Sex and the City actress Kim Cattrall confirms for Antony’s Meltdown, part of Southbank Centre’s Festival of the World with MasterCard.  As part of a series of talks scheduled for Antony’s Meltdown, she will discuss the role of Shakespeare’s Cleopatra with Janet Suzman and Southbank Centre Artistic Director Jude Kelly.  Suzman, famous for her portrayal of Cleopatra in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s 1973 production, directed Cattrall in the role at the Liverpool Playhouse in 2010.  In an event called Cleopatra: Not the Usual Passion Assigned to a Woman the two will discuss their experiences of playing Shakespeare’s iconic character, described by Suzman as “the most interesting role for a woman ever written”.

New York band Hercules and Love Affair also confirm for the lineup. Antony worked with the band on the single Blind, which was awarded Best Song of 2008 by Pitchfork, and will appear as a guest vocalist during their show alongside Mojo-award winner John Grant.  Support comes from Louisiana bounce sensation Sissy Nobby who makes his UK debut.

There will be the chance to hear an intimate performance from Antony and the Johnsons (Antony, Rob Moose, Julia Kent and Maxim Mostonas) as part of an event celebrating the Butoh dance of Yoshito and Kazuo Ohno. This special event in the Queen Elizabeth Hall will feature performances from Yoshito Ohno and Johanna Constantine, as well as film and tape loops by William Basinksi, and screenings of excerpts of the film Mr O’s Book of the Dead, starring Kazuo Ohno.

Also confirmed for the festival are Brooklyn-based trio Jessica 6 and musician Yasmine, who will support Cocorosie in the Royal Festival Hall.

Iconic New York artist Lou Reed will be performing at Antony’s Meltdown. Reed has been associated with the city’s avant-garde scene since he first collaborated with Andy Warhol in the 1960s. He has remained at the forefront of cutting edge musical innovation ever since, showcasing this most recently on LULU – 2011’s collaboration with Metallica. Reed continues to influence musicians and artists the world over, and will perform with his band in the Royal Festival Hall as part of the festival.  Antony and Lou Reed have collaborated on several occasions in the past, most notably when Reed guested on Antony and the Johnson’s Mercury Award-winning album I Am a Bird Now, and when Antony sang on Reed’s “The Raven” album and its subsequent tour in 2003.
 
Also confirmed for Antony’s Meltdown is beloved indie rocker Joan As Policewoman.  The artist was once a member of Antony and the Johnsons, and has also worked with Rufus Wainwright, Lou Reed and Nick Cave. She plays the Queen Elizabeth Hall (3 August) alongside two New York- based musicians; cellist Julia Kent and musician Matteah Baim, who formed half of duo Metallic Falcons with Sierra Casady of CocoRosie. San Francisco electronic musicians Matmos are also confirmed to appear in the festival. The duo have used everything from crayfish nerve tissue, the pages of bibles turning and samples of freshly cut hair in their wildly experimental approach to music making. They play the Queen Elizabeth Hall on 6 August, with support from Berlin-based o F F Love, whose record ‘Probably Love’ came out on the leftfield tastemakers M=Maximal label at the start of 2012.

The new additions to Antony’s Meltdown join a line-up that gives an insight into the mind and influences of this mercurial artist. They’ll perform alongside artists ranging from 80s icons Marc Almond and Elizabeth Fraser to performers from the New York underground scene and Turkish icon Selda.   Meltdown is part of the London 2012 festival, a 12-week nationwide celebration bringing together leading artists from across the world with the very best from the UK. As Jane Beese, Head of Contemporary Music, said “In the best unrepeatable tradition of this festival’s strange and beautiful history, the line-up for Antony’s Meltdown will not be replicated in any festival taking place in this or any other summer.”
 
Antony & the Johnsons will release their fifth album Cut The World on 6th August 2012 via Rough Trade Records. The album is a collection of live symphonic recordings from the group’s four full-length studio albums and represents Antony’s continued meditation on light, nature and femininity. Cut The World was recorded in 2011 in Copenhagen, Denmark with the Danish National Chamber Orchestra and features arrangements by Nico Muhly, Rob Moose, Maxim Moston and Antony.