MIDSUMMER returns to B'way in 2011...with a cast of teenagers????
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.
--Aristotle
re: MIDSUMMER returns to B'way in 2011...with a cast of teenagers????#2
Posted: 6/24/09 at 5:40pmIf it's true, I'd see it.
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
re: MIDSUMMER returns to B'way in 2011...with a cast of teenagers????#3
Posted: 6/24/09 at 6:45pmAgreed, Weez.
re: MIDSUMMER returns to B'way in 2011...with a cast of teenagers????#4
Posted: 6/24/09 at 6:51pmI 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.
Send in the clowns...Send in the crowds!
"I prefer neurotic people. I like to hear rumblings beneath the surface."-Stephen Sondheim
re: MIDSUMMER returns to B'way in 2011...with a cast of teenagers????#5
Posted: 6/24/09 at 7:19pmHmm...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.
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/20/04
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.
re: MIDSUMMER returns to B'way in 2011...with a cast of teenagers????#7
Posted: 6/24/09 at 8:17pmMy 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. "
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
re: MIDSUMMER returns to B'way in 2011...with a cast of teenagers????#8
Posted: 6/24/09 at 9:19pmMy favorite MIDSUMMER was at the Globe Theatre in London a few years ago. It had an excellent cast who perfromed in pajamas.
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.
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.
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?
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