FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Event Date – Aug. 10th & 11th)

Contact:       Sib Law, Chair - Stratford Arts Commission, 203.455.4742 
                    Heather B. Habelka, Office of the Mayor, 203.385.4001 

Stratford to Host Second Annual Summer Theatre Festival on the Grounds of the Legendary Shakespeare Theatre

Stratford, Connecticut (July 30, 2007) – Mayor James R. Miron, together with the Stratford Arts Commission, is pleased to announce plans for the second annual Summer Theatre Festival on the grounds of the legendary Shakespeare Festival Theatre.

This full-scale, fully costumed, fully staged, professional production of a great Shakespearean play will grace the grounds of Stratford’s Shakespeare Festival Theatre. The play is William Shakespeare’s powerful tragedy of love, jealousy, betrayal and murder, OTHELLO.

Performances will be held on Friday and Saturday, Aug. 10th and 11th at 7 PM, on the grounds of the Stratford Festival Theatre located at 1850 Elm Street in Stratford, Connecticut.

In the tradition of New York’s celebrated Shakespeare in the Park, there is no charge for admission, however donations will be accepted. Attendees should bring chairs, blankets and other necessary supplies to comfortably view the performances.

In addition, at 4 o’clock on the afternoon of the 11th, a special, rollicking, family friendly selection of Shakespeare’s finest and funniest scenes, songs and sonnets will be performed under the title of MUCH ADO ABOUT WILL. Once again, admission is free for both children and adults, with donations being accepted.

Volunteer Opportunities

To ensure another successful summer season, the Town is seeking support from the community. Volunteers are needed to assist with the following four productions:

§ Friday, August 10, 2007 at 7:00 PM -- Production of Othello, on the grounds of the Shakespeare Theatre
§ Saturday, August 11, 2007 at 4:00 PM – Production of Much Ado About Will, on the grounds of the Shakespeare Theatre
§ Saturday, August 11, 2007 at 7:00 PM -- Production of Othello, on the grounds of the Shakespeare Theatre
§ Saturday, August 18, 2007 at 7:00 PM – Production of Fast Forward Theatre, at the Stratford Theatre on Main Street in Stratford Center.

While there is a specific need for stagehands and technicians, volunteers will also assist with set-up, parking, box office assistance, ushering and clean up. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Town Planner Dave Killeen at 203.385.4017.

Directions to the Theatre.

The theatre is located at 1850 Elm Street in Stratford, Connecticut

Take exit 32 off I-95 to West Broad
Take a right onto Main Street
Take left onto Ferry Blvd
Take right onto Elm
Theatre will be on the left

Cast & Crew

The cast and crew for this festival weekend have volunteered their time and their talent for the same reason that Mayor Miron and the Arts Commission are presenting the Festival – they want to see great theatre return to its rightful place on the shores of the Housatonic.

Both OTHELLO and MUCH ADO ABOUT WILL are being directed by Robert Johanson, who served as Artistic Director of New Jersey’s famous Paper Mill Playhouse for twenty years. There he directed more than fifty plays and musicals such as FOLLIES, FUNNY GIRL, AMADEUS, TO KILL A MOCKING BIRD, JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR and SHOWBOAT which, like a number of his productions, was televised on PBS. An equally talented actor, he has played everything from Shakespeare (THE TAMING OF THE SHREW, COMEDY OF ERRORS, THE MERCHANT OF VENICE, KING LEAR, ROMEO AND JULIET) to Finch in HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING and the title role in PETER PAN. In addition to directing, Mr. Johanson will take the part of the infamous Iago.

The monumental part of Othello, the Noble Moor, will be played by Forest Hamilton of Tarrytown, New York. With a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Ithaca College and a Master of Fine Arts from NYU, where he studied with Lenore DeKoven and Olympia Dukakis, Mr. Hamilton is an Actors’ Equity member of the Stamford theatre company, Prometheus’ Fire, and the Blueberry Pond Arts Center of Ossining, New York, where he is Artistic Director.

Stratford’s own Kathryn Marchand will play Desdemona, the fair, doomed Venetian maiden married to Othello. Ms. Marchand just completed a run in Shakespeare’s A COMEDY OF ERRORS at Shakespeare on the Sound in Rowayton, where she appeared last year in MACBETH. Known locally as Katie Sparer, her parents, Paul Sparer and Nancy Marchand, were longtime members of the acting company of Stratford’s original Shakespeare Festival Theatre.

Emilia, Iago’s wife, Desdemona’s friend and companion, will be played by Jo Anne Parady. A Norwalk resident, Ms Parady has played leading roles with the National Shakespeare Company (NYC), Champlain Shakespeare Festival (VT), Shakespeare Theatre of Monmouth (ME), St. Albans’ Repertory Theatre (DC) and Shakespeare on the Sound (CT). Last year she appeared at Stratford in SHAKESPEARE: AN INFINTE VARIETY, as did Kathryn Marchand and Robert Johanson.

Cassio, Othello’s best friend and second in command, will be played by Clayton Wheat, a Weston resident. His acting, directing and producing career stretches from New Orleans, where he co-founded The Storyville Ensemble, through New York and Hollywood, where he was an associate producer at Twentieth Century Fox, to Venice where he worked for RAI Television and served as an alternate juror for the Venice Film Festival, and, returning to New York and Fairfield County, acted in such plays as TRUE WEST by Sam Shepard, BEYOND COMEDY by Christopher Durang, BETRAYAL by Harold Pinter and SEASCAPE by Edward Albee. Last summer he appeared at Stratford in SHAKESPEARE; AN INFINITE VARIETY.

Bridgeporter Damien Langan plays Roderigo, the desperate, unrequited lover of Desdemona whom Iago manipulates for his own devious ends. His Shakespearean appearances include Angelo in A COMEDY OF ERRORS, Robin and, on another occasion, Oberon in A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, Lord Montague and Friar John in ROMEO AND JULIET, and various characters in the aforementioned SHAKESPEARE: AN INFINITE VARIETY.

Ken Parker, Fairfield resident, Yale Drama School graduate and veteran of innumerable theatrical productions in Connecticut and New York, will play two parts, Brabantio, the Venetian Senator father of Desdemona, and Lodovico, the Venetian emissary to Othello who speaks the play’s last, sad words, “Myself will straight aboard and to the state this heavy act with heavy heart relate.”

Caroline Winterson, also a Fairfield resident, will stage manage and play the randy Bianca whose love for Cassio is not returned. Daniel John Kelly of Norwalk, Director of Educational Outreach for Shakespeare on the Sound, will play Montaro, the Governor of Cypress.

Both OTHELLO and SHAKESPEARE, AN INFINITE VARIETY, were developed by members of a Shakespeare study group within the Theatre Artists Workshop, an organization of professional actors, writers and directors located in Norwalk.

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