Helen Mirren & More Join the National Theatre’s Starry 50th Anniversary Celebration

The celeb-packed lineup for the National Theatre’s 50th anniversary celebration keeps getting ever more exciting! Oscar, Emmy and Olivier winner Helen Mirren, stage and screen star Benedict Cumberbatch and Doctor Who favorite Christopher Eccleston have joined the jam-packed roster of stars headlining Live From the National Theatre: 50 Years on Stage. The performance will take place November 2 at London's National Theatre. If you’re not lucky enough to snag a ticket, never fear! The performance will also be broadcast live in movie theaters around the world.

Directed by Nicholas Hytner, a cast of 100 will perform on stage for the one-night-only event. Mirren, Cumberbatch and Eccleston will be joined by previously announced stars including Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Ralph Fiennes, Frances de la Tour, Simon Russell Beale, Roger Allam, Alex Jennings, Rory Kinnear, Adrian Lester, Anna Maxwell Martin, Andrew Scott and Penelope Wilton.

Mirren is the only actress to have played both Queen Elizabeth I and II on the big screen. She garnered Tony nominations for both of her two engagements on Broadway, A Month in the Country and Dance of Death. Her West End and National Theater credits include the title role in Phedre, The Seagull and most recently, The Audience. Her many film and TV credits include her Oscar-winning turn in The Queen and her Oscar-nominated appearance in The Madness of King George.

Cumberbatch’s London stage credits include Hedda Gabler, The Children’s Monologues and Frankenstein, for which he won an Olivier Award for Best Actor. He is on tap to appear in Hamlet in the West End in fall 2014. His film and TV credits include Star Trek Into Darkness, Atonement, War Horse and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. He is currently gearing up to star in the forthcoming film adaptation of August: Osage County.

Perhaps best known for playing the ninth incarnation of the Doctor on TV’s Doctor Who, Eccleston’s additional film and TV credits include Gone in 60 Seconds, Elizabeth, Jude, Let Him Have It, The Rise of the Cobra, Thor: The Dark World and 28 Days Later. His British theater credits include Hamlet and The Writer’s Tale.