THEATRE NEWS: ShawFest attendance rises; casting underway for 2012
2 NOV/11
Pictured: GBS

JOHN COULBOURN - QMI Agency

For the Shaw Festival, the 50th season proved to be a winning one, with attendance for the 2011 campaign, which ended Oct. 30, up 5% over its 2010 season. Works by Bernard Shaw, for whom the Festival is named, proved particularly successful, drawing a total of 12,500 more patrons than in the previous season. Meanwhile, My Fair Lady, the musical based on Shaw's Pygmalion, became the best-selling show in the history of the Festival, playing to a total of 95,000 patrons throughout the summer.

With their golden anniversary season now behind them, casting is already underway for the Festival's 2012 season. Casting announced earlier this week will see Thom Allison and Kate Hennig return to the Shaw in the upcoming production of Ragtime, joining Patty Jamieson, Jay Turvey, Benedict Campbell, Alana Hibbert, Julie Martell and Evan Alexander Smith under the direction of artistic director Jackie Maxwell.

Meanwhile, Steven Sutcliffe, who essayed the role of Mother's Younger Brother in the original production of Ragtime, returns to the Shaw company again, playing opposite Moya O'Connell, in the Festival's production of Noel Coward's Present Laughter, under the direction of David Schurmann. Claire Jullien, Mary Haney, Patrick McManus, Gray Powell, Julia Course Jonathan Tan and Jennifer Phipps have also been cast in the Coward classic.

Finally, Nicole Underhay will tackle the title role in the Fest's production of His Girl Friday, playing opposite Campbell, Neil Barclay, Kevin Bundy, Kevin Hanchard, Peter Krantz, Ric Reid and Jeff Meadows, all under the direction of Jim Mezon.