Lithgow will narrate this fantastic tale of Oliver Percy, a young boy who inadvertently spends a night at the museum on opening night, Friday, June 6 at 8 p.m., as well as the noon and 8 p.m. performances on Saturday, June 7. Paul Hope, a member of the Alley Theatre Company in Houston and a regular guest performer at the Houston Grand Opera, will take on the role for the remaining performances.
Set to the familiar Camille-Saint Saëns score of the same name, Lithgow wrote the narration around which the ballet was built for New York City Ballet in 2003. Lithgow and choreographer Christopher Wheeldon had previously worked together on the smash Broadway hit Sweet Smell of Success, a performance that garnered Lithgow his second Tony Award (the first was for David Story's The Changing Room). When Wheeldon was commissioned to create a ballet directed at younger audiences, he enlisted Lithgow to devise the story. In Carnival of the Animals, Lithgow plays Mabel Buntz, a pert pachyderm who dances to the notable "Elephant Waltz."
John Lithgow needs little introduction. He may be most widely known for his Emmy-winning role as Dr. Dick Solomon on the NBC sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun, but he has received accolades for his work in many performing arts disciplines, including Academy Award nominations for his work as Roberta Muldoon in The World According to Garp, and as Sam Burns in Terms of Endearment. Everything from Shakespeare to story books for children, and now Lithgow has taken a foray into the wonderful world of ballet. -- www.paballet.org
