Nureyev's Eyes at Good Theater

Good Theater continues its 20th anniversary season with NUREYEV’S EYES, running February 22nd through March 12th. Directed by James Noel Hoban, the production will star Joseph Bearor as Jamie Wyeth and Michael Grew as Rudolf Nureyev, and feature a set by James Noel Hoban and Craig Robinson, props by Annon Bill, costume design by Michelle Handley, lighting design by Iain Odlin, and stage management by Michael Lynch. NUREYEV’S EYES will play at Good Theater’s home, the St. Lawrence Arts Center, 76 Congress Street, Portland. For tickets and information, please call the Box Office at (207) 835-0895 or visit www.goodtheater.com.

In the 1970s, Jamie Wyeth did a series of portraits of the famed dancer Rudolf Nureyev. In the beginning, the two could barely stand one another, but as the work progressed, they came to find that they shared more in common than they ever could have expected. Starring Michael Grew in his Good Theater debut as Rudolf Nureyev and Good Theater veteran Joseph Bearor as Jamie Wyeth, this look into the lives of two fascinating creators is one that no artist or admirer of the arts should miss. 

Director James Noel Hoban shares “It's a witty and engaging deep dive into an artistic collaboration that grew into an enduring friendship. It explores ambition, fame, the weight of legacy, the creative process, and ultimately what it takes to truly open up and trust another person.”

“...an intriguing study in how two very different people can bond at a creative level and positively affect each other.” - The New York Times

“Nureyev's Eyes is an inventive piece of theater…you will reflect on it long after the curtain call.” - BroadwayWorld.com 

Rudolf Nureyev (March 17, 1938 - January 6, 1993) was a Soviet-born ballet dancer of Tatar descent who spent his youth in Ufa, the capital of the Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (now Bashkortostan republic, Russia). He began his ballet studies at age 11, left school at 15, and supported himself by dancing. At 17 he entered the Leningrad Ballet School, where he was taught by Alexander Pushkin. After graduating in 1958, he became a soloist with the Leningrad (St. Petersburg) Kirov (now Mariinsky) Ballet and danced leading roles with its touring company. While in Paris with the Kirov Ballet in June 1961, Nureyev eluded Soviet security men at the airport and requested asylum in France. He said later that the rigidly organized Soviet ballet had limited his opportunities to dance frequently and to perform in a variety of roles. After his defection he danced with the Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas and made his American debut in 1962, appearing on American television and with Ruth Page’s Chicago Opera Ballet. Later that year he joined the Royal Ballet (London) as permanent guest artist, but he never became a member of a major dance troupe in the West, preferring to work with various companies on a temporary basis. He was a popular guest artist in companies large and small throughout the world. Nureyev’s capabilities also extended to modern repertoires, and he performed in works by Martha Graham, Murray Louis, and Paul Taylor. His autobiography, Nureyev, was published in 1962. In 1973 he codirected (with Robert Helpmann) and starred in a filmed version of Don Quixote, and had acting roles in the films Valentino (1977) and Exposed (1983). Nureyev became an Austrian citizen in 1982. From 1983 to 1989 he was artistic director of the Paris Opéra Ballet. He continued to choreograph for the American Ballet Theatre and the Paris Opéra Ballet even as his health declined from AIDS-related complications. He died in 1993 at the age of 54.

Jamie Wyeth (July 6, 1946 - present) was born into the distinguished Wyeth family dynasty begun by his grandfather, N.C. Wyeth, the famous illustrator of classic literary novels such as Robinson Crusoe, and continued by his father Andrew Wyeth, who is among America’s most popular artists and is known most widely for the painting Christina’s World.  Jamie has continued the tradition handed down to him.  Famous for his American Realist paintings depicting farm animals and coastal Maine lighthouses, along with many important portraits throughout his career, Jamie’s works are included in the permanent collections  of the National Gallery of Art, National Portrait Gallery, John F. Kennedy Library, Museum of Modern Art, Joslyn Art Museum, Farnsworth Art Museum, Delaware Art Museum, Brandywine River Museum of Art, Morgan Library and Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Whitney Museum of American Art, Greenville County Museum of Art, and Bowdoin College Museum of Art. Jamie has illustrated three children's books. The first, in 1979, The Stray, written by his mother, Betsy James Wyeth, and published by Farrar, Straus, Giroux; Cabbages and Kings, written by Elizabeth Seabrook, published in 1997 by Viking Children's Books, Penguin Putnam Inc.; and in 2011, Sammy in the Sky, written by Barbara Walsh, Candlewick Press. Jamie holds honorary degrees from Elizabethtown College, 1975, Elizabethtown, PA; Dickinson School of Law, 1983, Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA; Pine Manor College, 1987, Chestnut Hill, MA; University of Vermont, 1988, Burlington, VT; Westbrook College, Portland, ME, 1993; and the University of Maine, 2001. 

NUREYEV’S EYES plays Wednesdays at 7:00, Thursday at 7:00, Fridays at 7:30, Saturdays at 3:00 and 7:30, and Sundays at 2:00. Masks will be required for all audience members at Thursday and Sunday performances. All tickets are $30, and may be purchased online by visiting the company’s website www.goodtheater.com or by calling the Box Office at (207) 835-0895.