The Royal Shakespeare Company News

Patrick Stewart, the actor best known for his role as Captain Jean-Luc Picard on Star Trek: The Next Generation was known for leading the Starship Enterprise to the final frontier. Now, he's the final piece of the puzzle in a star-studded cast at Salt Lake Comic Con (http://saltlakecomiccon.com/) FanXperience (FanX) on April 17-19, 2014 at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. Stewart will be appearing on Saturday, April 19, 2014.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, HOMELAND's Damian Lewis has boarded the thriller OUR KIND OF TRAITOR, joining Ewan McGregor, Stellan Skarsgard and Naomie Harris in the cast. Susanna White directs.

Peter Brook is one of the world's most respected and revolutionary directors of contemporary theatre. To help his actors achieve extraordinary performances, he has a special exercise, called 'the Tightrope,' which evolved over decades of experimentation and practice into a process of transformation that makes theatre real and new for actor and audience alike. In this quietly eloquent and unique film, director Simon Brook - Peter's son - reveals how the Tightrope works its dramatic alchemy.

The University Musical Society (UMS) presents a diverse April line-up featuring four uplifting performances to close out the 2013/2014 season of live performances. The first weekend marks the return of the UMS Choral Union and the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Jerry Blackstone, in a powerful rendition of Brahms' German Requiem (Friday, April 4).

A peek behind the scenes of the hit West End production of the multi-award-winning page-to-stage adaptation of Roald Dahl's MATILDA is now available to view.

MATILDA THE MUSICAL, produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Dodgers, announced today that a North American Tour will commence in May 2015. After technical rehearsals and performances in New Haven at the Shubert Theater, the tour officially opens at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles and includes the SHN Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco, Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre and Dallas' AT&T Performing Arts Center among others in the first season. Full touring schedule and casting will be announced at a later date.

Dame Judi Dench is being considered for the elderly version of Mon Mothma, the senator who co-ordinated and gave the Rebel Alliance briefing in J.J. Abrams' upcoming 'Star Wars: Episode VII.

Trustus Theatre is bringing Bruce Norris' Pulitzer Prize, Tony, and Olivier Award-winning comedy Clybourne Park to the Thigpen Main Stage. This show, a response to Lillian Hellman's A Raisin in the Sun, is a provocative and humorous look at racial relations and reactions in America. Clybourne Park is directed by award-winning guest director Jim O'Connor, and opens on the Thigpen Main Stage Friday January 24th at 8:00pm. The show runs through February 8th, 2014. Tickets may be purchased at www.trustus.org.

Today the Donmar Warehouse announced the full cast of Versailles, Peter Gill's new play about the legacy of the decisions made at the end of WWI, and an accompanying series of talks entitled Impossible Conversations, which will bring together some of today's most important thinkers to discuss the Great War and its legacy. The full cast of Versailles will beFrancesca Annis, Helen Bradbury, Barbara Flynn, Christopher Godwin, Selina Griffiths, Tom Hughes, Tamla Kari, Edward Killingback, Gwilym Lee, Adrian Lukis, Josh O'Connor, Simon Williams and Eleanor Yates.

In an interview with The Huffington Post, Stephen Moyer, who portrays Bill Compton in HBO's True Blood spoke about the final season of the drama series.

A rare and intimate glimpse into the dynamic process of creating and launching new plays, Playwright: From Page to Stage follows two outstanding young playwrights through the writing, development, staging, rehearsal, and public performance of their plays.

This November the Royal Shakespeare Company launches two new free public exhibitions, open from 10am daily at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon.

The University Musical Society (UMS) presents two incredible events this December, starting with the beloved community tradition of Handel's Messiah (Saturday-Sunday, December 7-8). December also ushers in the first-ever high definition delayed cinema broadcast from the Royal Shakespeare Company in the Michigan Theater; the company performs Richard II, starring David Tennant and directed by Gregory Doran (Sunday, December 8 and Wednesday, December 11).

The 'Homeland' star shared that he would love nothing more than to return to the live stage, not in a straight drama but in a full-out musical!

London director, Ian Marshall Fisher has rediscovered the long lost play written by the unique collaboration of Orson Welles and Cole Porter, AROUND THE WORLD. This historical Welles and Porter partnership (Citizen Kane & Touch Of Evil meets Kiss Me, Kate & Anything Goes) is based on their take on Jules Verne's Around The World in 80 Days. AROUND THE WORLD will play a series of 'Benefit/Fundraising' performances in London's Lilian Baylis Theatre, Sadler's Wells, and will be unveiled to Americans for the first time in over seventy years at New York's Mint Theatre.

Acclaimed actor, writer and theatre director Simon Callow, CBE, will receive The Stage Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Theatre at the ceremony for the 2013 UK Theatre Awards on Sunday 20 October at London's historic Guildhall.

Broadway Records/Yellow Sound Label's original Broadway cast recording of the Tony Award-winning MATILDA THE MUSICAL is now available for digital download and will be available at the Shubert Theatre beginning tomorrow, September 27, 2013. The CD will be available in stores on Tuesday, October 22, 2013. The album can be pre-ordered at www.BroadwayRecords.com.

The Dallas Opera has announced the opening production of their 2013-2014 “By Love Transformed” Season: Georges Bizet's colorful, sensual and passionate 19th century masterpiece, CARMEN, one of the most beloved and popular works in the entire opera canon.

Roundabout Theatre Company has officially announced that Oscar nominee Michelle Williams will star for the first time on Broadway as 'Sally Bowles' in its upcoming production of Cabaret. She will take the stage at Studio 54 alongside Alan Cumming as the Emcee, reprising the role that won him a Tony Award in 1998.

PHILOMENA, starring Dame Judi Dench and Steve Coogan, will premiere In Competition at Venice Film Festival and will be a Special Presentation at Toronto International Film Festival. Check out a new clip from the film below!