JOHN STEINBECK’S Of Mice and Men FIRST BROADWAY PRODUCTION TO BE FILMED AS PART OF LONDON’S
NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE STARRING JAMES FRANCO, CHRIS O’DOWD, LEIGHTON MEESTER, JIM NORTON;
DIRECTED BY ANNA D. SHAPIRO
“Brilliant! Flawless, beautifully acted and emotionally devastating.” – Variety
“A thrilling evening in the theatre!” – NPR
“Painfully honest and powerfully moving, two qualities that are no longer to be found with any regularity on Broadway.” – The Wall Street Journal
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David Binder is pleased to announce an international broadcast of the critically-acclaimed, smash-hit revival of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men will be the first Broadway show filmed by National Theatre Live. Starring Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner James Franco, BAFTA and Tony Award nominee Chris O’Dowd, Leighton Meester andTony and Olivier Award winner Jim Norton, and directed by Tony Award winner Anna D. Shapiro, Of Mice and Men will be filmed at the Longacre Theatre (220 West 48 Street) and distributed by National Theatre Live. Screening dates for Of Mice and Men will be announced shortly.
“We are thrilled to be working with David Binder and his Of Mice and Men team, and to include this great production of an American classic in our National Theatre Live program,” says David Sabel, the National Theatre’s Director of Broadcast and Digital. “These broadcasts have enabled millions more people around the world to see great theatre from the UK and now the US.”
“We are humbled that Of Mice and Men will be the first Broadway show National Theatre Live will be adding to their prestigious series of over 40 UK productions,” says Tony Award-winning producer David Binder, “I can’t think of a greater honor that could be bestowed on this production of Steinbeck’s masterwork than to have an opportunity for millions of theater lovers around the world to see our production under the auspices of National Theatre Live.”
Now celebrating its 5th year broadcasting live performances to cinema screens globally, National Theatre Live has now been experienced by over 3 million people worldwide. The first season began in June 2009 with the acclaimed production of Phédre starring Helen Mirren. Recent broadcasts have included the award-winning original West End production of War Horse, NT’s 50th anniversary celebration Live from the National Theatre: 50 Years on Stage, Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller in Frankenstein directed by Danny Boyle, Rory Kinnear in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Adrian Lester and Rory Kinnear in Shakespeare’s Othello, and productions from outside the National including Shakespeare’s Macbeth with Kenneth Branagh and Alex Kingston from the Manchester International Festival, Tom Hiddleston in the Donmar Warehouse production of Coriolanus, and the record-breaking and award winning West End production of The Audience starring Helen Mirren as The Queen.
Of Mice and Men was the first production of the spring to recoup its full capitalization in only twelve weeks. The week ending July 20, 2014, Of Mice and Men set a new record at Broadway’s Longacre with a Gross of $929,342.80. The critically acclaimed production opened on Wednesday, April 16, and will play through Sunday, July 27, 2014 at Broadway’s Longacre Theatre.
Of Mice and Men features Ron Cephas Jones, Alex Morf, Joel Marsh Garland, James McMenamin, Jim Ortlieb and Jim Parrack.
The creative team for Of Mice and Menincludes scenic design by Tony Award winner Todd Rosenthal,costume design by the international, Emmy Award-winning designer of the London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony, Suttirat Larlarb, lighting design by 2014 Tony Award nominee Japhy Weideman, sound design by Rob Milburn & Michael Bodeen, original music by David Singer, fight direction by Thomas Schall, hair & wig design by Charles G. LaPointe and casting by Calleri Casting.
Of Mice and Men on Broadway is produced by David Binder, Kate Lear, Darren Bagert, Adam Zotovich, Latitude Link/Piedmont Productions, Raise the Roof, Paula Marie Black, Marc Turtletaub, Ruth Hendel/Barbara Whitman, Marianne Mills/Jayne Baron Sherman, Martin Massman, Judy Kent/Wendy Knudsen, Kevin Niu, Michael Watt and The Shubert Organization. 101 Productions, Ltd are the executive producers.
Adapted from his own classic novel, John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Menis an essential adventure, an inspirational portrait of the American spirit and a heartbreaking testament to the bonds of friendship.
Of Mice and Men tells the story of George (James Franco) and Lennie (Chris O’Dowd), an unlikely pair of friends drifting from job to job across the farms and fields of California, holding fast to their dream of one day having an acre of land they can call their own.
National Theatre Live events are distributed outside the U.K. through New York-based BY Experience, Inc, the pioneer of global live “alternative content” digital cinema events. For more information visitwww.byexperience.net
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For more information about Of Mice and Men, visit http://www.ofmiceandmenonbroadway.com/.
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