BAM and The Old Vic announce The Bridge Project Benefit, celebrating the inaugural year of repertory co-productions from BAM, The Old Vic, and Neal Street Productions. The February 17 event begins at 6pm with cocktails and dinner onstage at the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House followed by an 8pm performance of Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale at the BAM Harvey Theater, directed by Sam Mendes and featuring a star-studded, transatlantic cast including Simon Russell Beale, Sinéad Cusack, Richard Easton, Rebecca Hall, Josh Hamilton, and Ethan Hawke. The evening concludes with a post-performance dessert reception with the cast onstage at the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House. Benefit tickets can be purchased though BAM Patron Services at 718.636.4182.
Event Information
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Festive Attire
6pm: Cocktails and dinner, BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, Peter Jay Sharp Building, 30 Lafayette Ave, Brooklyn
8pm: Performance of Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale, BAM Harvey Theater, 651 Fulton St, Brooklyn
11pm: Post-performance dessert reception with cast, BAM Howard Gilman Opera House
About The Bridge Benefit
The pre-show cocktails and dinner along with the post-show dessert reception will be catered by Great Performances. DJs Andrew Andrew will provide dessert reception entertainment. The evening's décor, designed by Bella Meyer and Fleurs Bella, will play on the tension between hot and cold as metaphor for various polarities explored in Shakespeare's play. The lobby will reflect a glittering wintry environment, with BAM Artist Chris Piazza's large-scale sculpture "The Snowshoe Salesman" setting the tone. Inside, the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House stage will be divided into icy and lush halves, with snow-bedecked branches juxtaposed with large flowering trees. At the dessert reception, the stage will be transformed yet again, with a topiary of Hermione presiding over the festivities.
In one of Shakespeare's most unique plays-equal parts psychological drama and comedic farce-a critically-acclaimed cast, directed by Academy Award-winning director Sam Mendes, sinks its teeth into a decade-spanning saga of attempted murder, mistaken identity, and improbably happy endings. The New York Times praised Mendes' The Cherry Orchard, presented with The Winter's Tale as a double-bill of classic works for The Bridge Project's inaugural 2009 season, as "nimble" and "vibrantly acted," while The Wall Street Journal raved "there was never a moment when I was anything other than enthralled."
Single tickets start at $150 for performance with gallery seats and dessert reception only, or $1,000 for the entire evening with orchestra seats, including dinner. Tables of ten are available for $10,000-$25,000. Please call BAM Patron Services at 718.636.4182 to order tickets. All proceeds from this event will benefit BAM and The Old Vic.
During The Bridge Project Benefit, BAM will take a few moments to remember Gerald Schoenfeld, who was a terrific friend with an incomparable enthusiasm for theater. As the former Chairman of the Shubert Organization and the Shubert Foundation, he made a lasting impact on the entire theater community.
About BAM
Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is recognized internationally for its innovative programming of dance, music, theater, music-theater, opera, and film. BAM presents leading national and international artists and companies in its annual Spring Season and highlights groundbreaking, contemporary work in the performing arts with its Next Wave Festival each fall. Founded in 1983, the Next Wave is one of the world's most important festivals of contemporary performing arts. BAM Rose Cinemas features new, independent film releases and BAMcinématek-a curated, daily repertory film program.
BAM also serves New York City's diverse population through a weekend concert series in BAMcafé, community events, literary series, and a wide variety of educational programs. BAM, America's oldest performing arts center in continuous operation, has presented performances since 1861, and attracts an audience of 500,000 people each year. The institution is led by President Karen Brooks Hopkins and Executive Producer Joseph V. Melillo-each of whom has been associated with BAM for more than twenty years.
