,. JOHN SPRINGER ASSOCIATES, INC. PUBLIC RELATIONS 667 MADISON AVENUE NEW Y ORK, N.Y. 10021 421 - 6720 CONTACT: SUZANNE SALTER BROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC OPENS BRITISH THEATRE SEASON WITH BENEFIT The British Theatre Season at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the first such theatrical endeavor of its kind on the part of any performing arts institution in the United States, will open \'lith a benefit performance of "Richard I I," by the Royal Shakespeare Company, on January 9, 1974. The theatre event will be preceded by a buffet/reception. The performance will benefit the Academy's 'Performing Arts Program. The Earl of Cromer, the British Ambassador to the United States, Sir Donald Maitland, the British Ambassador to ·the United Nations, John Ford, C.B.E., the British Consul General in New York, Governor Nelson Rockefeller, Honorable Walter Annenberg, Honorable John V. Lindsay and Honorable Abraham D. Beame are Honorary Co-Chairmen. Consul General Ford will host a party in honor of the Benefit Committee on December 6. The production of "Richard II" has been hailed by London critics as "stunning," "brilliant," "fascinating," "one of the Royal Shakespeare's greatest triumphs" and the performances of Richard Pasco and Ian Richardson who alternate as Richard .•. more -2- and.Bolingbroke, as well as the direction of John Barton, have been reported in unanimous superlatives. In addition to the Royal Shakespeare Company ~=esentation, the three-month British Theatre Season will include performances by the Actors Comp ~ny and the Young Vic. In another unusual collaboration on the part of the Academy, m~ny members of the Royal Shakespeare Company will participate in semin ~rs and informal workshops at Brooklyn College in an international symposium coordinated by Sir Rudolf Bing. Chairpersons for the Brooklyn Academy British Theatre benefit are Barbaralee Diamonstein and Richard C. Sachs. Co-Chairpersons are Alexander H. Cohen, Joh~ T. DePalma, Mrs. Henry Epstein, Andrew M. Hay, C.B.E., Paul A. Lepercq, David Picker, Richardson Pratt, Jr., Major Max L. Shulman and Allan R. Tessler, The Benefit Committee includes Princess Luciana Pignatelli Avedon, Sybil Christopher, Honorable Richard M. Clurman, Aaron Copland, Joan Crawford, Joi n Fontaine, Lukas Foss, Rita Gam, Mr. and Mrs. David Gibbs, Brenden Gill, Paulette Goddard, J ~ s e ~h Heller, Jules Irving, Anne Jackson, Honorable Jacob K. Javits, Glynis Johns, Jasper Johns, Alfred Kazin, Louise Nevelson, Estelle Parsons, Eleanor Perry, Richard Rodgers, Bli Wallach and others. Tickets for the opening night benefit performance are priced at $100, $50, $25 and $10. The $100 and the $50 tickets include the dinner preceding the performance. The buffet/ reception comm~nces at 7:00p.m.; the curtain rises at 8:30p.m • .•. more -3- For tickets and information call Martha McGowan, Coordinator of the event at ~he Brooklyn Academy of Music, 30 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11217, (212) 636-4137. SFRDM BRITISH CALEDONIAN AIRWAYS ~HTmT• ·~r (~ • T "']'·· 1 ~ • ·,T \ ·r-T"'lt r f "~r, t ll•IIIU"' • r 1 )I'_ ~LJ.,.i'T'' T . I I ~.) ~ .J I • • ' J '" l . \ .r•. l J.l ' • ..l k,.) J .. 1t ..... 1: . ---- ~---~-~ ·----------- -1· 1.T FT r.ur L ,..,. JI"" r• ' 1 1 . 1'J LL i:.) . l' \.T .: l L, ACl"tD:: f.C O.F JVlUSIC • A J:IAJOH. 1 4 1 1 1 1 CJ..'lLJ'DO-rl""l ~ J. _r-1~ jL· ·1· .L'i.~ 'J' 11..1 "'"<• "•' .[''f' !. ~ \.).J:t' "lf'T ~ ..l.G I~L.ll.. ( •.. • ~ .._u\._d::,rr•Tr'R t 1 0)I.\ 'l'HI"D .LT.'JDC'T• .n.l.) I fTTij-1.' r•q,. 1 -.-~I 0) ..lJ.I'PJT'I('Tr . 0 -~ .L... ~'1."TI'"';"' t-:.1 1...)-'-J,. • u 0 .. , __ 1 'Jn-1.1-:-'• ·u, u ~ ~ ,. 1 c.••rr. l"fi-;'C'f'L'•\ T.,>i,' lll"Q"..., I cor\~p· ~Ty j Royl•. 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I'rJ I.)J."H C ll-J!.l ''.J.JU~J. ' . J. J\•1• r h•• T.LL,JH. · y·._,/J ~~ •1.• 'l)j I ,..., J'' r v T'' -, ·-'lt:;> L1d. u\...1, h vl'.,L ' ... , l. • ..1. .. , l r &i • .1 001'-J. r 'J'j ') ( 1 • r) E r l J • )' ( t .. l. ~-(J :)t - 'L()) BAm British Theatre Season The Brooklyn A cademy of Music For Immediate Release 30 Lafayette Avenue. Brooklyn, N.Y.11217 Press Office (212) 636-4123 January 7, 197 4 BRI: ISH THEATRE'SE:ASON AT THE BROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC The first British Theatr~ Season ever produced in North America was announced today by the Brooklyn Academy ot Music's Executive Director, Harvey Lichtenstein. In an exclusive engaoement, the Royal Shakespeare Company will present Richard II, and a dramatization uf the works of Sylvia Plath, plus }he Hollow Crown and Pleasure and Repentance; all in cooperation with the newly formed Brooklyn College School of the Performing Arts, where the Royal Shakespeare Company will simultaneously be in residence. Also headlinmg the four month festival will be the American debuts of the Actors Company, presenting Chekov's Wood Demon, R .D. Laing's Knots, Congreve's The Way of the World, and Shakespeare's King Lear; as well as Frank Dunlop's Young Vic Company in a repertory to include Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew plus two other productions, I Moliere's Scapino, and French Without Tears by Terrence Rattigan. "The Br itish Theatre Seaso n is the culmination of three years of planning which began with our presentation of the Royal Shakespeare Company production of A Midsummer Night's Dream directed by Peter Brook in 1 971," said L ichtenstein. "We are proud to have the Royal Shakespeare Company return, this time with their productions of Richard II and Sylvia Plath, and are additionally pleased to introduce the Young Vic and the Actors Company to American audiences," he continued. "We believe these to be three of the finest repertory companies in the western world, each with its individual approach to classical and contemporary theatre. This major theatre event would not have been possible without the support and cooperation given us by Brooklyn College and British Caledonian Airways." The entire festival will oe presented in association with British Caledonian Airways, and all three companies will be flying to New York via British Caledonian jet scheduled service. "As Europe's leading independent scheduled airline, British Caledonian Airways is proud to be associated wtih this important and historic event in the American theatre," said British Caledonian's Ke1th McArthur, Senior Vice President, North America. more ..... .. .Brit1sh Theatre Season at BAM ... Page 2 John W. Kneller, President of Brooklyn College, added that the Royal Shakespeare Company's residency would be a focal point of the spring semester at the college. "I cannot think," he said, "of a more auspicious beginning for our entry into the area of professional education in the performing arts, than with this unique opportunity for our students to work directly with members of the Royal Shakespeare Company." - 30- For further information, call Charles Ziff or Nigel Redden (212) 636-4123. .