What are Gustavo Dudamel, Orlando Bloom and Malcolm McDowell doing on the same stage?

The Los Angeles Phil­har­monic seems to know that in order to draw younger crowds to clas­sical events, it often helps to bring out the celebrit­ies. For its upcom­ing live broad­cast to cinemas, the L.A. Phil has hired actor Orlando Bloom — best known for play­ing the elf Leg­olas in “The Lord of the Rings” movies — to per­form selec­tions from “Romeo and Juliet” in a con­cert series of Tchaikovsky’s Shakespeare–inspired music.

Also on board is Mat­thew Rhys, of the TV series “Broth­ers and Sis­ters,” who will read from “Ham­let,” and vet­eran actor Mal­colm McDow­ell, who will recite from “The Tem­pest.” Act­ress Kate Bur­ton will serve as stage dir­ector and host.

Con­ductor Gust­avo Dudamel will lead the con­cert series, which runs March 10 to 13, at Walt Dis­ney Con­cert Hall. The March 13 con­cert will be broad­cast live to cinemas around the U.S. and Canada.

via Orlando Bloom team­ing up with L.A. Phil­har­monic for Shakespeare-themed con­cert — Los Angeles Times

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