Shakespeare in Love

I saw the Cleveland Playhouse show, Shakespeare in Love yesterday.  I liked it so much better than the movie.  It had a wonderful plot and truly likable characters.   Also, the costuming was very rock 'n roll Ren faire.   I really recommend that you see it.  The last day is Sunday.

Something Rotten

This past Saturday I had the pleasure of seeing Something Rotten.  We saw it on the final weekend, which is very unusual for us, but we had scheduling conflicts that couldn't be moved.   This is a really fun, original story for any fan of the Broadway musical genre.   Basically, two Brothers in during the Renaissance are writers in direct competition with William Shakespeare (who is portrayed as the David Bowie of his day).  With the gleanings of a soothsayer, they decide to write a musical, centuries before the genre is supposed its debut.  

The fifth number, A Musical,  garners multiple ovations in the middle of the first act.  Check out the link to see all the allusions to Broadway shows.  

The music is classic 1930's Broadway with lots of incongruous, campy, slapstick humor.  If it comes to your city, go see it!

Titus: A Grand and Gory Rock Musical

 Last night Steve, Tom, and I went to see the penultimate performance of Cleveland Public Theater's Titus: A Grand and Gory Rock Musical.  It is the classic Shakespeare revenge drama, with gory special effects and the addition of rock music.   The music added a lot to the production.  It made the story line easier to grasp.   I had never seen a staging of Titus Andronicus before.  I really enjoyed it.

The costumes were amusing.  You have the Romans, who wear soldier and toga type garb over their jeans and leggings.  You also have the conquered Goths, who are in gothy bondage wear, including lots and lots of boots and black leather.   It was a fun play on words.

The play features a lot of death.   If you click on the link above, you can see charts of exactly how many people die and in what ways.   I got to thinking about Sweeney Todd because two characters actually get baked into pies and consumed by their mother and step father.

Actually, one of the most amusing parts of the show was when one of the characters had to die, but he was also portraying one of his assailants simultaneously.   He was wearing a half costume of both Roman and Goth wear.   He switched directions based on which character's lines he was speaking.  Then he punched himself and threw the Roman garb into the pit.   It was both brutal and comedic.

Overall, the show was sort of uneven in tone.   Despite the flaws, I really did enjoy the show.