Julie Taymor's THE TEMPEST Screens At BAM 10/17

Tony Award-winner and Academy Award-nominated Julie Taymor is screening her soon-to-be- released new film, The Tempest, as a benefit for Theatre for a New Audience's new home in the BAM Cultural District on Sunday, October 17, at 5:00pm at BAM Rose Cinema, 30 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn.

The cast of The Tempest, from Touchstone Pictures and Miramax Films, includes Helen Mirren, Russell Brand, Reeve Carney, Chris Cooper, Tom Conti, Alan Cumming, Djimon Hounsou, FeliciTy Jones, Alfred Molina, David Strathairn and Ben Whishaw. Director Taymor, whose past films are Across the Universe, Frida, and Titus, adapted the screenplay from the play by William Shakespeare.

Background:

"Julie has a special place in Theatre for a New Audience's heart, having started with us in 1984 as a designer before directing her first Shakespearean play, The Tempest, for us two years later," said Jeffrey Horowitz, Founder and Artistic Director of Theatre for a New Audience. Ms. Taymor also directed Titus Andronicus for Theatre for a New Audience before directing her acclaimed film Titus. "Now, she is helping to raise funds for our new home with a screening of her new film based on the very first Shakespeare play she directed."

For Theatre for a New Audience, Julie Taymor also directed Gozzi's The Green Bird, translated by Albert Bernel, and with music by Elliot Goldenthal, prior to its move to Broadway, and The Taming of The Shrew. And, of course, her of Lion King for Disney can still be seen on the Broadway stage.

Ms. Taymor has also directed opera productions of The Magic Flute (now in repertory at the Met) and Oedipus Rex, Salomé, The Flying Dutchman, and Grendel. She is currently preparing for a Broadway a musical production of Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark, with new music by Bono and The Edge.

Ms. Taymor and Mr. Goldenthal together serve as Honorary Co-Chairs of the Theatre's Capital Campaign.

Theatre for a New Audience's New Home: Celebrated theatre architect Hugh Hardy is designing the 27,500 square-foot "green" home with a dramatic four-story glass curtain front façade saying "welcome" to the people of Brooklyn. The new theatre, inspired by the Cottesloe Theatre of London's Royal National Theatre, will be on Ashland Place between Lafayette Avenue and Fulton Street. The theatre includes a 299-seat contemporary Elizabethan courtyard Mainstage with a trapped floor, fully-flexible stage, and seating for multiple configurations; a 50-seat performance/rehearsal Studio; and theatrical support spaces. The City of New York-commissioned Arts Plaza designed by landscape architect Ken Smith will wrap around the front of the building, creating a natural gathering place. Groundbreaking is planned for late 2010/early 2011.