Saturday, June 29th
(Lenox, MA) – Shakespeare & Company celebrates its 42nd Season, Saturday, June 29th with its annual summer Gala. This year, Artistic Director Allyn Burrows has invited Academy Award-winning filmmaker and visual effects pioneer, Douglas Trumbull (2001: A Space Odyssey, Blade Runner, Star Trek: The Motion Picture), to share with us his vision and invention of cutting edge film technology through Hamlet scenes. The Company is proud to honor Douglas and Julia Trumbull for their innovation and artistry with this event. The night’s program will be enhanced through performances by renowned cellist Yehuda Hanani (Close Encounters with Music) and Shakespeare & Company actors.
“We are truly delighted to honor Doug and Julia Trumbull at our Gala this year,” said Artistic Director Allyn Burrows. “Doug is a creative genius and a filmmaking icon. We’re very fortunate to call the Trumbulls our friends and look forward to tipping our hat to them on this special night!”
Douglas Trumbull is an Academy Award-winning film director and film technology visionary who has been pioneering the future of cinema at Trumbull Studios in New Marlborough, MA. He has been developing an advanced image technology called Magi, which he is using for scenes during the Shakespeare & Company Gala, creating a seemingly live interaction between projected imagery on stage with live performers.
“Working in collaboration with Shakespeare & Company to create this unique theatrical moment has been a long-time passion of mine – showing that we can seamlessly blend projected images with live performers on stage in order to expand the potential of theatrical illusions,” said Trumbull.
Co-chaired by Nancy Feldman and Phoebe Giddon, the evening will begin al fresco at 5:30pm at Shakespeare & Company (70 Kemble Street, Lenox MA) in Shakespeare’s Garden with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. Festivities will continue in the Tina Packer Playhouse with groundbreaking cinematic performance led by Trumbull, cello music provided by critically-acclaimed Yehuda Hanani, and appearances by a host of beloved Shakespeare & Company actors. Following the performance, guests will enjoy an elegant dinner from SoMa Catering and the inaugural presentation of the Philip Heller Distinguished Service Award. After dinner, guests will be invited to join the entire Company for desserts and dancing under the stars.
Premium Tables seating eight guests may be reserved: $25,000 for Diamond Tables, $10,000 for Gold Tables, or $5,000 for Silver Tables. Gold Tickets are priced at $750, and Silver Tickets are $400. All tickets include admission to the performance, cocktail reception and dinner, dancing, and dessert. Festive cocktail dress is appropriate. To reserve your seats or for more information, please call 413-637-1199 ext. 105 or visit www.shakespeare.org/gala.
The 2019 Gala Committee includes: Nancy Feldman (co-chair), Phoebe Giddon (co-chair), Judy Boomer, Yuki Cohen, Audrey Friedner, Anita Heller, Beverly Hyman, Ella Loudon, Michael A. Miller, Mindi Morin, Claudia Perles, Margery Steinberg, and Suzanne Werner.
The Shakespeare & Company Board of Trustees includes: Kenneth E. Werner (Chair), Jeffrey B. Konowitch (Vice Chair), Barry R. Shapiro (Vice Chair), Suzanne Werner (Treasurer), Michael A. Miller (Clerk), Allyn Burrows (Artistic Director/President), Jerome Berko, Sandra Bourgeois, George Camarda, MaConnia Chesser, Kevin G. Coleman, Nancy Edman Feldman, Gerald Friedman, M.D., Ph.D., Michael Fuchs, Phoebe L. Giddon, Michael Helfer, Anita Heller, Beverly Hyman, Erick J. Lucera, Barri Marks, Maureen O’Hanlon, Helga S. Orthofer, Tina Packer, Claudia Perles, Andrew D. Rothstein, Scott Rubinow, William M. Ryan, David A. Smith, Robert B. Strassler, and John Douglas Thompson.
The Company looks forward to celebrating the future of the performing arts at Shakespeare & Company by honoring Douglas and Julia Trumbull within our community of Berkshire artists and supporters. For questions please contact Senior Development Officer Natalie Johnsonius Neubert at 413-637-1199 ext. 180 or via email at nneubert@shakespeare.org. Press who are interested in covering the Gala can reserve tickets to the cocktail hour and performance by contacting Publicity Director Molly Merrihew via email mmerrihew@shakespeare.org.
2019 Gala Schedule
5:30pm – Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres in Shakespeare’s Garden
6:30pm – A unique production blending the cinematic innovation of Academy Award-winning filmmaker Douglas Trumbull and music by cellist Yehuda Hanani with performances by Shakespeare & Company artists in the Tina Packer Playhouse.
7:30pm – Dinner at sunset from SoMa Catering and the presentation of the Philip Heller Distinguished Service Award under the Gala tent
9:00pm – Dessert and Dancing into the night under the Gala Tent
About the Philip Heller Distinguished Service Award
Established in 2019, the Philip Heller Distinguished Service Award Fund was created by Anita Heller in memory of her husband Philip Heller, who served as pro bono legal counsel to Shakespeare & Company from its inception in 1978 until Heller’s death in 2018. Recognizing Heller’s commitment to community service and tireless support of the Shakespeare & Company property, the Philip Heller Distinguished Service Award Fund will be awarded annually to a member of the community for his or her extraordinary service to Shakespeare & Company. Income from the Fund will be used to make improvements to Shakespeare & Company’s campus.
