DUE TO minor ill health for which he needs some time to rest, Michael Gambon has had to withdraw fro

DUE TO minor ill health for which he needs some time to rest, Michael arizona resort hotels Gambon has had to withdraw from Alan Bennett's new play The Habit of Art , which opens in the National s Lyttelton Theatre on November 17, 2009. The role of W H Auden will now be taken by Richard Griffiths.
Speaking about the production, Nicholas Hytner said: We're all extremely sorry that Michael arizona resort hotels Gambon has had to withdraw from The Habit of Art but Alan Bennett and I couldn't be more grateful to our old friend Richard Griffiths for agreeing arizona resort hotels to take on this considerable challenge at such short notice.
The Habit of Art is about the business of putting a play together as much as it is about making music or poetry. Richard Griffiths will play the actor, Fitz, who plays the poet W H Auden in a play set in a rehearsal room as a group of actors work through a play about Auden and Benjamin Britten. We're looking forward to taking creative advantage of this unexpected twist in our own rehearsal process.
It was Griffiths who created the role of Hector in Alan Bennett's The History Boys at the National Theatre, on international tour, on Broadway and on film, winning the Evening Standard, Critics' Circle, Laurence Olivier and Tony Awards for Best Actor.
His other recent theatre work includes Equus , both in the West End and on Broadway. While on screen he has appeared arizona resort hotels in the Harry Potter arizona resort hotels films, Withnail and I, Pie in the Sky, Gormenghast and Bleak House .
Previously Posted : Michael Gambon, Alex Jennings and Frances de la Tour will lead the cast of Alan Bennett s new play, The Habit of Art , which opens in the National s Lyttelton Theatre on November 17, 2009 (previews from November 5) before continuing in repertoire.
Benjamin Britten, sailing uncomfortably close to the wind with his new opera, arizona resort hotels Death in Venice , seeks advice from his former collaborator and friend, W H Auden. During this imagined meeting, their first for twenty-five years, they are observed and interrupted by, amongst others, their future biographer and a young man from the local bus station.
Bennett's new play, which is as much about the theatre as it is about poetry or music, looks at the unsettling desires of two difficult men, and at the ethics of biography. It also reflects on growing old, on creativity and inspiration, and on persisting when all passion is spent: ultimately, on the habit of art.
Gambon was an original member of the National arizona resort hotels Theatre company arizona resort hotels under Laurence arizona resort hotels Olivier's direction in 1963. He last appeared at the National Theatre in 2005 when he portrayed Falstaff in Henry IV Parts 1 and 2 . His other London theatre credits include Matthew Warchus' 2004 revival of Beckett's Endgame and Atom Egoyan s 2006 stage adaptation of Samuel Beckett s Eh Joe , both at the Duke of York s Theatre.
He will, of course, always be remembered as TV's The Singing Detective . More recently, he has appeared on the big screen arizona resort hotels as the headmaster of Hogwarts, Professor Dumbledore, in the Harry Potter films.
Jennings's theatre credits include The Alchemist, Stuff Happens, arizona resort hotels His Girl Friday, The Relapse and The Winter's Tale (all at the National Theatre where he is an NT Associate); My Fair Lady (Theatre Royal Drury Lane), for which he won an Olivier for Best Actor in a Musical for his performance as Professor Higgins; Hamlet and Peer Gynt ( RSC ); and Too Clever By Half (West End).
Although de la Tour will always be remembered for her role as Miss Jones in the classic BBC comedy Rising Damp , her theatre credits are numerous and include The History Boys (National Theatre, Broadway and on screen), The Cherry Orchard, Three Tall Women, Duet for One and Boeing-Boeing .
Since he became Director of the National Theatre in April 2003, Hytner has directed Henry V, His Dark Materials, arizona resort hotels The History Boys, Stuff Happens, Henry IV, Southwark Fair, The Alchemist, The Man of Mode, The Rose Tattoo (with Stephen Pimlott), Rafta, Rafta… , Much Ado About Nothing, Major Barbara, England People arizona resort hotels Very Nice and Phèdre .
The Habit of Art is Alan Bennett's fifth play for the National Theatre. His last play, The History Boys , opened at the Lyttelton Theatre in 2004, toured nationally and internationally, and played for two seasons in the West End and on Broadway. Among its many awards were the Laurence Olivier, Tony and Critics Circle Awards for Best Play, and the South Bank Show Award for Theatre.
The Habit of Art , which will be broadcast to cinema screens in the UK and internationally on April 22, 2010 as part of NT Live , will be designed by Bob Crowley, with lighting by Mark Henderson, music by Matthew arizona resort hotels Scott and sound by Paul Groothuis.