Tony Winners Join Stratford Lineup
The 2008 Stratford Festival Season Will Include Rare Shaw work
Tony Award winners Christopher Plummer and Anika Noni Rose will star in the 2008 Stratford Festival's Caesar and Cleopatra, a rarely performed piece by G.B. Shaw.
While Plummer is no stranger to the Stratford Festival, Noni Rose will make her debut at the Festival as Cleopatra.
Caesar and Cleopatra was written in 1901, and was published as part of a collection entitled Three Plays For Puritans. According to Wikipedia, Caesar and Cleopatra "has two layers. The first one deals with the fact that Shaw wanted to prove that it wasn't love but politics that drew Cleopatra to Julius Caesar. In his play, Shaw stresses the relations between the Roman and Egyptian conquerors. In contrast to what probably happened historically, Cleopatra successfully arranges for the murder of the eunuch Pothinus after he humiliates her in front of Caesar."
Most recently at the festival Plummer played the role of the statue (on screen) in Don Juan starring Colm Feore in 2006. He starred in King Lear in 2002, and also played the role at the Lincoln Centre in New York, which garnered him another Tony Award nomination. He joined the Stratford Festival company in its inaugural season, and has returned to the festival numerous times. One of his most memorable roles was the starring role in Barrymore, which premiered at Stratford in 1996 and transfered to Broadway, winning Plummer one of his numerous Tony awards.
Anika Noni Rose is known for her portrayal of Lorell Robinson in last year's hit movie musical, Dreamgirls opposite Beyonce Knowles and Academy Award winner Jennifer Hudson. She won the Tony Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical for her role in the Tony Kushner musical, Caroline, Or Change.
The production will be helmed by Des McAnuff, who is one of the new artistic staff at the Festival. McAnuff is the former Artistic Director of the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego, and he is a multiple Tony Award winner, most recently for his direction of the hit musical, Jersey Boys.
Two other productions were confirmed Tuesday. After months of speculation, it was announced that the two musicals in the 2008 season will be Meredith Wilson's The Music Man, and Kander and Ebb's Cabaret. The Music Man will be directed by Susan H. Schulman, and Cabaret will be helmed by Amanda Dehnert. Schulman is known for her work on Broadway with musicals like The Secret Garden, Little Women,Violet, and the revival of The Sound Of Music.
Casting for the musicals will be announced in the coming months, and rumours are still circulating about Eric McCormick returning to the festival to play Harold Hill.
For more information on their current season, click on the Stratford Festival website.
