STRATFORD, Ont. - They're rolling out the red carpet at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival for tonight's highly anticipated opening of "The Tempest," starring Canadian acting legend Christopher Plummer.

The Toronto native, who earned his first Oscar nomination at age 80 earlier this year for "The Last Station," plays Prospero the sorcerer in the show that Stratford officials say is of historical importance.

"The Tempest" is helmed by Des McAnuff, the artistic director of the theatre festival in southwestern Ontario.

He says Plummer is the greatest stage actor of our time and to see him at Stratford is a rare opportunity.

Plummer was just at the Stratford festival two years ago for his tour-de-force performance in "Caesar and Cleopatra," which was filmed and broadcast on Bravo and screened in movie theatres.

But earlier this year, the two-time Tony Award winner told The Canadian Press that he likely won't be able to return to Stratford for several years once "The Tempest" is done.

Plummer -- whose great-grandfather was Prime Minister John Abbott -- has appeared in dozens of films and starred on stages from Broadway to Stratford to London.

One of his best-known roles is Capt. Georg von Trapp in the 1965 musical film "The Sound of Music."

For his role as Russian author Leo Tolstoy in "The Last Station," he also received Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations.

Oscar-winning British actress Helen Mirren, who co-starred with Plummer in "The Last Station," calls him "one of the world's greatest actors, no question."

"He is one of the world's Top 10 actors," Mirren told The Canadian Press in a recent phone interview.

"He's just absolutely remarkable. I saw him recently in 'Caesar and Cleopatra' (on television) and he was so fabulous in that. The whole production was great, actually."

Mirren and Plummer have even had a running joke going on lately over "The Tempest," since she, too, just shot a film adaptation of it for possible release later this year.

Only in Mirren's case, she plays Prospera, a female version of the Bard's protagonist.

"He keeps laughing at me whenever I see him," she said. "He always says, 'I think I might play it in a skirt,' because he knows that I just did Prospero, which he thinks is just hysterically funny."

"The Tempest" is a romance set on a mysterious island with themes of love, revenge and greed. The leading role of Prospero is said to be one of the greatest roles ever written for a classical actor.

"Prospero is a role of great complexity, richness and paradox, the culmination of Shakespeare's skill as a dramatist," says McAnuff, who also worked on "Caesar and Cleopatra."

"There are very few actors who can play this part, and we'll have had two of them here within a decade: first William Hutt and now Christopher Plummer."