REGENT’S PARK OPEN AIR THEATRE ANNOUNCE
2019 SEASON
· Season opens with Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize winning play, Our Town
· Continuing their successful collaboration from 2018, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre and English National Opera present Engelbert Humperdinck’s opera,Hansel and Gretel
· A Midsummer Night’s Dream returns to the theatre for the first time in seven years
· Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Evita concludes the 2019 Open Air Theatre season, as Jesus Christ Superstar transfers to the Barbican
· Jamie Lloyd, Ellen McDougall and Dominic Hill join Artistic Director Timothy Sheader to direct the 2019 productions
· Full cast and tour dates are also announced for To Kill a Mockingbird produced by Jonathan Church Productions, Curve and Regent’s Park Theatre Ltd, which embarks on a UK Tour from February
Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre have today announced their 2019 season. Opening the season, Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize winning play Our Town (16 May – 8 June) is directed by Ellen McDougall, Artistic Director of the Gate Theatre. Directed by Timothy Sheader, and continuing the 2018 collaboration which brought The Turn of the Screw to the Open Air Theatre stage, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre and English National Opera present Hansel and Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck (14 June – 22 June). A Midsummer Night’s Dream (28 June – 27 July) returns to the theatre for the first time in seven years in a new production directed by Dominic Hill, Artistic Director of the Citizens Theatre, Glasgow. To conclude the season, Jamie Lloyd directs Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Evita (2 August – 21 September) as Jesus Christ Superstar transfers to the Barbican (4 July – 24 August).
Our Town (16 May – 8 June) celebrates what it means to be human, the bonds that hold communities together, and our relationships with the ancient past and the eternal tomorrow. The Pulitzer Prize winning play is directed by Ellen McDougall, Artistic Director of the Gate Theatre. Ellen’s credits away from the Gate include:The Wolves (Stratford East); Othello (Shakespeare’s Globe); The Remains of Maisie Duggan (Abbey Theatre, Dublin); The Glass Menagerie (Headlong); Anna Karenina (Royal Exchange Manchester) and Ivan and the Dogs (Olivier Award-nomination, Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre/Actors Touring Company/Soho).
Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre and English National Opera continue their 2018 collaboration with a co-production of Engelbert Humperdinck’s opera Hansel and Gretel (14 June – 22 June). Sung in English, members of the ENO orchestra will be conducted by Ben Glassberg, with direction by Open Air Theatre’s Artistic Director, Timothy Sheader.
Dominic Hill, Artistic Director of the Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, then directs a new production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (28 June – 27 July). Whilst at the Citizens Theatre, Dominic has won Best Director in the Critics Award for Theatre in Scotland (CATS) for Oresteia, Crime and Punishment and Betrayal. He previously directed Peer Gynt at Dundee Rep (in a co-production with National Theatre of Scotland), which won four CATS and transferred to the Barbican.
The 2019 season concludes with Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Evita (2 August – 21 September) directed by Jamie Lloyd. The musical premiered in the West End in 1978, and features a chart-topping score including Don’t Cry For Me Argentina, Oh! What A Circus, Another Suitcase in Another Hall, and the Academy Award-winning You Must Love Me, originally performed by Madonna in the motion picture. As Artistic Director of The Jamie Lloyd Company, Jamie is currently producing and directing Pinter at the Pinter, a season of Harold Pinter’s short plays in the West End.
The Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre production of Jesus Christ Superstar transfers to the Barbican (4 July – 24 August), ahead of a North American Tour in the autumn. Casting to be announced.
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Also announced today are the full tour dates and casting for To Kill a Mockingbird, first produced by Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre in 2013, which opens at Curve Leicester on 7 February. Produced by Jonathan Church Productions, Curve and Regent’s Park Theatre Ltd the cast is led by Simon Robson in the role of Atticus Finch. The production visits: Milton Keynes; Birmingham REP; Norwich Theatre Royal; Rose Theatre, Kingston; Newcastle Theatre Royal; King’s Theatre, Edinburgh; Malvern Theatres; The Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury; Cambridge Arts Theatre; Bord Gais, Dublin; Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford; The Lowry, Salford; Eden Court Theatre, Inverness; and His Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen.
The role of Scout will be shared by Summer Jenkins and Eve Prenelle; the role of Jem will be shared by Stanley Jarvis, Jaxon Knopf and Theo Josse Wilkinson; the role of Dill will be shared by Billy Marlow, Joshua Pickering and Jack Riley.
