Any chance of an upcoming Shakespeare Revival?

[broadwaygiant19122]

Posted: 4/9/06 at 12:21pm

I see a lot of theater, but have missed the most recent revivals of Shakespeare's work. As a result, I have never seen Shakespeare on Broadway. I am eagerly awaiting Liev's take on Macbeth, which got me thinking about upcoming seasion(s). Any ideas as to whether or not there are any Shakespeare productions in the near future, or which plays would be up for a revival,etc...any info appreciated. Thanks.

[Thesbijean]

Posted: 4/9/06 at 12:25pm

I'm sure there will be, LCT usually does one every few years, the last two being King Lear and Henry IV (both in the 2003-2004 Season), then the last one before those two was Twelfth Night in 1998.

[broadwaygiant19122]

Posted: 4/9/06 at 12:31pm

that's what I was thinking, but all I have heard so far was LCT's plans for stoppard's utopia trilogy.

[WickedGeek28]

Posted: 4/9/06 at 12:34pm

I am so angry that I missed "Julius Caeser!" But the idea of common dress turned it down for me. Anyone here see it? Please post reviews.

I'd love to see "Othello" done well on Broadway!

[broadwaygiant19122]

Posted: 4/9/06 at 12:41pm

I completely forgot about Julius Caesar..was only thinking of the LCT productions. I would rather have seen that Henry IV or King LEar over JC.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 4/9/06 at 12:50pm

I wish that New York had a company like the Royal Shakespare Company that concentrated solely on presenting his plays.

[broadwaygiant19122]

Posted: 4/9/06 at 12:55pm

Gotham,that would be extraordinary.

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 4/9/06 at 12:59pm

Julius Caesar was somewhat of a letdown, as Denzel never met the level of his costars. It was also extremely noisy with the war sound effects.

The only other Broadway Shakespeare I can recall in recent memory (aside from Henry IV and King Lear) was The Tempest with Patrick Stewart. And then the flop Macbeth with Kelsey Grammer.

Updated On: 4/9/06 at 12:59 PM

[broadwaygiant19122]

Posted: 4/9/06 at 1:01pm

I love the tempest , and would have really enjoyed that production. The very idea of Kelsey Grammar and Macbeth in the same sentence terrifies me. I'm watching Merchant Of Venice right now(that's what kickstarted this whole thing), and I would love to see Lynn Collins(portia) do some Bway work- she was in last summer's Twelfth Night.

[Katurian2]

Posted: 4/9/06 at 1:08pm

I saw Julius Ceaser, and the show itself was great. Not the strongest Shakespeare production I have seen, but not shabby by any means. Denzel was a little dissapointing, he should stick to screen work, as I am normally a big fan of his. No huge loss if you missed it though.

[ILoveMyDictionary]

Posted: 4/9/06 at 1:49pm

I'd love to see Twelveth Night on B'way. I've missed everything else Shakespeare on Broadway. Wasn't Hamlet up at TKTS for like a minute around December?

[Lamc16]

Posted: 4/9/06 at 1:53pm

I would LOVE to see Othello on Broadway. Also, obviously, Hamlet. I saw it six years ago at The Globe in London on opening night. It was amazing!

[WigInABox]

Posted: 4/9/06 at 2:08pm

I'd love to see Kevin Spacey bring Richard II to Broadway - I saw it at the Old Vic in London and Kevin was on fire, not to mention Trevor Nunn's directing was perfect. (and i'm not generally a Shakespeare fan). I loved the way Nunn incorporated television screens into the story (and not, from what I've heard, in the Suzanne "blonde in a thunderbird" way) - it was a innovative theatre experience. Spacey hasn't been on Broadway in a while... think he would be up for it? Better yet, I wish they'd just take the entire Old Vic and plant it in Times Square - I love that place.

[broadwaygiant19122]

Posted: 4/9/06 at 2:13pm

I think there was something about him bringing Moon For the Misbegotten over...even though it was recently done. but this isn't oneill..this is shakespeare

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 4/9/06 at 2:19pm

Forget Broadway -- there's first rate, very well-produced, well-directed and acted Shakespeare in this city CONSTANTLY.

