Review: Contemporary Music Enhances the Classic Tale of Sexual Obsession in WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S ANTONY & CLEOPATRA
Thanks to director Gloria Gifford, who retains Shakespeare's text while augmenting the proceedings with a contemporary and very soulful song score in the current production at Grey Studios in NoHo, the overall addition of the much-needed modern sensibility through music makes the complicated plot easily understood, even while adding in moments of sheer levity. Just imagine Anthony and his troops starting off the show by lining up and singing Super Freak by Rick James, as their way to describe Cleopatra and you get the idea.
BWW Review: Taylor and Bologna's LOVE ALLWAYS Enjoys L.A. Premiere at Gray Studios
Comprised of 10 short plays in 2 acts about the follies and foibles of love and lovers, LOVE ALLWAYS addresses the subjects of love and romance which have long provided great source material for comedy, created from the pens of two proven masters of American comedy. With busy careers in film, television and Broadway, Taylor and Bologna have defied the Hollywood odds with a marriage that's lasted 51 years (so far). And no doubt, many of the relationship stories shared must be of a very personal nature to them, or perhaps some of their closest friends!
Photo Coverage: Curtain Calls and Stage Door Fun at the Rockin' MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING At T.U. Studios
This production of Shakespeare's popular romantic comedy is enhanced by a rock-and-roll score. Much Ado About Nothing is set in Messina, Sicily. Beatrice, niece of the local governor Leonato, and Benedick, a gentleman and friend of the powerful Prince of Aragon Don Pedro, are seeming adversaries, engaging in much verbal jousting and argument. The antagonistic remarks fool neither the men nor the women in Don Pedro's court; Beatrice and Benedick are obviously meant for each other, even if their love isn't instantly apparent. Their friends conspire to trick them into confessing their love for each other.
BWW Review: MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING Mixes Shakespeare's Classic Romantic Comedy with a Rockin' Song Score
Director Gloria Gifford takes her job of inspiring upcoming stars in proper stage presentation, and above all, I must commend her for making sure each actor in MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING at TU Studios understood exactly what they were saying so audience members could not only understand the words but also what was being said in terms of the dialogue's meaning. It is the first production of the play in which I could get the meaning of each line, even though the words as written were foreign to modern English. Some of the actors shared with me that Gloria demanded their line presentation and stage movements make perfect sense, and the actors responded with great care.
BWW Reviews: WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S THE TEMPEST Combines Enchantment and the Wonder of First Love
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S THE TEMPEST, the last of his romantic comedies, was written in 1610 and published in 1623. This great romantic comedy has it all: danger, intrigue, politics, revenge, a mighty sorcerer, and his beautiful daughter who falls deeply in love at first sight with the handsome prince who is so conveniently shipwrecked near her island home. THE TEMPEST still exerts an influence over popular culture four centuries later, ranging from "Forbidden Planet" to "Gilligan's Island" to "Lost."