Also featuring in the cast are Pearl Appleby (Mayella Ewell), Dave Fishley (Reverend Sykes), Joseph Fletcher(Arthur Radley), Kieran Hill (Heck Tate), Alexandra Mathie (Stephanie Crawford/Mrs Dubose), Ged McKenna (Judge Taylor/Walter Cunningham), John Omole (Tom Robinson), Carl Rice (Bob Ewell), Sarah Tansey (Maudie Atkinson), Paul Woodson (Nathan Radley/Mr Gilmer), Amanda Wright (Calpurnia) and Erica Birtles, Sophie Cartman, Valentine Hanson and Christopher D Hunt (understudies). Music is composed and performed live by Phil King (Luke Potter will perform at certain venues).
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Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre Memberships are now on sale, and Members’ priority booking for the 2019 Open Air Theatre opens at 11am, Wednesday 28 November. Visit www.openairtheatre.com/membership for more information.
Public booking opens at 11am, Tuesday 18 December.
** NEW BOX OFFICE INFORMATION **
Box Office 0333 400 3562* | openairtheatre.com
Inner Circle, Regent’s Park, London, NW1 4NU
Social Media
Twitter: @OpenAirTheatre / #OAT2019 / #OurTown / #HanselandGretel / #MidsummerDream / #Evita
Facebook: RegentsParkOpenAirTheatre
NEW: Instagram: regentsparkoat
*Lines open from 9am – 9pm. A £1.80 per ticket telephone booking fee applies.
LISTINGS
Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre 2019 season:
OUR TOWN
By Thornton Wilder
Directed by Ellen McDougall
Thursday 16 May – Saturday 8 June
First preview: 16 May
Press Night: Wednesday 22 May (7.45pm)
Performances:
Monday – Saturday @ 7.45pm (gates 6.15pm)
Thursday & Saturday @ 2.15pm (gates 12.45pm)
No matinee 16 or 18 May
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Regent’s Park Theatre and English National Opera present
HANSEL AND GRETEL
By Engelbert Humperdinck
Conducted by Ben Glassberg | Directed by Timothy Sheader
Translation by David Pountney | Orchestral Reduction by Derek J Clark
Friday 14 June – Saturday 22 June
First preview: 14 June
Press Night: Monday 17 June (8.00pm)
Performances:
Monday – Saturday @ 8.00pm (gates 6.30pm)
Thursday & Saturday @ 2.15pm (gates 12.45pm)
No matinee 15 June
Please note that all performances of Hansel and Gretel are at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
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A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Dominic Hill
Suitable ages 12+
Friday 28 June – Saturday 27 July
First preview: 28 June
Press Night: Friday 5 July (7.45pm)
Performances:
Monday – Saturday @ 7.45pm (gates 6.15pm)
Thursday & Saturday @ 2.15pm (gates 12.45pm)
No matinee 29 June
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EVITA
Lyrics by Tim Rice | Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Directed by Jamie Lloyd
Friday 2 August – Saturday 21 September
First preview: 2 August
Press Night: Thursday 8 August (7.45pm)
Performances:
Monday – Saturday @ 7.45pm (gates 6.15pm)
Thursday & Saturday @ 2.15pm (gates 12.45pm)
No matinee 3 & 8 August
By Special Arrangement with The Really Useful Group Limited
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The Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre production at the Barbican
JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR
Lyrics by Tim Rice | Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Directed by Timothy Sheader
Barbican Theatre, Silk St, London EC2Y 8DS
Barbican Theatre Box Office: 020 7638 8891 | www.barbican.org.uk/theatre
Thursday 4 July – Saturday 24 August
Press Night: Tuesday 9 July (7.45pm)
Performances:
Monday – Saturday @ 7.45pm
Thursday & Saturday @ 2.15pm
No matinee 4 July
By Special Arrangement with The Really Useful Group Limited
Please note that all performances of Jesus Christ Superstar are at the Barbican Theatre
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Jonathan Church Productions, Curve and Regent’s Park Theatre Ltd present
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
Adapted for the stage by Christopher Sergel |Based on the novel by Harper Lee
Directed by Timothy Sheader
UK TOUR
Curve, Leicester 7 February – 16 February
Milton Keynes 18 February – 23 February
Birmingham REP 25 February – 2 March
Norwich Theatre Royal 4 March – 9 March
Rose Theatre, Kingston 12 March – 23 March
Newcastle Theatre Royal 25 March – 30 March
King’s Theatre, Edinburgh 1 April – 6 April
Malvern Theatres 8 April – 13 April
The Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury 23 April – 27 April
Cambridge Arts Centre 29 April – 4 May
Bord Gais, Dublin 7 May – 11 May
Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford 13 May – 18 May
The Lowry, Salford 20 May – 25 May
Eden Court Theatre, Inverness 27 May – 1 June
His Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen 3 June – 8 June
www.tokillamockingbirdplay.com
Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre