Booking Open for 1998 Open Air Season

The Open Air Theatre at Regent's Park, home of the New Shakespeare Company, has opened booking for its 1998 summer season which will feature four major productions in repertory. The season will begin Friday 22 May and run to Saturday 5 September 1998.

This year's two Shakespeare works will be the perennial favourite A Midsummer Night's Dream (opens 26 May, previews from 22 May), a repeat of Rachel Cavanagh's 1997 production but with a predominantly new cast, and tragi-comedy Troilus and Cressida (opens 11 June, previews from 9 June).

This year's musical will be Gentlemen Prefer Blondes(opens 23 July, previews from 21 July). Set in the 1920s, it tells the story of gold-digger Lorelei Lee, made famous by Marilyn Monroe in the 1950s film. Lorelei's tycoon fiancé is played by Clive Rowe, winner of the 1997 Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Nicely Nicely Johnson in the RNT's production of Guys & Dolls. The last London production of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes was staged in 1962.

The 1998 children's production will be a new adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book (opens 4 August). Building on the success of the company's first youth theatre production last year (Watership Down), open auditions will be held for the 35-strong cast of 12 to 16-year-olds.

The venue will also present an eclectic mix of Sunday concerts and late night events.

The Open Air Theatre at Regent's Park is the best known and only professional outdoor theatre in the UK. Open-air performances have been taking place in the Park since early this century, but it wasn't until 1932 that the Open Air Theatre itself was officially founded by Robert Atkins and Sydney Carroll. Totally renovated, today's theatre is one of the largest in London with a capacity of 1,200.

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