2008);

-- Cabaret (2008) undergoes the most complete stage fitting, while the escape stairs are built in the scene shop;

-- Nothing but welding and measuring is going on in the Hamlet (2008) scene shop;

-- The Music Man (2008) will get some beautiful buildings once they've dried;

-- And there's more paint drying on the floor for The Taming of the Shrew (2008).

Enjoy!