Marc Norman News

According to the Daily Mail, director Matthew Warchus has left the in-the-works West End adaptation of the Oscar-winning film Shakespeare in Love. The production now begins the search for a new director.

Winner of 7 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress - Gwyneth Paltrow and Best Supporting Actress - Judi Dench, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE is noted playwright and screenwriter Tom Stoppard's imaginative restaging and reworking of the story of William Shakespeare which proceeds to present a thesis for how he came to write many of the finest dramas and comedies written in the English language. Boasting gorgeous costumes, breathtaking sets and an unmistakably Shakespearean atmosphere, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE has aged considerably well and looks even more rapturous and resplendent on Blu-ray than it ever has before. The new Blu-ray also comes with a fascinating slew of special features, the most appreciable of all being the two commentary tracks, one from director John Madden and another from assorted cast and crew members. Boasting an all-star cast to best even the Bard's vaunted coterie of performers themselves, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE is lousy with pedigree - and nearly every actor makes his or her mark over the quite tight, terse running time of the film. In addition to the aforementioned Oscar-betrothed leading lady and supporting player, the cast of SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE also boasts recent Oscar-winner for THE KING'S SPEECH, Colin Firth, in a memorable role, as well as a charismatic lead performance by Joseph Fiennes as the titular playwright. Additionally, British stage stars Simon Callow, Antony Sher, Imelda Staunton, Tom Wilkinson and Tony Award-winning Australian leading man Geoffrey Rush all make solid impressions in their smaller roles. Yet, as with all of the greatest works of William Shakespeare, the text is the star, and Stoppard's precise and exacting script is much like a modern Shakespeare play in the way it juggles moments of levity, intrigue, history, comedy, tragedy and love into the drama of the film. While SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE may have been somewhat derided at the time for being too light to win over that year's favorite, SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, time has been kind to the theatrically-tinged film, and, dare I say, it is even more enjoyable and entertaining now, on Blu-ray, than it may have even been at the time of its release fifteen years ago. All the world may be a stage, by SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE is a Hollywood film relating to Shakespeare worth your time, attention and investment.

SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE, the 1998 British-American comedy film directed by John Madden and written by Marc Norman and playwright Tom Stoppard is coming on Blu-ray on January 31st.

SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE, the 1998 British-American comedy film directed by John Madden and written by Marc Norman and playwright Tom Stoppard is coming on Blu-ray on January 31st.

Variety reports today that the latest Disney Theatrical undertaking will be a stage adaptation of Shakespeare In Love by original film scribe Tom Stoppard. The media giant will be partnering with Sonia Friedman productions on the production, which will be directed by Jack O'Brien and designed by Bob Crowley. The play is expected to premiere in London. No dates or production timeline has been announced.

Following a three week run at the Chichester Festival Theatre, Trevor Nunn directs a company led by Samuel Barnett and Jamie Parker in Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead which runs at the Theatre Royal Haymarket from 16 June - 20 August, with press night on 21 June 2011.

Following a three week run at the Chichester Festival Theatre, Trevor Nunn directs a company led by Samuel Barnett and Jamie Parker in Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead which runs at the Theatre Royal Haymarket from 16 June - 20 August, with press night on 21 June 2011. Set design is by Simon Higlett, with costumes by Fotini Dimou, lighting by Tim Mitchell, sound by Paul Groothuis and music by Steven Edis. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead is produced by the Chichester Festival Theatre, the Theatre Royal Haymarket and Triumph Entertainment Limited.

Following the opening of Terence Rattigan's Flare Path, the Theatre Royal Haymarket Company today (1 April 2011) announce a further two productions to be directed by Trevor Nunn in his role as Artistic Director. After a three week run at the Chichester Festival Theatre, Nunn's production of Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead comes to the Theatre Royal Haymarket in June, followed in September by William Shakespeare's The Tempest. Further productions in the season will be announced shortly.

At the heart of the sixth season from Artistic Director Jonathan Church and Executive Director Alan Finch will be 'a Festival within a Festival' celebrating the achievements of playwright Terence Rattigan in the centenary year of his birth.

'A Double Life' (1947), the psychological drama from director George Cukor and writers Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin, will be screened as the next feature in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' series 'Oscar Noir: 1940s Writing Nominees from Hollywood's Dark Side' on Monday, August 16, at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

'A Double Life' (1947), the psychological drama from director George Cukor and writers Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin, will be screened as the next feature in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' series 'Oscar Noir: 1940s Writing Nominees from Hollywood's Dark Side' on Monday, August 16, at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

British Theater Producer Sonia Friedman recently spoke with The New York Times about her current and upcoming projects. Friedman is currently producing eight shows including two West End hits rumored for transfer to Broadway- La Cage aux Folles and Arcadia.

Trevor Cooper (Richard Noakes), Sam Cox (Jellaby), Lucy Griffiths (Chloë Coverly), Tom Hodgkins (Captain Brice), Hugh Mitchell (Augustus/Gus Coverly) and George Potts (Ezra Chater), today join the previously announced Samantha Bond (Hannah Jarvis), Nancy Carroll (Lady Croom), Jessie Cave (Thomasina Coverly), Neil Pearson (Bernard Nightingale), Dan Stevens (Septimus Hodge) and Ed Stoppard (Valentine Coverly) as rehearsals begin for David Leveaux's new production of Tom Stoppard's multi award-winning play Arcadia.

Rehearsals begin for David Leveaux's new production of Tom Stoppard's multi award-winning play

David Leveaux will direct a cast including Samantha Bond, Nancy Carroll, Jessie Cave, Neil Pearson, Dan Stevens and Ed Stoppard in a new production of Tom Stoppard's multi award-winning play Arcadia. Previewing at the Duke of York's Theatre from 27 May, with press night on 11 June, Arcadia is currently booking until 12 September 2009. Set designs are by Hildegard Bechtler, costume design is by Amy Roberts, lighting is by Paul Anderson and sound is by Simon Baker. Arcadia will be presented in the West End by Sonia Friedman Productions, Robert G. Bartner and Roger Berlind.

he Wilma Theater opens its 30th Anniversary Season with the Philadelphia Premiere of the 2008 Tony® nominee for Best Play, Rock 'n' Roll, by Academy Award®-winner and four-time Tony Award®-winner Tom Stoppard.

he Wilma Theater opens its 30th Anniversary Season with the Philadelphia Premiere of the 2008 Tony® nominee for Best Play, Rock 'n' Roll, by Academy Award®-winner and four-time Tony Award®-winner Tom Stoppard.

The Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis has announced that legendary dramatists Neil Simon, Alfred Uhry and Tom Stoppard, whose groundbreaking plays are part of the Guthrie's 2006-07 season, will each visit the theater for speaking engagements this year