Stageloft to host ‘Muse of Fire’ screening

Stageloft founder Ed Cornely discusses Shakespeare with documentary filmmaker Dan Poole in a scene from “Muse of Fire.” Poole will be on hand for a free screening of the film at Stageloft on Jan. 24.

What do Sir Ian McKellen, Dame Judi Dench and Stageloft Repertory Theater co-founder Ed Cornely have in common? You’re invited to find out.

Stageloft is pleased to announce a special free screening of the award-winning documentary “Muse of Fire,” a film by Dan Poole and Giles Terera, at 7:15 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 24 at Stageloft’s home at 450A Main St., Sturbridge.

Poole, who co-directed the film, will be in attendance. The audience is invited to a complimentary reception after the screening to meet with him.

Although admission is free, due to limited seating capacity reservations are highly recommended and may be made by calling 508-347-9005. Online reservations are not available for this event.

The documentary, released in 2013, features interviews with many of the great Shakespearean actors and experts of our time, including McKellen, Dench, Ben Kingsley, Derek Jacobi, James Earl Jones, Mark Rylance, Tom Hiddleston, Jude Law, Baz Luhrman, Ewan McGregor and many others.

We may be biased, but we consider the film’s highlight to be Dan’s and Giles’ impromptu road trip to Sturbridge to interview Stageloft co-founder (and Shakespeare devotee) Edward Cornely, in an informative scene filmed right on our theater’s stage.

“Muse of Fire” is an 83-minute feature produced by Terera and Poole, two Britain-based actors in their film-making debut. An epic road-trip “buddy
movie” that aims to dispel the fear and myths surrounding the most famous
playwright in history, the film follows Dan and Giles as they spend four
years traveling the globe to discover everything they can about tackling
Shakespeare, and why people seem to either love or hate his work.

“Muse of Fire” was honored with the Fallstaff Best Film Award for 2014.

Poole is available because he’s coming to Boston as a cast member of the Filter Theatre’s traveling production of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night,” created in association with the famed Royal Shakespeare Company. Part of the ArtsEmerson series, the show will run from Jan. 20 to Jan. 30 at the Emerson/Paramount Center at 559 Washington St., Boston.

For more information on “Twelfth Night,” you can visit ArtsEmerson at this link.

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Did You Know?

A longtime February favorite, A.R. Gurney’s “Love Letters” was a Stageloft Repertory Theater staple for Valentine’s Day going back to its inaugural season in 1994. In 2001, the emotionally moving look at the love between a man and a woman featured three sets of actors during its four-day run: Mary Dennis and Gary Galonek; Gwen Callahan and John McGonigle — and the “celebrity” duo of Jeannie Herbert (of Hebert’s Candies) and Worcester radio personality Frank Foley.

2016 Season

'Boeing, Boeing'
MARCH 4 -- MARCH 20: Bernard, a self-styled Parisian Lothario with Italian, German and American fiancees, keeps "one up, one down and one pending" until unexpected schedule changes bring all three of his paramours to Paris and Bernard's apartment at the same time.
‘The Marvelous Wonderettes’
APRIL 1 -- APRIL 17: This smash off-Broadway hit takes you to the 1958 Springfield High School prom, where we meet Betty Jean, Cindy Lou, Missy and Suzy, four girls with hopes and dreams as big as their crinoline skirts!
‘Nana’s Naughty Knickers’
MAY 6 -- MAY 22: Bridget and her grandmother are about to become roommates. However, what Bridget saw as a unique opportunity to stay with her favorite "Nana" in New York City for the summer quickly turns into an experience she’ll never forget.
‘Spamalot’
JUNE 3 -- JUNE 26: The legendary tale of King Arthur’s quest to find the Holy Grail takes a hilarious detour, in “Monty Python" style. Involved in this daft musical's many shenanigans are a line of beautiful dancing girls, a flatulent Frenchmen and killer rabbits -- to name just a few.
‘Calendar Girls’
JULY 8 -- JULY 30: When Annie's husband John dies of leukemia, she and best friend Chris resolve to raise money for the hospital waiting room by persuading four friends to pose nude with them for an “alternative” calendar, with a little help from hospital porter and amateur photographer Lawrence.
‘Wrong Window!’
AUG. 5 -- AUG. 27: A New York couple enters a complicated phase of their rocky relationship when they think they spy their cross-courtyard neighbor doing away with his wife. The bumbling witnesses sneak into their neighbor's apartment -- 39 steps away -- and the fun begins in this comical homage to Hitchcock.
‘Liberace!’
SEPT. 9 -- SEPT. 25: In this moving and highly entertaining tribute to a performer famed for his charm, glitz and glamour, "Liberace" relives the highs (and lows) of his prolific and flamboyant life, revealing the real person behind the American musical icon.
‘Maggie’s Getting Married’
OCT. 7 -- OCT. 30: In this touching romantic comedy, you'll join the Duncan family as its members prepare for the wedding of daughter Maggie. It is the night before the big day, and Maggie's older sister discovers that she knows the groom "a little better" than Maggie would prefer.
‘Sorry! Wrong Chimney!’
NOV. 26 -- DEC. 11: David Tuttle is moonlighting as a department-store Santa so that he can buy his wife a fur for Christmas. Before long, a suspected other woman, hypnotism, the notorious Santa burglar Kris Kreigle and his gun-toting fiancee, and a confused policeman add up to a rollicking tale that is hilarious Christmas entertainment.

STAGELOFT