The Royal Shakespeare Company productions of King Lear and The Seagull — both starring Ian McKellen and directed by Trevor Nunn — will arrive at the West End’s New London Theatre Nov. 12. News of the transfer comes just before the delayed press performance of McKellen’s Lear, which will be shown to the critics as a matinee, followed by an evening performance of The Seagull, in which McKellen plays Sorin. The Shakespeare and Chekhov plays will run in repertory at Stratford-upon-Avon’s Courtyard Theatre until June 23. The RSC made the decision to postpone the original April 3 press night of King Lear after Frances Barber, who plays Goneril, sustained a knee injury in a bicycle accident. [More]
Category: Ian McKellen
Today is Ian McKellen’s Birthday! Sir Ian was born on May 25th, 1939 in Lancashire, England. That makes him 68 years old today, happy birthday Ian!
Veteran actor Ian McKellen’s much anticipated first turn in the lead role in Shakespeare’s King Lear is set to reach Australia this year. Among his generation’s greatest actors, McKellen has been confirmed to lead the renowned Royal Shakespeare Company in productions of the theatre classics King Lear and Chekhov’s The Seagull for a limited 10-performance run at the Arts Centre in Melbourne from July 28. The tour will reunite McKellen with director Trevor Nunn for the first time in 17 years. [More]
Theatre fans can look forward to an exciting and challenging mix of classical, experimental and original theatre in the spring and summer season and also some major stars. Sir Ian McKellen comes to Stratford as part of an ensemble performing King Lear and Chekhov’s The Seagull, under the direction of the acclaimed Trevor Nunn. The two have a long relationship having worked together on Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth and Othello, among others. McKellen, who has most recently appeared on the big screen in the Da Vinci Code and as Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings, will take the roles of Lear and Sorin; the latter being taken on a shared basis. Appearing as Goneril and Arkadina is Frances Barber. [More]
Gandalf was always a tricky chap to track down in Middle Earth, but now the dark lords of Burnley borough council have been accused of making the quest harder. Thousands of hobbit pilgrims have visited the wrong address in the Lancashire town, according to Sir Ian McKellen who played the wizard in the The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. For years a blue English Heritage plaque fixed to 25 Scot Park Road, Burnley, claimed it as the birthplace of McKellen, whose father was a civil engineer and Methodist lay preacher. But McKellen, who is 67, denies he was born there. [More]
A repeat airing of Ian McKellen on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ will air tonight on ABC. If you haven’t seen it, it’s new to you, if you want to catch it online follow out original post about it here. [More]