Cyrano, Brigadoon, more Narnia at Shaw in 2019
Between another trip to Narnia, a date with some ladykillers, and the place where White Christmas began, next year’s Shaw Festival will have a cinematic slant.
Eight of the 14 shows announced Friday for the 2019 season are either based on a movie, inspired by one, or are part of a movie franchise.
Which wasn’t by design, says artistic director Tim Carroll.
“Cinema links are increasingly hard to avoid, purely a coincidence.”
The 2019 season, the third under Carroll, will bring C.S. Lewis’ “The Horse and His Boy” to the Festival Theatre. Published in 1954, it was the fifth book in the “Chronicles of Narnia” series. The Shaw’s version will be a world premiere, and follows up this season’s acclaimed production of Lewis’ “The Magician’s Nephew.”
Also at the Festival Theatre – the Shaw’s largest at 856 seats – will be the Lerner & Loewe musical “Brigadoon;” a stage version of the 1955 crime comedy “The Ladykillers” based on William Rose’s Oscar-nominated screenplay; and an epic, fivehour production of Bernard Shaw’s “Man and Superman” with “Don Juan in Hell.” The Shaw play will only be performed 17 times, and include a luncheon interlude with farm-totable menus from Niagara chefs.
At the smaller Royal George Theatre (304 seats) will be Patrick Hamilton’s 1929 thriller “Rope,” made into a 1948 movie by Alfred Hitchcock; Bernard Shaw’s skewering of wedded bliss “Getting Married;” Hannah Moscovitch’s one-act romance “The Russian Play” (next year’s lunchtime show); and a new adaptation of Edmond Rostand’s classic “Cyrano de Bergerac.”
At the versatile Jackie Maxwell Studio Theatre will be Tennessee Williams’ autobiographical “The Glass Menagerie;” Mae West’s bawdy and controversial 1929 play “Sex” (which landed her 10 days in jail on obscenity charges); and Howard Barker’s visceral “Victory,” which Carroll promises is “deliberately offensive” and “not for the squeamish.”
In various locations will be the return of ‘Secret Theatre’ – popping up around town throughout summer – and Ravi Jain’s adaptation of the classic Sanskrit poem of ancient “India, Mahabjarata: Beginnings,” performed exclusively for Friends of The Shaw.
Capping the season will be two Christmas-themed shows: Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” for a third straight year; and Irving Berlin’s “Holiday Inn,” based on the 1942 movie that gave birth to Bing Crosby’s White Christmas.
Adding an extra holiday show now stretches the Shaw’s season even further, though Carroll says there are “no plans to go year-round.”
“But it is great to have more work for our incredible team and audience.”
Tickets for the 2019 season go on sale to Friends of The Shaw Nov. 3, and the general public Dec. 8. By phone at 1-800-511-7429 or online at www.shawfest.com
John.Law@niagaradailies.com 905-225-1644 | @JohnLawMedia