The Open Air Theatre at Regent's Park, home of the New Shakespeare Company, has announced preliminary details for its 1998 summer season which will feature four major productions in repertory. The season will begin Friday 22 May and run to Saturday 5 September 1998.
This year's two Shakespeare works will be the perennial favourite A Midsummer Night's Dream, a repeat of Rachel Cavanagh's 1997 production, and Troilus and Cressida.
This year's musical will be Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Last year's revival of Cole Porter's Kiss Me Kate received critical acclaim, including two Laurence Olivier nominations for Andrew C. Wadsworth as Best Actor in a Musical and Issy van Randwyck as Best Supporting Performance in a Musical.
The 1998 children's production will be a new adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book. The venue is also planning its usual mix of Sunday concerts and late night events.
The Open Air Theatre at Regent's Park is the best known and only professional outdoor theatre in the UK. Open-air performances have been taking place in the Park since early this century, but it wasn't until 1932 that the Open Air Theatre itself was officially founded by Robert Atkins and Sydney Carroll. Totally renovated, today's theatre is one of the largest in London with a capacity of 1,200. No casting decisions have yet been confirmed on any of the above productions. The box office opens for bookings on all from 14 April 1998. Phone the box office on 44-0171-486-2431/1833. Or try the information telephone line on 44-171-935-5756 or fax line on 44-171-487-4562.
-- By Terri Paddock
Web Editor, What's On Stage
