MIDSUMMER returns to B'way in 2011...with a cast of teenagers????

[CapnHook]

MIDSUMMER returns to B'way in 2011...with a cast of teenagers????#1

Posted: 6/24/09 at 5:39pm

There's a 50/50 chance they were pulling my leg...their tone was a little insincere, but still, I am curious...has anyone else heard about a production of MIDSUMMER on B'way in 2011? Here's what they gave me:

- The cast will be entirely made up of teenagers.
- Puck will be only adult in the cast.
- Director's last name begins with 'F.'

Again, I have my doubts they were serious, but it did seem halfway legit and it is plausible...

If anyone can confirm, I'd appreciate a PM.

"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle

Updated On: 6/24/09 at 05:39 PM

[CSonBroadway]

re: MIDSUMMER returns to B'way in 2011...with a cast of teenagers????#2

Posted: 6/24/09 at 5:40pm

If it's true, I'd see it.

I'm a professional. Whenever something goes wrong on stage, I know how to handle it so no one ever remembers. I flash my %#$&. "Jayne just sat there while Gina flailed around the stage like an idiot."

[Weez]

re: MIDSUMMER returns to B'way in 2011...with a cast of teenagers????#2

Posted: 6/24/09 at 6:14pm

UGHHHHH. It's almost like Shakespeare only wrote four plays or something. I can forgive the proliferations of Hamlet and Much Ado About Nothing, for I love them dearly, but this one is FAR from one of my favourites. And yet it's done so often! (And yet I'm going to see it AGAIN in a couple of weeks! Never let it be said we do not suffer for our theatre-going.)

Entirely teenagers sounds kinda wrong. I mean, I think I can see it working for Oberon and Titania, if we work on the assumption that fairies are like elves and live for hundreds of years without appearing to age a day, but you'd think we could at least get someone with a bit of authority for Theseus and Egeus at least. XP

Notes from the Earlham Street Gutter

[little_sally]

re: MIDSUMMER returns to B'way in 2011...with a cast of teenagers????#3

Posted: 6/24/09 at 6:45pm

Agreed, Weez.

A little swash, a bit of buckle - you'll love it more than bread.

[[tos]fan999]

re: MIDSUMMER returns to B'way in 2011...with a cast of teenagers????#4

Posted: 6/24/09 at 6:51pm

I wish they would bring Tina Landau's adaptation from a few years ago to NYC. It featured music by GrooveLily (which they recorded for their CD "A Little Midsummer Night's Music") and Lea DeLaria in the cast. I saw it at the McCarter Theatre in New Jersey and fell in love with it. I wish I could see it again.

<-----Bernadette Peters and Alexander Hanson in A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC.

Send in the clowns...Send in the crowds!

"I prefer neurotic people. I like to hear rumblings beneath the surface."-Stephen Sondheim

[Sauja]

re: MIDSUMMER returns to B'way in 2011...with a cast of teenagers????#5

Posted: 6/24/09 at 7:19pm

Hmm...unlike Weez, Midsummer actually IS one of my favorite of Shakespeare's comedies. That said, I can't think of a single teenage actor I'd want to watch cutting their teeth on this material.

[Yankeefan007]

re: MIDSUMMER returns to B'way in 2011...with a cast of teenagers????#6

Posted: 6/24/09 at 7:30pm

First of all, who's "they"?

Second of all, it's a wonderful idea.

[Byron Abens]

re: MIDSUMMER returns to B'way in 2011...with a cast of teenagers????#7

Posted: 6/24/09 at 8:17pm

My favorite Midsummer that I have seen (and worked on) was at Great Lakes Theater Festival a few years ago, set in the 60's and entirely scored using music by the Beatles. We had some great moments like the Mechanicals arriving in a yellow VW Bug, and Helena first entering the forest and Puck making his first entrance to "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds." Not to mention the reactions of the student matinee audiences. As one of the reviewers said "I don?t know what made me smile more, that these teens were digging ancient Shakespeare or the ancient Beatles. "

[Dollypop]

re: MIDSUMMER returns to B'way in 2011...with a cast of teenagers????#8

Posted: 6/24/09 at 9:19pm

My favorite MIDSUMMER was at the Globe Theatre in London a few years ago. It had an excellent cast who perfromed in pajamas.

"Long live God!" (GODSPELL)

[madbrian]

re: MIDSUMMER returns to B'way in 2011...with a cast of teenagers????#9

Posted: 6/24/09 at 9:25pm

"I wish they would bring Tina Landau's adaptation from a few years ago to NYC. It featured music by GrooveLily (which they recorded for their CD "A Little Midsummer Night's Music") and Lea DeLaria in the cast."

I saw that production at the Papermill, and while I liked it a lot, I don't know if it would be a good seller on Broadway.

"It does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are 20 gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg." -- Thomas Jefferson

[wonderfulwizard11]

re: MIDSUMMER returns to B'way in 2011...with a cast of teenagers????#10

Posted: 6/24/09 at 10:07pm

I'm doing an all-teen production of MIDSUMMER now, and my heart skipped a beat when I saw this. Too bad our director's last name begins with a D.

Still, this could be interesting.

I am a firm believer in serendipity- all the random pieces coming together in one wonderful moment, when suddenly you see what their purpose was all along.

[IdinaBellFoster]

re: MIDSUMMER returns to B'way in 2011...with a cast of teenagers????#11

Posted: 6/24/09 at 10:36pm

MIDSUMMER is my favorite Shakespeare play, not because it's funny or simple, but just because it's a shear joy to either read, watch or perform.

I really hope this is true; I bet some teenagers could do a better job in some of these roles than adults could.

Though I do wonder about how it will appear when a 15 year old Theseus is scolding a 14 year old Hermia, while her 16 year old father looks on?

"Oh look at the time, three more intelligent plays just closed and THE ADDAMS FAMILY made another million dollars" -Jackie Hoffman, Broadway.com Audience Awards