Judi Dench News

Gary Naylor listens with mothers (and fathers)

Tony Award Winning actress Vanessa Redgrave will be awarded by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts with the Academy Fellowship at the Orange British Academy Film Awards ceremony at London's Royal Opera House. The ceremony will take place on Sunday, February 21.

2nd Story Theatre 's 'Comic Potential' by Alan Ayckbourn will close on February 21.

48 years after Judi Dench first played Titania in the 1962 Royal Shakespeare Company production of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' directed by Peter Hall, she revisits the role again in a new production of 'Dream', also helmed by Hall, and currently playing at the Rose Theatre in Kingston.

Peter Hall's production of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, starring Judi Dench and Charles Edwards opened last night, February 9, at the Rose Theatre in Kingston. BroadwayWorld brings you the first production photos.

Tony Award Winning actress Vanessa Redgrave will be awarded by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts with the Academy Fellowship at the Orange British Academy Film Awards ceremony at London's Royal Opera House. The ceremony will take place on Sunday, February 21.

Peter Hall's production of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM will star Dame Judi Dench, Charles Edwards and more. Dench will play the role of Titania with Edwards taking the role of Oberon. The rest of the cast will include William Chubb, Oliver Chris, Msimisi Dlamini, Richard Keightley, James Laurenson, Ben Mansfield, Reece Ritchie, Susan Salmon, Annabel Scholey, Simon Scott, Sophie Scott, Timothy Speyer, Rachael Stirling, Julian Wadham, Leon Williams, and Tam Williams.

This week, Maury Yeston, the Tony Award winning composer of classics scores for Broadway's NINE, TITANIC, GRAND HOTEL, in addition to The Royal Family, sat down with The New York Post's Michael Riedel and Susan Haskins on Theater Talk. Theater Talk, the series devoted to the world of the stage, is co-hosted by Michael Riedel, Broadway columnist for the New York Post and series producer Susan Haskins. Watch Yeston perform a song from NINE in the clip below!

WhatsOnStage.com is reporting that Oscar and Tony Award winner Judi Dench will star as Titania in a revival of A Midsummer Night's Dream to be directed by Peter Hall. The performance will be a homecoming for Dench; she first played the role nearly 50 years ago, when she apppeared in Hall's 1962 Royal Shakespeare Company production.

Carrie Dunn, BWW:UK's editor-in-chief, talks to the Monkee about his musical theatre work and why he wants to play King Arthur...

The Society of London Theaters released figures today revealing 2009 was an extremely strong year for West End theater as it broke both box office and attendance records, according to a report in Variety. Attendance was up 5.5% from 2008 with a total of over 14 million, which in turn put the rise in box office profits at a 7.6% rate of increase from 2008.

Director Rob Marshall has been hired by Disney to helm the next 'Pirates of the Carribean' film. Production on the film will begin in 2010, with the majority of shooting taking place in Hawaii. The film is slated for a 2011 release. Disney has already signed Johnny Depp to reprise his role as Captain Jack Sparrow.

2nd Story Theatre proudly presents the hilariously serious comedy 'Comic Potential' by Alan Ayckbourn, directed by Ed Shea.

Maury Yeston and Meryl Streep are among the 2009 Broadcast Film Critics Association's Critics Choice Nominees. Winners will be revealed at the 15th annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards ceremony on January 15, 2010 at the Hollywood Palladium, broadcast live on VH1 Television Network.

British TV on DVD specialist Acorn Media starts off 2010 with several highly-entertaining, star-studded DVDs available now for review/feature consideration, including The Evelyn Waugh Collection with Kristin Scott Thomas in her breakthrough role and Judi Dench in a BAFTA-winning role. DVD debuts of G.B.H., an award-winning British political miniseries starring Michael Palin; Bonekickers, a new BBC action-adventure series from the creators of Life on Mars; Callan, Set 2 featuring the late Edward Woodward in his first major television role; as well as the first 2010 release for our new Best Documentaries on DVD label Athena, with Military Channel favorite Hitler's Bodyguard, a fascinating 13-part documentary on how Hitler survived more than 40 assassination attempts.

Tommy Tune, in an interview with Variety, praised film director Rob Marshall for his delivery in the movie musical NINE. Tune directed the original Broadway installment of NINE, which had a successful run from 1982 - 1984 at the 46th Street Theatre.

The studio behind the star-studded musical NINE corrects to clarify that it has no plans at this time to pull the movie out of any theaters after disappointing box office and lackluster reviews, as was widely reported yesterday.

A new production of Bizet's Carmen, directed by Richard Eyre and starring El?na Garan?a in the title role and Roberto Alagna as Don José, premieres at a New Year's Eve gala performance. Garan?a makes her Met role debut as the gypsy femme fatale, reuniting with Alagna following their recent success in these parts at London's Royal Opera, Covent Garden.

The New York Times reports that The Weinstein Company will be shifting it's plans for the new movie musical NINE, due to lukewarm reviews and an underwhelming box office performance. With only a $5.5 million gross after playing 1400 screens nationwide and debuting at #8 on the charts, the film will be pulled from many theaters and will continue it's theatrical run in a limited number of venues, estimated to be between 800 and 900.

The LA Times is reporting today in their box office report on the weekend that 'The only flop this weekend was 'Nine,' the big-screen adaptation of the Broadway musical from the Weinstein Co. and co-financier Relativity Media. The movie debuted around the country to just $5.5 million, bringing its total since last weekend to $5.9 million. The Weinstein Co. head of operations, David Glasser, said the studio will be pulling back the movie, which stars Daniel Day-Lewis, Penelope Cruz and Nicole Kidman, from smaller cities in the Midwest where it performed poorly and focus advertising on big coastal cities. 'Nine' will need to perform extremely well in those markets and get more awards recognition to avoid being a dud for the financially troubled Weinstein Co. and Relativity, which together spent about $64 million, after the benefit of tax credits, to make the film.'