Mendes, BAM, Old Vic to Present 3-Year Touring Rep Program

The Bridge Project, presented by Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes (Gypsy, Cabaret, American Beauty), the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the Old Vic in London, will offer three year's worth of touring productions that will play BAM, the Old Vic and other international theatres, according to Variety.

"Each year beginning in 2008, Mendes will direct a company of actors, half of whom will be British and half American, performing two classics in repertory.  First year will see Brit actor Stephen Dillane in Hamlet and The Tempest; in 2009 Simon Russell Beale stars in The Winter's Tale and The Cherry Orchard, while the 2010 programming has not been nailed down," according to the article.  Hamlet and The Tempest will play the Piccolo Theatre in Milan, as well as BAM and the Old Vic.

Productions will rehearse, as well as premiere, at BAM (where The Bridge Project is the venue's first producing venture in 20 years).  Kevin Spacey, the artistic director of the Old Vic who is back on Broadway with A Moon for the Misbegotten, is among the producing parties who are in the process of raising $2 million for The Bridge Project, which will be funded mostly from sponsors and trust foundations.

"It's right in line with presenting classical work, particularly in rep.  In my first few years (as a.d. of the Old Vic), I had chosen not to focus on the classics, but this is the perfect time for us to challenge ourselves," said Spacey.

Due to an Equity deal, the productions will allow for a 50-50 split in British/American actor nationality.  According to Mendes, a number of American stars are in negotiations to sign on the project.

Visit www.bam.org or www.oldvictheatre.com for more information on BAM and the Old Vic.

Photo of Sam Mendes by Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.