BWW Reviews: ROMEO & JULIET Pleases Audiences at Temple Of Music And Art

A boy meets a girl, they fall in love, and perhaps they would have lived happily ever after had it not been for the terrible feud between their families. After 48 seasons, the Arizona Theatre Company brings William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet to the stage of the Temple of Music and Art with award-winning director Kirsten Brandt at the helm.

Set in Italy in the 1960's during La Dolce Vita movement and taking advantage of projection technology, the audience is welcomed into a bright, colorful world where the stage transition between scenes to a melody of live music. These elements are brought to us by the brilliant Scenic, Lighting, and Projection Designer, David Lee Cuthbert and the Original Music and Soundscape by Michael Roth, respectively. This is a version of Romeo & Juliet that has not been seen before.

An array of talented actors - both theatre vets and drama students of the University of Arizona - bring the feud between the Montagues and Capulets to life, causing the audience to sit in a house full of immense tension. The ensemble, as well as Richard Baird (Mercutio/Montague/Friar Laurence), Kevin Black (Capulet/Friar John), Vivia Font (Lady Capulet/Apothecary), Leslie Law (Nurse/Prince), and Kyle Sorrell (Tybalt/Paris), move between characters flawlessly.

Special mention goes to Paul David Story (Romeo) and Chelsea Kurtz (Juliet) in their believable roles as star crossed young lovers, especially during the second act as they deliver lines and carry out actions full of great distraught and raw emotion.

Making their ATC debut in Romeo & Juliet are Brandt, Story, Kurtz , Baird, Kathryn Tkel (Benvolio), and Silvia Vannoy (Ensemble).

Romeo & Juliet runs until March 21st at the Temple of Music and Art in Tucson, made possibly by the TUcson Production Sponsors, Dolly and Jim Moran, and the 2014-2015 Season Sponsors, I. Michael and Beth Kasser. Tickets start at $37 and can be purchased at the box office, via telephone at (520) 622-2823, or online at www.arizonatheatre.org. Discounted rates are available to seniors and active military members. Students can purchase $10 tickets at all performances and half-price rush tickets are available for balcony seats one hour prior to curtain.

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