Thanks to my pal Stephen Vance for sending along some photos from the rehearsals for Huntington Outdoor Theatre's first summer show, Romeo and Juliet. HOT deserves a lot of credit for tackling this show. Shakespeare is challenging all on its own, but HOT is offering its own take on the Bard by adding modern music to the mix. It's a daring move, but theatre is all about taking risks, after all.
There have been some interesting takes on Shakespeare by changing the time and setting, and I can't wait to see what they've cooked up.
The first show kicks off this Friday at the Ritter Park Amphitheatre, with more shows on July 12,13,18,19,20. Then HOT will offer another musical, Anything Goes!, on July 25,26,27 and August 1,2,3.
5 comments:
Our friend Donna Duke was at rehearsal last night and told me she was having a great time. She said that she hadn't as much as heard rumors of what the songs were going to be, and it was a delightful surprise every time another song started.
Although I could never do it, I think it would be add to the experience if the audience could refuse the temptation to look at the song list in the program.
Other than that, the costumes are in now, and they are beautiful. The guys at Magic Makers and Akron have outdone themselves again. The orchestra also was there for the first time, and their presence bumped the show to a whole new level.
We are really getting excited about Friday.
Going into rehearsals for the show, I'll admit that I was a little nervous to see how we were going to pull this off. (I after all was going to have to go out of my comfort-ballad-zone and belt out a rock song while dressed in tights.)
But now we're into final dress rehearsals, and my expectations have yet again been exceeded. All of the leading characters have beautiful voices and the audiences will definitely enjoy their renditions of these classic popular songs.
As Stephen said, the excitement is growing and I can't wait to open the show!
Stephen and Josh, great to hear it's all going well - it's amazing what a difference it makes when you have the costumes and add the orchestra - the show becomes "real" at that point! I'm looking forward to seeing the show - break a leg, y'all!
I never felt like the show was "real" until Helen put her finishing touches/direction on during opening night warm-ups.
:o)
Anon, well, I guess it's never really real until the actors step out on stage and there's an audience watching - but I do like the idea of the director getting the last word. ;-)
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