FREDONIA - Academy Award winner Christopher Plummer stars in a special U.S. theatrical release of Shakespeare's "The Tempest" on Friday, July 27, at 6:30 p.m. The captured-live in high-definition stage play was filmed during two days of live performances with eight cameras at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival during Plummer's 2010 engagement as Prospero. It was directed by Stratford Shakespeare Festival artistic director Des McAnuff.
"Christopher Plummer is quite simply one of the greatest actors of our time, both on stage and on screen. The opportunity to see him as Prospero in "The Tempest" - one of the greatest roles ever written and one he has longed to play - is nothing short of historic," said McAnuff.
"The Tempest" pits the desire for revenge against the demands of love and asks if man is capable of creating a brave new world. The story focuses on Prospero, the banished Duke of Milan. Marooned on a distant island with his daughter, Prospero has spent 12 years perfecting his magic arts. Now, with the help of the spirit Ariel, he raises a storm at sea, bringing within his grasp the enemies who robbed him of his dukedom.
The presentation will include a 20-minute Q&A with Plummer and McAnuff.
Tickets to "The Tempest" are $15 and may be purchased in person at the Opera House Box Office or by phone at 679-1891, Tuesday through Friday, 1-5 p.m. They also may be purchased online at www.fredopera.org.
This program is made possible by Dr. James M. and Marcia Merrins, who funded the purchase of the satellite transmission and projection equipment used in the screening. Support also comes from the United Arts Appeal of Chautauqua County.
THE WONDER BREAD YEARS FEATURING PAT HAZELL
Former "Seinfeld" writer Pat Hazell will bring his one-man comedy show "The Wonder Bread Years" to the Opera House on Friday, Aug. 3, at 8 p.m.
The Los Angeles Times calls "The Wonder Bread Years" "pure unpasteurized nostalgia."
Written and performed live at the Opera House by TV comedy veteran Hazell, "The Wonder Bread Years" is a celebration of baby boomers that recalls the youth-filled joys of Clackers, Lawn Jarts and riding way in the back of the Country Squire station wagon. Hazell calls the side-splitting show a "common journey into the attic." It doesn't matter where you grew up, he says; we all have common experiences from our childhood. These experiences are explored in "The Wonder Bread Years."
Reserved seating tickets for "The Wonder Bread Years" are $27 for the general public and $25 Opera House members, and can be purchased in person at the Box Office, by phone or online. This performance is made possible, in part, with public funds from the United Arts Appeal of Chautauqua County.