THEY could be running out of space to accommodate all the stars planning to appear in Shakespeare Live! From the RSC later this month when the 400th anniversary of the Bard’s death is celebrated in Stratford-upon-Avon.

A plethora of big names from the world of theatre and films had already been announced earlier this year and now BBC and the Royal Shakespeare Company has revealed more stellar performers and musical highlights for the big event on Saturday, April 23.

Dame Helen Mirren, Gregory Porter, Benedict Cumberbatch, Rory Kinnear, Rufus Hound, Henry Goodman, The Shires, David Suchet, Simon Russell Beale, Roger Allam, Antony Sher, Harriet Walter, John Lithgow, Alexandra Gilbreath, Tim Minchin, Anne Marie Duff, Pippa Nixon, the Orchestra of the Swan, the cast of Horrible Histories and Midlands Youth Jazz Orchestra are joining the already top notch line-up as part of Shakespeare Live! From the RSC to mark this special anniversary since the death of William Shakespeare.

The performance in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre will be given in front of an invited audience, which will include His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales, who is President of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) and Her Royal Highness, The Duchess of Cornwall, as well as RSC supporters, partner schools and theatres, local residents and the general public through a series of ballots for free tickets.

As previously announced - David Tennant will be hosting the show and will be joined by Dame Judi Dench, Rufus Wainwright, Sir Ian McKellen, Joseph Fiennes, English National Opera, Meera Syal, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Paapa Essiedu, Alison Moyet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Al Murray and the Royal Ballet.

This once in a life-time cast, assembled and directed by Gregory Doran, Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, will come together on the evening of April 23 - St George’s Day - to stage a unique show in Stratford’s Royal Shakespeare Theatre, which will be broadcast on BBC Two that evening at 8.30pm.

Alongside numerous theatrical performances to be revealed on the night, Shakespeare Live! From the RSC will feature Shakespeare-inspired work spanning the musical genres – including  hip-hop, blues, musical theatre, jazz, opera and classical numbers based on his plays.

The show will open with a rendition of ‘Tonight’ from West Side Story, choreographed by Will Tuckett and performed by 19 of the most gifted musical theatre students from across the UK.

Country duo The Shires will perform a special interpretation of Shakespeare’s poem ‘Under the Greenwood Tree’; Henry Goodman and Rufus Hound will give their own rendition of ‘Brush Up Your Shakespeare’ from the musical Kiss Me Kate and the Midlands Youth Jazz Orchestra will perform Duke Ellington’s ‘Such Sweet Thunder’.

Akala and his award winning music theatre production company Hip Hop Shakespeare will perform a brand new composition; Othello-inspired dance from the Birmingham Royal Ballet will feature; whilstdancers from the Royal Ballet will perform Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet, accompanied by the 65 piece Orchestra of the Swan.

Musicians Rufus Wainwright, Gregory Porter and Ian Bostridge will also be offering songs inspired by Shakespeare: Rufus Wainwright will sing Sonnet 29; a filmed performance of Gregory Porter singing ‘When That I was a Little Tiny Boy’ will feature and there is a haunting rendition of ‘Come Away, Death’ from Ian Bostridge accompanied by Sir Antonio Pappano, recorded at the Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon, where Shakespeare is buried.

Shakespeare Live! From the RSC, as well as being broadcast live on BBC Two, is part of the BBC Shakespeare Festival 2016.

The festival will see the BBC use the full range of its services - local, national and global – to make Shakespeare irresistible to everyone.

Shakespeare Live! From the RSC will also be screened live to 368 cinemas in the UK and Europe by Picturehouse Entertainment . Further information can be obtained at  onscreen.rsc.org.uk