FILE - A Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012 photo from files showing British director Sam Mendes signing autographs as he arrives for the German premiere of the James Bond film "Skyfall" in Berlin. The return of director Sam Mendes and a long-awaited musical by Tori Amos are among productions slated for the 50th anniversary season at Britain's National Theatre, Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013. “Skyfall” filmmaker Mendes will direct a production of Shakespeare's "King Lear," starring Simon Russell Beale, opening next January. The 2013 season will see "The Light Princess," a musical adaptation of a 19th-century fairytale by Amos and playwright Samuel Adamson. First announced two years ago, it will finally open in October. (AP Photo/Gero Breloer, File)
January 30, 2013 - 6:14 AM
LONDON - The return of director Sam Mendes and a long-awaited musical by Tori Amos are among productions slated for the 50th anniversary season at Britain's National Theatre.
"Skyfall" filmmaker Mendes will direct a production of Shakespeare's "King Lear," starring Simon Russell Beale, opening next January. The 2013 season will see "The Light Princess," a musical adaptation of a 19th-century fairytale by Amos and playwright Samuel Adamson. First announced two years ago, it will finally open in October.
Artistic director Nicholas Hytner said Wednesday that "musicals just take a hell of a lot of writing and developing and testing out."
The season also includes two major American plays — James Baldwin's "The Amen Corner," set in a storefront church in Harlem, and Eugene O'Neill's monumental family drama "Strange Interlude."
News from © The Associated Press, 2013