Fiona Shaw, Patrick Stewart, et al. to Appear at BAM in 2008

Award-winning actors Fiona Shaw and Patrick Stewart will be among the artists appearing at the Brooklyn Academy of Music during its spring 2008 season.

Shaw will star opposite Tim Potter in Deborah Warner’s production of Samuel Beckett’s two-character drama Happy Days, January 8-February 2. Shaw and Warner have collaborated on numerous plays, including The Waste Land, Julius Caesar, and Medea, which played at BAM before moving to Broadway in 2002. Shaw and Warner both received Obie Awards and Tony Award nominations for their work on that show.

Stewart will come to BAM, February 12-March 22, in the title role of Rupert Goold’s acclaimed production of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, which is currently playing in the West End. Stewart, who just won England’s TMA Award for his performance, will be joined by Kate Fleetwood (Lady Macbeth), Michael Feast (Macduff), Martin Turner (Banquo), Paul Shelley (Duncan), Scott Handy (Malcolm), Tim Treloar (Ross), and Suzanne Burden (Lady Macduff).

BAM’s third major theatrical event will be a revival of the landmark 1972 play Sizwe Banzi is Dead, written by Athol Fugard, John Kani, and Winston Ntshona, to run April 9-13. Kani and Nthshona will once again star in the piece, just as they did for the show’s 1974 Broadway production. The pair won the 1975 Tony for Best Actor in a Play.

Other highlights of BAM’s season include appearances by R&B singer Mavis Staples (January 22), Nina Ananiashvilli and the State Ballet of Georgia (February 27-March 2), and the Brazilian dance troupe Grupo Corpo (March 25-29). Also on the roster are Jonathan Miller’s production of the little-known opera Il matrimonio segreto (May 28-June 1) and a special engagement by the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater (June 3-8).

For more information, visit www.bam.org.