Cate Blanchett-Led THE MAIDS and More Set for 2014 Lincoln Center Festival

Nigel Redden, director of Lincoln Center Festival today announced the 2014 Festival's line-up, which runs from July 7 through August 16, 2014, with performances by artists and ensembles from 11 countries unfolding in six venues on and off the Lincoln Center campus. These productions join the previously-announced Lincoln Center Festival and Park Avenue Armory co-presentation of Mieczyslaw Weinberg's opera, The Passenger, performed by Houston Grand Opera, directed by David Pountney, and conducted by Patrick Summers.

For the first time in the celebrated company's history, The Combined forces of the Bolshoi Ballet, Opera, Orchestra, and Chorus will perform in New York with ballet and opera-in-concert repertory that showcases the depth and range of their artistic tradition. The Bolshoi Ballet (Sergei Filin, Artistic Director) plans to bring dancers Svetlana Zakharova, David Hallberg, Maria Alexandrova, Ekaterina Shipulina, Vladislav Lantratov, Olga Smirnova, Ekaterina Krysanova, Anna Nikulina, Maria Vinogradova, Mikhail Lobukhin, Ruslan Skvortsov, Artem Ovcharenko and Denis Rodkin for the engagement of three evening-length ballets in the David H. Koch Theater: Alexei Fadeyechev's 1999 production of Don Quixote, based on choreography by Marius Petipa and Alexander Gorsky; Yuri Grigorovich's 2001 production of Swan Lake, one of the company's defining works; and Grigorovich's 1968 grand spectacle, Spartacus. The Bolshoi Ballet's last Lincoln Center Festival appearance was in 2000.

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In addition, the Bolshoi Opera, Orchestra and Chorus will perform for the first time in New York, giving two performances of a concert version of Rimsky-Korsakov's opera rarity, The Tsar's Bride, in Avery Fisher Hall. The ensemble includes singers Anna Aglatova, Dinara Alieva, Svetlana Shilova, Elena Manistina, Vyacheslav Pochapsky, Stanislav Trofimov, Elchin Azizov, Maksim Yasnopolsky, Oleg Tsybulko, Mikhail Gubsky, Boris Rudak, Stanislav Mostovoy, Marat Gali, Irina Udalova, Elena Novak, Pavel Valuzhin, Anna Matsey, and Sophia Kriklenko.

Last seen in New York in 2012 with its acclaimed production of Uncle Vanya, Sydney Theatre Company returns to the Festivalwith international stage and screen stars Cate Blanchett and Isabelle Huppert, joined by young newcomer Elizabeth Debickiin the U.S. premiere of Benedict Andrews' production of Jean Genet's dark, unsettling play, The Maids, in a new translation by STC Artistic Director Andrew Upton and Benedict Andrews.

Lincoln Center Festival welcomes Japan's leading Kabuki theater company, Heisei Nakamura-za, for its third Festivalappearance with its definitive production of a classic revenge tale, Kaidan Chibusa No Enoki (The Ghost Tale of the Wet Nurse Tree). The troupe made its sold-out North American debut with performances in a portable theater in Damrosch Park atLincoln Center Festival 2004, and returned to the Festival in 2007, performing to enthusiastic audiences in Avery Fisher Hall. Dating back to the 17th century, the Nakamura family is the oldest lineage in Kabuki history, passing the 400-year-old performance traditions from father to son through 19 generations. After the death of Nakamura Kanzaburo XVIII, his eldest son,Nakamura Kankuro VI, was elevated to the leadership of this treasured Kabuki dynasty in a historic accession ceremony.

Celebrating its 30th anniversary, the renowned Brussels-based danced company, Rosas, founded by dancer/choreographerAnne Teresa De Keersmaeker, makes its first appearance at Lincoln Center Festival in 15 years, with four seminal works. De Keersmaeker, who is credited with establishing Belgium's position as an important locus of modern dance, will dance in the company's three earliest works: Fase (1982), Rosas danst Rosas (1983), and Elena's Aria (1984). The fourth work isBartók/Mikrokosmos (1987) to live music performed by members of Ictus. Performances take place at Gerald W. Lynch Theater, John Jay College.

The New York premiere performances of the Houston Grand Opera production of The Passenger, Mieczyslaw Weinberg's uncompromising 1968 opera about the Holocaust, will include an enormous, multi-tiered set that takes full advantage of the scale of the Armory's soaring Wade Thompson Drill Hall. Prior to each performance of The Passenger, the ARC Ensemblefrom The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, will perform three chamber concerts featuring works by Mieczyslaw Weinberg in the newly-restored Board of Officers Room at Park Avenue Armory.

Tickets: Producers Circle tickets are on sale now for the Bolshoi Ballet and Opera and The Maids. Emailproducerscircle@lincolncenter.org or call 212-875-5466 for information on these packages. Lincoln Center Festival packages go on sale on January 13 to Friends of Lincoln Center and to the general public on January 17. Single tickets for the entire festival go on sale to Friends of Lincoln Center on March 24 and the general public on starting March 31. For more information and to buy tickets, visit LincolnCenterFestival.org or go to the Avery Fisher or Alice Tully Hall box offices, or call CenterCharge, 212-721-6500.