About Yehuda Hanani
Yehuda Hanani has received acclaim across the globe for his charismatic playing and profound interpretations. An extraordinary recitalist, he is equally renowned for performances with orchestras such as the Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Berlin Radio Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, Buenos Aires Philharmonic, Belgrade Symphony, Irish National Symphony, Honolulu Symphony, Seoul Symphony, Chamber Orchestra Kremlin, and the BBC Welsh Symphony. His engaging chamber music with commentary series, “Close Encounters With Music,” has captivated audiences from Miami to Kansas City, Omaha, Calgary, Scottsdale, the Berkshires, and at the Frick Collection in New York City. He has been the subject of hundreds of articles and interviews in the media, and his weekly program on NPR affiliate station WAMC Northeast Radio, Classical Music According to Yehuda, attracts thousands of fans. A prolific recording artist, his pioneering recording of the monumental Alkan Cello Sonata received a Grand Prix du Disque nomination. He is Professor of Cello at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and presents master classes internationally at conservatories and for orchestras, including the Juilliard School, University of Indiana at Bloomington, New England Conservatory, McGill University, Peabody Conservatory, Paris Conservatoire, Berlin Hochschule für Music, Royal Academy of Music in London, Tokyo National University, Jerusalem Academy of Music, Guildhall School in London, Central Conservatory of Shanghai and Central Conservatory of Beijing, and the New World Symphony in Miami. In recognition of his distinguished teaching, he was given the title of honorary professor of the Tianjin Conservatory, China.
About Douglas Trumbull
Visionary filmmaker, innovator and entrepreneur, Douglas Trumbull has enjoyed a long and prestigious technological and creative career in filmmaking and entertainment technologies. Trumbull’s early career included creating multiplane artwork and illustrations for To The Moon and Beyond for the 1964 New York Worlds Fair. This film was seen by Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, and led to Trumbull’s pioneering work as one of four photographic effects supervisors on 2001: A Space Odyssey which won the Academy Award for best visual effects in 1968. He subsequently influenced moviegoers around the world with stunning visual effects in films such as The Andromeda Strain, Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, Star Trek: the Motion Picture, and Blade Runner. In addition, Trumbull directed and produced the feature films Silent Running and Brainstorm. He has directed numerous Expo and special venue films, videos and attractions and has been awarded more than twenty patents, including one for the first entertainment simulator ride (Back To The Future – The Ride at Universal Studios) and another for the Academy Award-winning Showscan® process for high speed 70mm cinematography. In 1991 he developed and produced three attractions called Secrets Of The Luxor Pyramid for the Luxor Hotel, in Las Vegas. In 1994 Trumbull merged his company Ridefilm Corporation with IMAX and helped launch the successful IMAX IPO that brought IMAX into the commercial feature film marketplace around the world. Trumbull’s company ENTERTAINMENT DESIGN WORKSHOP (EDW) was founded in 1997 as a cutting-edge creative design firm specializing in the development of advanced integrated systems for high-resolution digital production utilizing virtual sets. EDW completed work on The Book Of Pooh, a high profile virtual set television series for Disney Studios based upon the beloved classic Winnie the Pooh, using puppeted versions of the Pooh characters, employing virtual sets, motion control cameras, and real-time compositing techniques. During this time, he also developed an all-electronic, digital projection simulation ride module for the Hitachi Corporation, in collaboration with IMAX. In 2000, Trumbull sold his facility to the Visionaries Institute of Suffolk University, where they provided the world’s only graduate program in philanthropic media. While continuing to write, tour, and speak to film students and technology companies around the world, Douglas Trumbull has continued to be fascinated with the challenges of making movies. With the digital tools available today and the fast pace of developing technology to work with, he has set up TRUMBULL STUDIOS in Western Massachusetts. Trumbull continues to experiment and push the edge of giant screen, high frame-rate, extreme brightness 3D, and virtual digital production. He plans to direct one or more feature motion pictures in the near future that will introduce a new “first person” cinematic language that will seem like a live event. Trumbull has been the recipient of the American Society of Cinematographer’s Lifetime Achievement Award for his outstanding contributions in the field of filmmaking. is an Honorary Member of the Visual Effects Society, an award only a few have received. In 2012 Trumbull was honored with the Tesla Award from the International Press Academy, and the George Melies Award was presented to him by the Visual Effects Society. He proudly accepted the Prestigious Gorden E. Sawyer Academy Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
About Shakespeare & Company
Located in the beautiful Berkshires of Western Massachusetts, Shakespeare & Company is one of the leading Shakespeare festivals of the world. Founded in 1978, the organization attracts over 40,000 patrons annually. The Company is also home to an internationally renowned Center for Actor Training and award-winning Education Program. More information is available at www.shakespeare.org.
