HAMLET, CYMBELINE & More Set for Michigan Shakespeare Festival's 2014 Season

The Michigan Shakespeare Festival officially announced their 2014 Season on Saturday night at the Scenes & Sonnets From Shakespeare event, starring Janet Haley and David Turrentine, and sponsored by JTV's Karen and Bart Hawley. The lineup for the 20th Anniversary Season will be Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, and Shakespeare's romantic adventure Cymbeline.

Six discounted previews, sponsored by Jackson's JTV and The Commercial Exchange, will begin each run, followed by Press Opening Night on the third performance of each production. Regular performances are Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. with Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:00 p.m. All three productions are run in repertory. All performances will be held at the Baughman Theatre, located in the Potter Center on the campus of Jackson College, 2111 Emmons Road, Jackson MI 49201.

The 2014 Season continues Artistic Director Janice L. Blixt's preference of choosing a well-known and beloved Shakespeare play, a lesser-produced work in the canon, and a classical non-Shakespearian play. "It's our 20th Anniversary and Shakespeare's 450th birthday. If ever there was a perfect time to do Hamlet, it's now." Blixt will direct both Hamlet and the classical farce The Importance of Being Earnest. The Festival is pleased to announce that Robert Kauzlaric, director of She Stoops to Conquer (2013 Season), Love's
Labour's Lost (2012 Wilde Award "Best of the Bard") and Tartuffe (2011 Season) will return this summer to helm Cymbeline.

MSF Artistic Associate Janet Haley (Flint, Michigan) is returning to play Gertrude in Hamlet, and the Queen in Cymbeline. The Festival is proud to introduce Shawn Pfautsch, making his Festival debut as Hamlet. Pfautsch is a regional theatre actor hailing from Chicago with credits at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Hypocrites Theatre Company and the House. Artistic Associate designers Jeromy Hopgood (Scenic), Katie Hopgood (Composer/Sound Designer), David Blixt (Fight Director) and Lighting Designer Diane Fairchild are also returning for the 20th Anniversary Season. "Our 20th Anniversary Season is going to have something for everybody, from Shakespeare's most famous tragedy to uproarious comedy. With the return of so many talented Artistic Associates and new talent joining the Festival, it is a year not to be missed," stated Managing Director Julie Brunzell.

Tickets for the 2014 Season are now on sale, including season Flex Passes, and can be purchased by calling the Potter Center Ticket Office at 517-796-8600 or by visiting www.michiganshakespearefestival.com. A Flex Pass will include one ticket to each production, and show dates and times can be chosen at the time of purchase, or at a later date. The Potter Center Ticket Office is open Monday - Friday, 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. and one hour prior to show time. The ticket office is located within the Potter Center at 2111 Emmons Road, Jackson MI 49201. The Michigan Shakespeare Festival is offering a 5% discount on tickets and Flex Passes purchased before December 31, 2013 for regular 2014 performances. This offer can be redeemed by mentioning ticket code MSF20132014 when placing orders by phone.

Founded in 1995, the Michigan Shakespeare Festival is a 501 (c)(3) not-for-profit professional theatre company operating under a League of Regional Theatres Letter of Agreement with the Actors' Equity Association. The MSF is dedicated to entertaining and educating a broad-based audience through professional performances of Shakespeare's works and other classic plays. In 2003 the MSF's quality productions earned it the designation as "The Official Shakespeare Festival of the State of Michigan" from the Michigan State Legislature. The MSF performs a repertory season of three productions annually at The Baughman Theatre, located in Jackson College's Potter Center.

Poster Design by Brian M. Preuss

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