Happy Friday all! Just returned (again) from Nashville, and boy are my arms tired! Or something to that effect...
Haven't posted in awhile and lots of things happening, so here's a round up:
-HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY KIMMIE! You don't look a day over 21, darling...Hope it was a happy one indeed.
- Laurie! When do you get in?Post and let's talk about an El Toro run. I, and lots of others, would love to hook up with you guys again!
- As I mentioned, I went to Nashvegas last weekend to celebrate my upcoming 40th b-day (not here till the 8th, but since I'm onstage that night...) My wonderful wife set up an evening where a bunch of my old friends came out and met me in Nashville at the Sammy Hagar show (yeah, yeah, I know...I'm old...but Sammy ROCKED, dude! Check out my fan review of the show at Sam's official website www.redrocker.com) and we hung out a bit in downtown Nashville afterwards. A VERY good time was had by all. It was most excellent seeing Fletch, the Coach, Scottie, Matt, Billy, Don, Todd, Jeff and that strange dude you guys brought with you!
My wife kicks ass!
- Speaking of Scott Mc, congrats on the new job! He's heading down to South Georgia to teach at a really awesome sounding Secondary Theatre program. Not many high schools actually KNOWN for their Theatre department, but this one is! Way to go, Mac!
- At aforementioned show, on the second stage before the main concert got underway, I got to check out some old buds of mine in a band called Cold Truth - they are like a Murfreesboro super group. Some of the finest players my hometown ever produced- all over 40, all still kickin' it! Check out there site for some cool tunes at www.coldtruth.net. It really did my heart good to see these guys still rockin and rollin. What a pleasant added bonus to an already great weekend. (Did I mention that my wife kicks ass?)
- Congrats to Mike and Erin on their recent nuptuals...may fortune shine on you in the days to come! And sorry I probably won't be able to make it Saturday...but...
- The Lexington Shakes Fest opens this coming week, with MIDSUMMER up first. The show is shaping up nicely, and I'm really excited to get the chance to do some Shakespeare again, as it's been awhile for me. I have always loved the character of BOTTOM, and I think that the Mechanicals and I have mined some "comedy gold"- Come out and enjoy, starting on July 5th. General admission is 8 bucks and showtime is 8:45. Head to http://www.lexingtonshakespeare.org/season.asp for more details. And on your way out, hum that old Blind Melon tune just for good measure!
I'll try and post next week about actually turning 40 and what that means to me, but in the meantime, here's the latest topic of discussion: What's the most creative Shakespeare piece you've ever seen/been a part of? Lemmee hear it...
BTW- Only ONE point for the reference, and Tuttle, if you don't get it, I'm disowning you!
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22 comments:
Probably the most creative Shakespeare I've ever seen remains The PBS show of ACT's TAMING OF THE SHREW with Marc Singer. Wonderful, inventive, and still true to the text and Shakespeare.
There is also a tape of Comedy of Errors starring the Flying Karamazov Brothers, the juggling team, which is quite remarkable.
Years ago, I also saw on PBS a wonderful production of MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, directed by Franco Zefferelli, starring Maggie Smith and Robert Stephens which was quite creative and brilliant! I remember it as one of the best Shakespeare's I've ever seen. Wish it would get released on DVD.
There is a small company in LA called The Independent Shakespeare Company that Julieanne and I sort of adopted when there that would produced small scale productions that emphasized texts...no sets, very little in the way of costumes and props, always more functional than suggestive of any time and place. The productions, sometimes uneven, were always stimulating in their creativity.
The most creative Shakespeare I was ever in was a production of COMEDY OF ERRORS at the Globe of the Great Southwest in Odessa, Texas, my first professional gig.
It was my off-show of the season, but it ended up I was in it and I got to create my own part. The director of the show was using a commedia format and the device we were all a troupe of wandering players. I was enlisted as troupe leader and got to write my own rhymed couplet doggerel introducing all the players and their parts and the sketching out the story, and doing the interact seques. Only at the imperious, nervy age of 23 do you have the bloody balls, arrogance, and cheekiness to blithely compete with Shakespeare. But it was clever doggerel (though definitely doggerel) and went over very well. Years later, one of the actors, now a college theatre prof, asked me to send him the doggerel so that he could use it in a production he was mounting.
I also got one of the best costumes of my life, this very rakish gypsyish thing with a blousy-sleeved shirt open to the navel. Very dashing and oh-so-devil-may-care. I still have the shirt. When not reciting (with great aplomb) my doggerel, I was in the pit, making sound effects with kazoos and Swanee whistles, clappers, and zingers and such like. The show went over like gangbusters and made me love a show I'd always hated before.
The director was always doing stuff like this to lure in his West Texas audience. The following year, we did an "Excorist" MacBeth. When I wasn't onstage declaiming as Malcolm, MacDuff and I were up in the tiering house, levitating Lady MacBeth during one of the witch scenes. Lots of black drapes, Rembrandt lighting, and a very heavy levitating platform. Lady MacBeth wasn't that weighty.
The worst "creative" Shakespeare I ever saw was a strange mid-Easternish TEMPEST at the Globe in London with Vanessa Redgrave playing Prospero. I've never been into that cross-gender casting and Vanessa rather somnambulistic performance didn't help. Nor did the bizarro concept. The clowns and Caliban were nice; the rest p-hew.
P.S. - Tim, we're going to try and make opening night of Midsummer.
Happy 40th Belated! Wish you could make it Saturday but we understand. Babies and rehearsals and stuff. :) We'll definitely make it out for Midsummers, too.
Haven't seen or done much Shakespeare so can't really comment on that. Sorry. I'm a musical nerd.
