SHAKESPEARE IN HOLLYWOOD Opens at Towne Centre Theatre Friday 4/6

The year is 1934 and Shakespeare's most famous fairies, Oberon and Puck, have magically materialized on the Warner Bros. lot as director Max Reinhardt stages his film adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream, resulting in what is described as a "hilarious comic romp" - Shakespeare in Hollywood - from playwright Ken Ludwig.

Opening this Friday night at Brentwood's Towne Centre Theatre, the comedy runs through April 21. Directed by Jim Himelrick, with Dan Linney as assistant director and Karen Himelrick and Clay Jeffries as producers. Arianna DeLeon is production stage manager.

From Towne Centre's website comes this synopsis: Take the glitz and glamour of 1930s Hollywood, populated by real-life, yet delightfully exaggerated, personalities of the movie scene. Add a sophisticated German director with an artistic vision, a couple of misplaced supernatural beings, and one of William Shakespeare's most beloved comedies of all time, and you get Ken Ludwig's Shakespeare in Hollywood, in which Max Reinhardt's problematic 1934 production of A Midsummer Night's Dream - sure to be box office poison - is further complicated when Oberon and Puck, fresh from A Wood Outside Athens, find themselves transported from the land of legend and classical myth all the way to Hollywood and in the middle of a suspiciously familiar story. Oberon may be the all-powerful King of the Fairies -- but he has never dealt with ambitious starlets, prying gossip columnists, or the odious Will Hays, the all-powerful King of Censorship. And Puck may be an old hand at jolly mischief, but he has encountered nothing like the cool sunglasses and hot beauties of Hollywood! When the enchantment of the silver screen meets the magic of Fairyland, all merry hell breaks loose, and we are treated to transformations, chase scenes, and the kind of havoc that only that certain love-juice can wreak. Shakespeare in Hollywood is a supernatural screwball romp, full of entertainment, and even a little bit of education.

Himelrick's cast includes David Arnold, Leon Blandon, Adam Bridges, Derek Cunningham, Erik Dail, Ashley Dengate, Emily Eytchison, Shiloh Ferrell, Ralph Harris, Christy Hathcock, Mckena Jackson, Alex Keiningham, Katrin Keiningham, Will Lasley, Dan Linney, Annalaura Lyon, Laura Mee, Margo Neely, Hayden Smith, Clay Walker, and Emma Williams.

Tickets are available online at www.townecentretheatre.tix.com, or by calling the box office at (615) 221-1174. Curtain is at 8 p.m. for evening performances and 2:30 p.m. for Sunday matinees. Doors open 30 minutes prior to curtain. All seating is general admission. Tickets are non-refundable.

Tickets are $16 for students, $18 for military and seniors 60 and over, and $20 for adults. Purchase a specially priced Thursday 4-pack of tickets online and get four tickets for only $60; available online only. For accessible seating or group reservations of 10 or more, email tickets@townecentretheatre.com or call the box office. Towne Centre Theatre is located at 136 Frierson Street, Brentwood.

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