Exclusive Where the Wild Things Are Advance Film Screening & Benefit Fundraising event supports the Rosenbach Museum & Library Wednesday, October 14 @ The Ritz East
WHEN: Wednesday, October 14, 2009; Reception at 6:30 p.m. Film at 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: The Ritz East – Landmark Theatres, 125 South Second Street, Philadelphia
(Between Chestnut and Walnut Streets, Front and Second Streets)
ADMISSION: Tickets for the advance screening and benefit are $100 per person. Children’s tickets are available for $20 (one adult ticket must be purchased for every child’s ticket purchased). The ticket price includes complementary beverages, hors d’oeuvres, and popcorn, and the screening. The benefit serves as a fundraiser for Rosenbach Museum & Library programs throughout the year. Tickets may be purchased by calling (215) 732-1600 ext. 123.
WHAT: On Wednesday, October 14, 2009, the Rosenbach Museum & Library will hold a benefit and special advance screening of the highly anticipated film, Where the Wild Things Are, the Warner Bros. live-action adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s Caldecott-winning picture book of the same name. Where the Wild Things Are is a classic story about childhood and the places we go to figure out the world we live in. Held at The Ritz East (125 South Second Street), the benefit will begin with a reception at 6:30 p.m. featuring complimentary beverages and popcorn, followed by the film screening at 7:30 p.m. All proceeds from this exclusive fundraising event will support programs and exhibitions at the Rosenbach Museum & Library.
Philadelphia’s Rosenbach Museum & Library has a close, longstanding relationship with Maurice Sendak and is the sole repository of Sendak’s original artwork. Sendak, now 81 years old, chose the Rosenbach to be the permanent home of his work in the early 1970s thanks to shared literary and collecting interests. The Rosenbach’s Sendak collection is the largest collection of “Sendakiana” in the world, with over 10,000 preliminary sketches, final drawings, manuscripts, books, and ephemera. Throughout the year, the Rosenbach displays rotating Sendak-specific exhibitions featuring work from the museum’s vast Sendak collection and offers special Sendak-themed Hands-On Tours, gallery talks, events and educational programming. The museum also lends from its Sendak collection to other museums around the country.
This October, the Rosenbach celebrates Sendak’s work with Wild Things Days (now thru October 2009), a series of programs for audiences looking to experience Sendak’s art and work up-close and in-person. Wild Things Days includes two exhibitions of Sendak’s work, And It’s Still Hot: Where the Wild Things Are (now thru October 25), which focuses on the Where the Wild Things Are book, and Too Many Thoughts to Chew: A Sendak Stew (now thru January, 17, 2010), which looks at food, eating, and being eaten in Sendak’s work. The museum is also offering the gallery talk Maurice, Max, and the Wild Things (October 8), Wild Things Hands-On Tour (October 14, 18 and 23), and Wild Things Family Day (October 17) for children of all ages. For a full description of Wild Things Days programming, view the press release detailing the series at http://bit.ly/Dg2dj (PDF, 57kb), or email emaleigh@canarypromo.com for more information.
FILM INFORMATION
Where the Wild Things Are
Opens October 16, 2009 | Runtime:1 hr. 34 min.
PG – mild thematic elements, some adventure action and brief language.
www.wherethewildthingsare.com
Innovative director Spike Jonze collaborates with celebrated author Maurice Sendak to bring one of the most beloved books of all time to the big screen in “Where the Wild Things Are,” a classic story about childhood and the places we go to figure out the world we live in.
The film tells the story of Max, a rambunctious and sensitive boy who feels misunderstood at home and escapes to where the Wild Things are. Max lands on an island where he meets mysterious and strange creatures whose emotions are as wild and unpredictable as their actions.
The Wild Things desperately long for a leader to guide them, just as Max longs for a kingdom to rule. When Max is crowned king, he promises to create a place where everyone will be happy.
Max soon finds, though, that ruling his kingdom is not so easy and his relationships there prove to be more complicated than he originally thought.
Warner Bros. Pictures presents, in association with Legendary Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures, a Playtone/Wild Things Production of a Spike Jonze film: “Where the Wild Things Are,” starring Catherine Keener, Max Records and Mark Ruffalo, Lauren Ambrose, Chris Cooper, James Gandolfini, Catherine O’Hara and Forest Whitaker.
“Where the Wild Things Are” is directed by Spike Jonze from a screenplay by Spike Jonze & Dave Eggers, based on the book by Maurice Sendak. It is produced by Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman, Maurice Sendak, John Carls and Vincent Landay, with Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni and Bruce Berman serving as executive producers. The creative team includes director of photography Lance Acord, production designer K.K. Barrett and editor Eric Zumbrunnen. Music is by Karen O and Carter Burwell.
“Where the Wild Things Are” will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, and in select territories by Village Roadshow Pictures. Soundtrack Album is available on DGC/Interscope Records.
VISIT THE ROSENBACH
The Rosenbach Museum & Library is located at 2008-2010 Delancey Place and is open Tuesday through Sunday. Museum admission is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors, $5 for students, and free for children under 5. For more information about the museum, please call (215) 732-1600 or visit www.rosenbach.org.