Titus Andronicus: The Musical Comedy

[nightingalesing]

Posted: 8/20/07 at 1:41am

I know that absolutely everyone has been pimping/shilling (if you'd prefer) their fringe show, so I hope this one doesn't get lost in the shuffle.


Tragedy! (A Musical Comedy) is a musical adaptation of the Bard's bloodiest (and arguably worst) play. Imagine Shakespeare writing a summer thriller, and you have this play. Tragedy! will be in New York at the Lucille Lortel Theatre from August 21st through the 26th. If you're interested, please read on.

Thank you!

http://www.tragedythemusical.com/ticket.htm

"I can concede no intrinsic value to Titus Andronicus. It matters only because Shakespeare, alas, undoubtedly wrote it"... "I don't think I would see the play again unless Mel Brooks directed it, with his company of zanies, or perhaps it could yet be made into a musical."- Harold Bloom

In the year fourteen hundred and *mumble* *mumble*, the eminent playwright Billy Shakespeare penned a blood-soaked cringe-fest that endeared him to the masses. This play was The Tragic History of Titus Andronicus. Brutal and gory as it was and still is, though, the play did not stand the test of time and is now considered to be one of the Bard's worst shows. The basic plot was as follows:

A long time ago
In a city 4233.25 miles away (we Googled it)
There lived a good and virtuous Roman general named Titus Andronicus and his family....

One day, Titus made the mistake of sacrificing the wrong prisoner to the gods, and it wasn't long before the prisoner's mother became empress of Rome and let her Moorish lover find entertaining ways to kill Titus's sons, rape and mutilate his daughter, and exile his entire extended family from Rome. Not to be outdone, Titus went crazy and baked her sons into pies.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

In 2006, Mike Johnson, a music major at the College of William and Mary,
took this basic concept and imagined that there was a way to somehow make it funny.
Sixteen musical numbers and a year later, this show, aptly named

TRAGEDY!
(A Musical Comedy)

premiered at the College of William and Mary. In August of 2007, Tragedy! is headed to New York City to participate in FringeNYC.
Tragedy! (A Musical Comedy) contains sex, violence, explosions, drugs, mutilation, rape, animal abuse, clown abuse, blunt force trauma, insipid Disney-inspired music, insipid pop music, death, blood, rock and roll, racism, sexism, tap-dancing, homophobia, flash-dancing, hot-pants, innuendo, bananas (see innuendo), golf clubs (see death and cross-reference with innuendo), carnage, corsets, thriller-dancing, panthers, severed heads, severed hands, revenge, and pie. You should not operate heavy machinery while viewing Tragedy! (A Musical Comedy). You should not watch Tragedy! (A Musical Comedy) if you are pregnant, may become pregnant, or have the capacity to impregnate.

"Tragedy! (A Musical Comedy) put a hilarious lyrical spin on Shakespearean violence that left the audience roaring with laughter."- Alex Guillen, The Flat Hat

[DMsquared2]

Posted: 8/20/07 at 3:21pm

Titus is NOT Shakespeare's worst play and I'm not saying that just because it's one of my favorites.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 8/20/07 at 3:42pm

Well, Shakespeare's worse (not agreeing that it is)
is better than most people's best.
No offense, but the costumes look terrible.
Interesting concept though.