Peter and the Wolf: starring Brian Blessed, at the New Victory Theate

The New Victory Theater presents Sergei Prokofiev's Peter and The Wolf, starring Brian Blessed, at the New Victory Theater from 13 - 29 Nov 2009.

In the new Peter and The Wolf prequel, a classical piece written by composer Philip Feeney (Rambert Dance Company, Northern Ballet Theatre, Fabulous Beast Dance Theatre, Adam Cooper's Les Liaisons Dangereuses), Peter meets his friends Bird, Duck and Cat for the first time and audiences are introduced to the Wolf, who is lurking nearby.

In addition to Brian Blessed, the production - a blend of music, dance and theater - features 10 dancers and an ensemble of eight musicians.

Prokofiev was commissioned by the Central Children's Theatre in Moscow more than seventy years ago to compose a work that would introduce children to the instruments of a classical orchestra by linking a musical theme to each character in the story. This commission would become the legendary Peter and The Wolf, the adventurous tale of a boy who conquers danger and captures a wolf with help from his animal friends.

This production of Peter and The Wolf represents the first time that the Prokofiev estate has licensed the original work to be performed in conjunction with a new composition.

Brian Blessed is one of the U.K.'s best known and respected actors. He created the role of 'Old Deuteronomy' in Andrew Lloyd Webber's 'Cats' and starred as John Freeman in the West End musical 'Metropolis.' While a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he played 'Claudius' in 'Hamlet,' 'Exeter' in 'Henry V 'and 'Hastings' in 'Richard III.' At the Royal National Theatre, he created 'Maxim Gorky' in Robert Bolt's 'State of Revolution' and played the role of 'Sir Tunbelly Clumsey' in 'The Relapse,' directed by Trevor Nunn.

Blessed has performed with some of the world's great orchestras, including Arthur Bliss's 'Morning Heroes' with the London Symphony Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall and 'Peter and the Wolf' for the Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra.

Blessed has stared in many TV drama's and movies, but is most probably best known to American TV audiences for his role as Augustus Caesar in the classic BBC drama 'I Claudius.'