August 28, 2003 -

On Tuesday, September 2 at 10:00, the Box Office of the National Arts Centre will begin selling tickets to all performances taking place during the upcoming 2003-2004 season. This will be the first chance for members of the public to buy single tickets to any event presented by the National Arts Centre Music, Dance, English Theatre* or French Theatre departments. Expected to be of special interest to ticket-buyers are Marti Maraden's production of Shakespeare's Hamlet and the comedy of Sandra Shamas in Wit's End II:Heart's Desire; Handel's Messiah and Charlie Chaplin's classic film The Gold Rush; the French –language musical comedy L'Homme de la Mancha adapted by Jacques Brel from the Dale Wasserman,/Mitch Leigh original; and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet's lavish set-in-Canada production of The Nutcracker. This spectacular version of the holiday classic (accompanied by the renowned NAC Orchestra) is widely expected to sell out all seven performances.

English Theatre: The NAC season opens officially on Thursday, September 11 with Marti Maraden's production of Arms & the Man by George Bernard Shaw. This delightfully witty anti-war satire is as relevant and provocative today as when it was written in 1894.

National Arts Centre Orchestra: The NACO season opens in Southam Hall on Thursday, September 18, with Music Director Pinchas Zukerman conducting the National Arts Centre Orchestra in an all-Brahms programme as part of the Bravo Series. Complementing the music are readings of the intimate correspondence between the composer Johannes Brahms and his Muse, Clara Schumann, performed by Marti Maraden and Tom McCamus.

French Theatre: The French Theatre season begins in the Studio on Wednesday, October 1 with L'Autre, conceived, directed, and choreographed by Paula de Vasconcelos. L'Autre slips into the space between theatre and dance, between dream and reality.

Dance: The Dance season opens on Friday, October 3 with Compagnie Marie Chouinard's performance of Étude #1 and the North American premiere of Chorale, a provocative new multi-media work (an NAC co-production) exploring the body, eroticism, and human relations.

NAC Box Office hours are from 10:00 to 21:00.

* PLEASE NOTE THAT TICKETS FOR RICK MILLER'S MacHOMER GO ON SALE ON TUESDAY OCTOBER 14, 2003

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Information: Gerald Morris
Marketing and Media Relations, NAC Dance Department
(613) 947-7000, ext. 249
[e-mail] gmorris@nac-cna.ca