"It's 8:05. It's time to Rock!"
There's Only One Way To Rock - Sammy Hagar (pre-Van Halen)... for one measly point. Points here are more worthless than on "Whose Line Is It, Anyway".
Shakespeare creativity. Well, there was the Mechanicals done at Boone 2001 with a real keg and your's truly as Puck, snorting/huffing various materials. Won Best One-Act for that, didn't we X? I believe we actually beat a few other pretty worthy one-acts for that title. You remember any of those? (Sorry, I couldn't resist after the sh#t-fit you threw.)
Jory's "Hamlet" at ATL was really nice. Different, but I approved. Some snobs did not (sorry if you were one). This might sound odd to put up next to some other entries, but Asbury did a very nice "Twelfth Night" under Jeff Day. Erin Schumaker and our own Lito rocked. Best production I had seen them do up to that time.
Great Chuck. Hope to see you there (you too, Erin)
btw-
"The director of the show was using a commedia format and the device we were all a troupe of wandering players"
The first Shakes I directed was a 12th Night in this format!
and also- I'm totally down with the Mark Taper SHREW- abso-friggin-lutely brilliant!
My first Shakespeare was as Tybalt in the Transylvania's '92 production of Romeo and Juliet. Bob Brock directed us. I was entirely too high back then, but still made a formidable Tybalt. "When you came on the stage, we knew some bad shit was going to go down." Can't complain about that statement. Unless it was a veiled comment about my acting.
The big fight between R and T consisted of each of us fighing with two epee blades. It was like a Jackie Chan or Steven Segal fight. I broke one of my blades (eppe blades breaking? who knew?)in the middle of the fight about half way down and I had to be really conscious about making sure I had enough blade there to parry. It worked out. It was one of the most exciting stage combat sequences I've been a part of. And after I died, I got to be held closely and cuddled by an extrememly HOT Lady Capulet.
And I loved playing with my cape in Othello. It is like having a dance partner on stage. The costumes Ms. Aurelius made that year were stunning.
I remember seeing Taming of the Shrew at the RSC in 1993 on Thanksgiving. I remember that everyone was really good, but mostly I was just amazed to be watching Shakespeare in Stratford, England. Not a bad way for a Yank to spend Thanksgiving in the UK.
X, it was ACT not Taper's Shrew. Unless you're thinking of one I don't know about.
Adam, Julieanne and I have opted for spending Thanksgiving in England in years past. Seeing great theatre beats stuffing yourself with food past all points of comfort and avoids that whole relative thing. They also start gearing up for Christmas so it's pretty time of year. We're planning on being there this year for Turkey Day.
My bad Chuck...I had Marc SINGER on the brain...my mistake!
I also saw,loved, and was inspired by the Mark Singer SHREW. Wonder if it's available on DVD?
And when I was pretty young, I fell in love with HAMLET via a Hallmark Hall of Fame production starring---Richard Chamberlain!!!!
First Shakes I ever saw live was at Stratford in Canada, RICHARD III, can't tell you who was in it, but that's when I decided I wanted to be in the theatre.
Missy, it is indeed available on DVD. Either through Kultur Video or the Broadway Theatre Archive. www.broadwayarchive.com
I remember the Chamberlain Hamlet being quite a nice one. Gielgud as the ghost.
Hello one and all!!!!!!!!!!
I am in town. I am here.
So......let's get together. I will be here until the 11th.
It is Sat. and my access to the internet is limited. I am planning on Midsummer and absolutely looking forward to seeing everybody in the show.
Adam can get a hold of me...and Alicia....and Shayne....they all have my digits.
I thought the 3 person Scottish play at ATL was pretty damn creative and REALLY pretty creepy. Some hated it and some loved it...I can't say I loved it...but it worked in wild way.
I LOVE YOU ALL AND CAN"T WAIT TO SEE YOU GUYS!!!!!!!!!!
I saw an Aquila production of Bill Shakes' "Coreolanus" and was blown away. It was one of those with no set, few props and emphasis was on language and movement. The movement was incredible. But then I guess it would have to be to make Coreolanus interesting.
I saw some strong productions of Twelfth Night and Richard III in Canada...I don't think there was anything especially creative in the staging but they were two of the more powerful and all-around tight productions I've ever seen. And an interesting study in contrast in that Twelfth Night was very minimal and Richard III pulled out all the technical stops, yet both were equally powerful. Colm Fiore (sp?) played Richard III, did a fine job. But as he was being dressed to go out for his coronation, the flunkies were having trouble with his robe or whatever you wanna call it. He reached the end of his monologue, they were still struggling with the robe, so Richard let fly with a frustrated "Oy Vey!"....kinda killed the moment, but good for a laugh. Also, Colm and another actor whose name escapes me alternated the role of Richard and the murderer. I wish I'd been able to see the other guy as Richard, for his rendition of the murder of the babes was in a class by itself.
Bob
So, Tim, it's drizzling here in G-town. What are the prospects of Midsummer opening tonight? Did you get a dress rehearsal in?
Tim,
Have you been getting my e-mails?
JM
Millsy,
I have, I just haven't had alot of time to answer back. I'll send one your way this afternoon.
Cool. I thought something might have been wrong with my Inbox. Sometimes weird things happen. No rush.
Bottom's up, Tim! Nice review in today's paper...we'll be there Saturday night, looking forward to it.
Bob
Yeah. Good to see DJ mentioned too. I've worked with him a few times at LCT. He's gonna be one hell of an actor when he grows up.
Tim congrats on your good review! We had a fun time Wednesday night.
Saw Midsummer this evening, Tim. Great work, my man. Very nicely done. You funny, man. You a funny, funny man.
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