Stage Door News
Stage Door News
December 10, 2014… Tickets for three Stratford Festival HD films – King Lear (premièring February 19 in Canada, February 25 in the U.S.), King John (April 9 in Canada, April 8 in the U.S.) and Antony and Cleopatra (May 21) – go on sale Friday for screenings throughout Canada and the U.S., with international markets to follow. For participating cinema locations and to purchase tickets, visit www.stratfordfestival.ca/HD.
These three events kick off a massive initiative by the Stratford Festival, North America’s leading classical theatre company, to capture all of Shakespeare’s plays over the next 10 years, beginning with the production of King Lear that “unquestionably catapults Colm Feore into the ranks of the world’s greatest living actors” (Toronto Star). The Stratford Festival’s critically acclaimed productions of King John and Antony and Cleopatra will round out the first instalment of the Stratford Festival HD series that will ultimately bring the complete works of William Shakespeare to audiences around the world.
Stratford Festival HD is sponsored by Sun Life Financial as part of their Making the Arts More Accessible® program, with generous support from Laura Dinner & Richard Rooney, the Jenkins Family Foundation, Ophelia & Mike Lazaridis, Sandra & Jim Pitblado, the Slaight Family Foundation, and Robert & Jacqueline Sperandio.
Canadian distribution is through Cineplex Entertainment’s Front Row Centre Events, which specializes in bringing world-class events and performances to the big screen. Distribution in the U.S. and the rest of the world is through BY Experience, the Worldwide HD Distribution Representative for the Metropolitan Opera’s Live in HD program and the International (ex-U.K.) Distributor of Great Britain’s National Theatre Live screenings. Cinema screenings will be followed by a broadcast window on CBC-TV, Canada’s national public broadcaster. Digital and on-demand release will follow.
Colm Feore stars as King Lear
IN THEATRES FEBRUARY 19
A kingdom divided, a family destroyed, the faithful banished and the hateful left to wreak inhuman havoc in the realm. Four hundred years after it was written, King Lear resonates as never before. Now you can see the magnificent Stratford Festival production of Shakespeare’s great masterpiece, filmed in spectacular HD, at cinemas across Canada on Thursday, February 19 and in the U.S. on February 25. International distribution will follow.
This powerful and unforgettable production by North America’s leading classical theatre company stars the incomparable Colm Feore in the role of a lifetime, directed by the Stratford Festival’s acclaimed Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino.
King Lear is produced by Melbar Entertainment Group and Barry Avrich in association with the Stratford Festival, Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino, and Executive Producers Barry Avrich, Anita Gaffney and Michael Levine, and directed for film by Joan Tosoni.
Encore screenings vary by country. Visit www.stratfordfestival.ca/HD for details.
Tom McCamus and Seana McKenna star in King John
IN CANADIAN THEATRES APRIL 9, U.S. APRIL 8
When the rule of a hedonistic and mercurial king is questioned, rebellion, assassination and excommunication ensue, culminating in the chilling attempt to commit an atrocity against a child, whose mother’s anguished grief cannot atone for her blinkered ambitions for her son.
Don’t miss this rare opportunity to see Shakespeare’s King John, in Canadian cinemas on April 9, 2015, and in the U.S. on April 8. With commanding performances by Tom McCamus, Seana McKenna, Graham Abbey and Patricia Collins, King John is directed by Tim Carroll, whose recent Shakespeare productions of Richard III and Twelfth Night took Broadway by storm.
King John is produced by Melbar Entertainment Group and Barry Avrich in association with the Stratford Festival, Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino, and Executive Producers Barry Avrich, Anita Gaffney and Michael Levine, and directed for film by Barry Avrich.
Encore screenings vary by country. Visit www.stratfordfestival.ca/HD for details. International distribution dates still to be announced.
Geraint Wyn Davies and Yanna McIntosh star in Antony and Cleopatra
IN THEATRES MAY 21
The steamy story of a midlife affair that shook the foundations of the ancient world comes to vivid life in the Stratford Festival production of Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, starring Geraint Wyn Davies and Yanna McIntosh as the powerful rulers whose insatiable love leads to the greatest of tragedies. Director Gary Griffin paints an indelible landscape depicting the devastation wrought by the heart’s transgressions. The film premières on May 21, 2015.
Antony and Cleopatra is produced by Melbar Entertainment Group and Barry Avrich in association with the Stratford Festival, Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino, and Executive Producers Barry Avrich, Anita Gaffney and Michael Levine, and directed for film by Barry Avrich.
Encore screenings vary by country. Visit www.stratfordfestival.ca/HD for details.
Photo: Colm Feore as King Lear. ©2014 David Hou.
2014-12-10
Stratford: Tickets for three Stratford Festival HD films go on sale Friday