The Stratford (Canada) Festival production of King Lear is much anticipated on Broadway, where’s it has sold $2 million worth of tickets before opening. But there was one big hurdle in making the show work in New York. She show stars Christopher Plummer, 76, who “is only able to perform the emotionally and physically taxing role of Lear for five shows a week. It’s a real stretch to make revenues match expenses when the whole company is being paid for eight shows a week but only performing five. “It was very clear that Christopher was not in a position to do more than five performances a week. The advantage is that Christopher is at that rare moment when he’s able to do Lear.”