The Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada Establishes Gabriel Pascal Memorial Fund
Memorial fund established at Shaw Festival in honour of the man Bernard Shaw regarded as a “genius”
Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario – The Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada is thrilled to announce the establishment of the Gabriel Pascal Memorial Fund in honour of the renowned director, producer and friend of Bernard Shaw. Mr. Pascal was honoured at the Ontario theatreon Saturday, August 14 with the unveiling of a memorial plaque in the Festival Theatre lobby and the establishment of a memorial fund in his name. Members of the Shaw Festival community and friends of Mrs. Valerie Pascal Delacorte, wife of the late Pascal, were in attendance. Mrs. Delacorte took part in the ceremony, via Skype, from the Norton Museum in West Palm Beach.
Gabriel Pascal was the only person to single-handedly convince Bernard Shaw to give him the film rights to his plays, which includeMajor Barbara,Caesar and Cleopatra,Androcles and the Lion,The Devil's Disciple andPygmalion. Shortly before his death in 1954 at the age of 60, Mr. Pascal retained an option for the musicalMy Fair Lady. Within two years after his death,My Fair Lady opened on Broadway and the Pascal Estate, worth nothing at the time of Mr. Pascal's death, grew to an estimated $2 million when the movie rights forMy Fair Lady were optioned. Mrs. Valerie Pascal Delacorte received a portion of his royalties. She has generously decided to irreversibly bequeath the rights she currently holds onMy Fair Lady and the motion picture adaptations ofThe Devil's Disciple,Major Barbara andPygmalion to the Shaw Festival upon her death.
This gracious gift will be known as the Gabriel Pascal Memorial Fund.
In addition to this wonderful legacy, Mrs. Delacorte has also conferred on the Niagara-on-the-Lake attractionthe publication rights to her book,The Disciple and His Devil, which chronicles the life of Mr. Pascal and his relationship with the Festival's namesake. She is a member of The Shaw's Producers Circle,which includes some of The Shaw's most generous patrons.
The 2010 season at the Ontario theatre runs until November 14 and features An Ideal Husband, Harvey, The Women, The Cherry Orchard, One Touch of Venus, The Doctor's Dilemma, John Bull's Other Island, Half an Hour, Serious Money and Age of Arousal. The Shaw Festival is also plays host to Niagara-on-the-Lake events year-round.
Book by calling 1-800-511-SHAW (7429) or locally 905-468-2172 or online at http://www.shawfest.com.
About the Shaw Festival Theatre
In the spirit of Bernard Shaw, the Shaw Festival provokes the mind and stirs the soul through a theatre experience so compelling that, year after year, ever-broadening groups of artists, audiences and supporters are drawn to our work in Niagara-on-the-Lake and beyond.
Odette Yazbeck
1-800-657-1106 ext. 2222