Because of the commercial demands of Broadway that requires star casting, 9 times out of ten Broadway Shakespeare is pretty mediocre (the exceptions being Lincoln Center's Henry IV by Jack O'Brien with Kevin Kline as Falstaff a few season back; Lincoln Center's Lear with Plummer was rather provincial, the Denzel Washington Caesar was somewhat disjointed). "Broadway" has nothing whatsoever to do with quality (ESPECIALLY when it comes to the classics) -- it just means that some producer thinks a given production might attract a large enough audience to fill 1000 seat theatre 8 times a week.

The Public Theatre (subtitled The New York Shakespeare Festival) is dedicated to producing a certain amount of Shakespeare on an annual basis. They're doing that Macbeth in the Park with Schreiber and Jennifer Ehle this summer and in just the last couple of seasons have done Richard III, Two Noble Kinsmen, Measure for Measure, As You Like It, Much Ado About Nothing, and Winter's Tale (as well as the musical version of Two Gentlemen of Verona).

BAM hosts some of the finest international companies annually and notably brought over Edward Hall's Propeller Theatre for the last two years with acclaimed, award-winning productions of Midsummer Night's Dream (one of the best productions of a classic I've ever seen) and A Winter's Tale. Hall's "Rose Rage" (a two part, four and a half hour reduction of the Henry VI plays) had a highly acclaimed run at the Duke last year and wound up on several top ten lists (including mine).

Just in the past two months, Theatre for a New Audience at the Duke produced a truly outstanding production of All's Well That Ends Well that received across the board raves and is one of the highlights of the theatre season so far. And there are good productions of Measure for Measure and Merchant of Venice (by the American Globe Theatre) closing this weekend.

In the past year, there have been excellent productions of Pericles, Cymbeline, and Corialanus from various Off-Broadway companies. Every single Shakespeare play gets a professional production somewhere in the city at least every two or three years (and some plays like Hamlet, Measure for Measure and Twelfth Night have been known to get two or three productions in a single year).

There's a lot of good Shakespeare in this city all the time (dozens in summer). If you want to see quality Shakespeare, don't sit around waiting for another lame Broadway revival -- go out and look for it.

Updated On: 4/9/06 at 02:19 PM

[Lamc16]

Posted: 4/9/06 at 2:23pm

I think the point is that it would doubly exciting to have the Bard on The Boards, so to speak. And I agree.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 4/9/06 at 3:58pm

Anyone up for a revival of Romeo and Juliet starring Wilmer Valderrama and Jessica Simpson? That's the direction Broadway's heading in.

Personally, I would have loved to see either of last summer's Shakespeare in the Park productions transfer. Lynn Collins and Brian Bedford were giving excellent performances, as were Norm Lewis, Renee Elise Goldsberry and Megan Lawrence.

[ILoveMyDictionary]

Posted: 4/9/06 at 4:54pm

Anyone up for a revival of Romeo and Juliet starring Wilmer Valderrama and Jessica Simpson? That's the direction Broadway's heading in.

Seriously? Them two as Romeo and Juliet....yaaano. wow. just yea no. That has to be a joke, but then again not necesarily, they were going to have Brittany Spears as Charity. Anyway I cannot picture Jessica Simpson on Broadway at all let alone playing a 14 year old girl in Shakespeare tradgedy.
Updated On: 4/9/06 at 04:54 PM

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 4/9/06 at 4:56pm

It was a joke....I was playing on the state of the theater these days, with film actors taking jobs from capable, overly qualified theater talent. But their names don't scream "box office."

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 4/9/06 at 4:59pm

Color me ignorant, but Liev is doing "Macbeth"? When is this happening? I think he's got the charisma and intensity to do that part justice. I would love to see it!

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 4/9/06 at 5:03pm

Liev's doing Macbeth in Central Park this summer...June 13-July 7, I believe.

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 4/9/06 at 5:05pm

Thanks, Yankeefan.