Can’t get to New York? L.A. Theatre Works presents a high-definition screening of the Tony-nominated Broadway production of Oscar Wilde’s comedy The Importance of Being Earnest, directed by and starring Tony-nominee Brian Bedford at UCLA this June.
Angelenos will have the chance to see the original company in a first-class Broadway production while it’s still running – without having to buy a plane ticket or wait years for the national tour. The state-of-the-art James Bridges Theater is the main screening venue of the UCLA Department of Film, Television and Digital Media, an elegant, comfortable setting that enhances media presentations in a wide variety of film and video formats.
“The Bridges Theater is a unique facility in that we can screen a wide range of formats from the earliest, silent film projected at the correct speed – 16mm, 35mm, 70mm – to cutting edge HD projection, thanks to a generous contribution from Sony,†explains theater manager Cindy La Barre. “Our technical staff is the best there is. Having LATW screen The Importance of Being Earnest here is a thrill for us because it combines great theater and the latest in digital technology to reach a wide audience. This is what UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television is about.â€
This high-definition event brings the best of Broadway to movie audiences, and includes the added bonus of host David Hyde Pierce taking viewers backstage for special behind-the-scenes peek! Mr. Hyde Pierce says: “This delightful production of Earnest shouldn’t be missed, and for the people who can’t see it on Broadway, Broadway is coming to them.â€
Actor Alfred Molina and Oscar Wilde expert, UCLA School of Television, Film and Theater professor Michael Hackett will discuss the writer and the man in an intermission special.
The Importance of Being Earnest: Live in HD cast features the original company of this new Broadway production featuring Dana Ivey as “Miss Prism,†Paxton Whitehead as “Rev. Canon Chasuble,†Santino Fontana as “Algernon Moncrieff,†David Furr as “John Worthing,†Tim MacDonald as “Merriman,†Paul O’Brien as “Lane,†Charlotte Parry as “Cecily Cardew,†Sara Topham as “Gwendolen Fairfax†and Amanda Leigh Cobb as “Servant.†The design team includes Desmond Heeley (Sets & Costumes), Duane Schuler (Lights) and Drew Levy (Sound).
Charles Isherwood of the New York Times says: “The great actor Brian Bedford is brilliant in this funny and effervescent production. It’s one of the great performances of the season; to miss it would most definitely look like carelessness.†Scott Brown of NY Magazine says Earnest is “Funny as hell!†And Charles Spencer of the London Telegraph exclaims: “Brian Bedford’s production is the finest ‘Importance’ I have ever seen.
The Importance of Being Earnest: Live in HD was filmed and is being distributed to movie theaters and performing arts centers globally by New York-based BY Experience. Executive Producers for cinema are Julie Borchard-Young and Robert Borchard-Young for BY Experience, Susan A. Loewenberg for L.A. Theatre Works, and Harold Wolpert for Roundabout Theatre Company. Lead funding for this project is provided by the Sidney E. Frank Foundation.
L.A. Theatre Works (LATW) has been recording award-winning audio versions of stage plays, musicals, and novels for nearly three decades. Founded in 1974, LATW, under the leadership of Producing Director, Susan Albert Loewenberg, is a non-profit theatre and media arts organization which marries innovative forms of technology with timeless and compelling stories. LATW’s long-running weekly radio show, L.A. Theatre Works, is heard on NPR stations nationwide, and its unprecedented collection of over 400 recordings is available in thousands of libraries, via iTunes, Amazon, in bookstores and direct from LATW.org.
Four screenings of The Importance of Being Earnest: Live in HD will take place on June 2, 5, 23 and 26; James Bridges Theatre, UCLA School of Theatre, Film, Television, 235 Charles E. Young Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90095; $20; 323-827-0889; www.latw.org
