Matthew Bourne's
Dorian Gray is
biggest selling dance show
in Festival history.
On the eve of its world premiere at the King's Theatre
on 22 August 2008, Matthew Bourne's
Dorian Gray has today been officially
confirmed as the biggest selling dance event in Festival history.
11,212 people have already booked to see the Matthew Bourne's first
new show in nearly three years, breaking the Festival's previous record
of 10,146 tickets for Mark Morris's Hard
Nut in 1995. With ten days of booking left until the last
performance of Dorian Gray, and
some tickets still remaining, total sales could reach the season capacity of
13,000 seats, an increase of nearly 30% on the previous record.
In this new production, premiering at the Edinburgh
International Festival, Bourne turns his vibrant imagination to Oscar
Wilde's cautionary fable. Set in the image-obsessed worlds of
contemporary art and politics, this dark fairy tale tells the story of an
exceptionally alluring young man who makes a pact with the devil. Amongst London's beautiful people,
Dorian Gray is the "It Boy" - an icon of beauty and truth in an
increasingly ugly world.
The master storyteller is best known for his adaptations of
classics such as Swan Lake, The Car Man, Edward Scissorhands and Nutcracker! - a production which also
received its premiere at the Edinburgh Festival (in 1992, with Bourne's
former company Adventures In Motion Pictures, in a double bill with OPERA
NORTH).
Matthew Bourne, choreographer said:
"I am thrilled with this news. My company last came to
the Edinburgh Festival in 1992 and it is so rewarding and exciting that after
such a long time there is so much interest in our new show Dorian Gray."
Jonathan Mills, Festival Director said: "Matthew
Bourne's Dorian Gray has become the biggest selling dance show in the
Festival's history, and I am delighted that it is proving so popular,
though it doesn't come as a surprise! He has been thrilling dance fans
and bringing new audiences to dance successfully for years now. I am very
pleased that we are able to present the world premiere of his new work based on
Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray."
Edinburgh International Festival 8 - 31 August 2008
For more information please
visit www.eif.co.uk
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