AT BAM, The Bridge Project — a collaboration of producers including the Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Old Vic and Neal Street Productions — will present The Cherry Orchard and The Winter's Tale, both directed by Academy Award winner Sam Mendes.
Tom Stoppard's new adaptation of The Cherry Orchard will run Jan. 2-March 8, 2009, with an official opening set for Jan. 14. The Winter's Tale will follow from Feb. 10-March 8, 2009 and will open Feb. 20.
The productions star previously confirmed actors Simon Russell Beale as Lopakhin in The Cherry Orchard and Leontes in The Winter's Tale, Sinead Cusack as Madame Ranevskaya and Paulina and Rebecca Hall as Varya and Hermione, as well as Richard Easton as Firs and Old Shepherd/Time, Josh Hamilton as Yasha and Polixenes, and Ethan Hawke as Trofimov and Autolycus.
Newly announced cast members include Michael Braun, Selina Cadell, Morven Christie, Paul Jesson, Charlotte Parry, Gary Powell, Tobias Segal and Jessica Pollert Smith.
Designing the Bridge Project works are Anthony Ward (set design), Catherine Zuber (costume design), Paul Pyant (lighting design), Paul Arditti (sound design) and Mark Bennett (music). Also on the 2009 bill is the Watermill Theatre and Obie-winning Propeller production of Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, running May 7-17, 2009.
Edward Hall will direct the all-male production that "underscores Shakespeare’s intricate tanglings between the sexes, and animates the physical life of the production with the poetry of the text." Merchant has set design by Michael Pavelka and lighting by Ben Ormerod.
In addition to its theatre offerings, BAM will host the New York City premiere of Max from the Batsheva Dance Company (March 4-7, 2009); Merce Cunningham Dance Company's Merce Cunningham at 90 (April 16-19, 2009); Bach's St. Matthew Passion staged by Jonathan Miller (April 17-25, 2009); a world premiere from Trisha Brown Dance Company (April 29-May 2, 2009); DanceAfrica 2009 Rhythmic Reflection: African Legacies Revealed (May 22-25, 2009); and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (June 9-14, 2009).
Spring Season subscriptions begin sale Oct. 27 for the general public. Single tickets for The Bridge Project (The Cherry Orchard and The Winter’s Tale) begin sale Nov 24. Single tickets for all other Spring Season events begin sale Jan 21.
For tickets and further information phone (718) 636-4100 or visit www.BAM.org.
