Everything else

[Necromancer07707]

Posted: 12/28/04 at 3:00pm

Well, I personally am getting sick of hearing about nothing but Sondheim, AL Webber (including their shows), RENT, and Spamalot. So I decided I'd create a safe haven form those shows right here! No mentioning of the previously stated topics are allowed.


So... how about that Shakespeare fellow? Any thoughts on Baz Luhrman's R&J or the second volume of the soundtrack that was recently released?

[Necromancer07707]

Posted: 12/28/04 at 3:01pm

oh.. and I forgot.. don't even think of bringing Schonberg in here.

[Delphine]

Posted: 12/28/04 at 3:03pm

All I remember about Baz's R&J is that I did not like the portrayal of Mercutio. But that's about it.

[Necromancer07707]

Posted: 12/28/04 at 3:09pm

I loved Mercutio. I thought he balanced the comedy and drama very well in his death scene. If it's the drag you're not liking, GET OVER IT. There is so much more to that part than the clothes.

[Delphine]

Posted: 12/28/04 at 3:11pm

Absolutely NOT the drag. I had no problem with that. I thought the drag fit the character very well, playing up the party-boy, fun-loving aspect to his personality. It was actually his Mab speech that got to me. He played that part too seriously.

[Necromancer07707]

Posted: 12/28/04 at 3:16pm

The Queen Mab speech is never an easy one, and is somewhat a hit-or-miss speech. Interpretations of that speech vary widely. Consequently, I try never to judge the monologue after concluding every director is allowed his own vision for that part.

[WOSQ]

Posted: 12/28/04 at 3:17pm

I got the 2005 season book for the Stratford Ontario Shakespeare Festival yesterday. The plays of His (capital H in my book) are The Tempest (with Canadian stage icon William Hutt as Prospero), As You Like It and Measure For Measure. I have never seen the last, and I do not know the second as well as I wish I did.

That said, I am now wondering how I can do a long weekend up there to see these and some of the rest of their season: Edward II, Fallen Angels, The Lark and Orpheus Descending among others. The musicals are Hello Dolly and Into the Woods.

New York doesn't get enough Shakespeare especially in home grown productions.

This is the Shakespeare on my mind of late. Anyone else?

[Plum]

Posted: 12/28/04 at 5:16pm

The Mab speech in the Zeffirelli Romeo and Juliet ended up seeming more insane than anything else, if I remember right. But I really didn't like that Mercutio at all.

[Justice]

Posted: 12/28/04 at 5:21pm

Just curious Necro...Isn't that a picture of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat written by Andrew lloyd Webber?

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 12/28/04 at 5:47pm

I'm a huge Shakespeare nut, and a lover of drama of the early-modern period in general.

I got the 2005 season book for the Stratford Ontario Shakespeare Festival yesterday.

Yes, Stratford's 2005 season looks fantastic. Besides INTO THE WOODS (which I will keep out of thise non-Sondheim discussion, even though I'm giddy with anticipation), I'm very excited about THE TEMPEST with William Hutt, and Marlowe's EDWARD II (one of the most explicitly homosexual-related plays written in the English Renaissance -- there's a great movie version out there). Stratford is also mounting two Tennessee Williams plays -- CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF and ORPHEUS DESCENDING.

As well, they are staging MEASURE FOR MEASURE (not my favourite Shakespeare tragicomedy, but I've never seen it live) and the delicious AS YOU LIKE IT -- one of my favourite plays of all, and although I've seen a dozen different productions of it, this one looks unique, with a 60s hippie concept and music written by the Barenaked Ladies.

Last year I only caught two productions at Stratford, but this year I'm going to have the same problem as you, WOSQ: I don't know how I'm going to find a weekend or two to go down to Stratford and catch all these plays.

Updated On: 12/28/04 at 05:47 PM

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 12/28/04 at 6:07pm

what do ya'll think about Julius Caesar with Denzel?
http://www.playbill.com/news/article/90337.html

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 12/28/04 at 6:16pm

does this mean we're allowed to talk about WICKED in here???

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 12/28/04 at 6:17pm

uh oh

LOL

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 12/28/04 at 6:20pm

well... WICKED wasn't mentioned at all in the initial post and I found that odd...

anyway Idina is soooooooo AMAZING! OMG.

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 12/28/04 at 6:38pm

That is, if she isn't "getting a better pen" to sign autographs for fans.

[Sargar]

Posted: 12/28/04 at 6:43pm

nothing about BRKLYN either

[Necromancer07707]

Posted: 12/28/04 at 11:40pm

Okay then. no Schwartz or BRKLYN!

So, how's about them Flaherty & Ahrens?