Media Thursday: Macbeth by Great Lakes Theater at Hanna Theatre, Cleveland OH

OK, so I’m trying to get back into a weekly rhythm (yeah, good luck with that). And thus, it’s Thursday and I want to get back to some media discussion. Last Saturday, while I was on my PCA trip, I took in Macbeth at the Hanna Theater in Cleveland, Ohio…

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See this show: All’s Well That Ends Well by Independent Shakespeare Company

OK, this is a rushed entry (will explain in a minute), but one that needs to be said:

If you are within driving distance of Los Angeles, you need to see Independent Shakespeare Company’s All’s Well That Ends Well, in their new Studio theater through April 22.

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Friday (non)Film Focus: Something Rotten at the Ahmanson Theater (theater review)

Yesterday was my 26th anniversary with my wife Lisa. And my wife, knowing me all too well, said we should see a show to celebrate, and so off we went to the Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles to see…

Something Rotten!

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Stage Review: A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Toil and Trouble Burlesque

Two nights ago, my wife Lisa and I caught Toil and Trouble Burlesque‘s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. We had an absolute blast.

Now if you look up “burlesque,” you may find something like this: Continue reading “Stage Review: A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Toil and Trouble Burlesque”

Podcast 160: Interview Special — Angie Hobin of Toil and Trouble Burlesque

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This week’s podcast delays the kick-off of our The Tempest discussion for something a little more fun: an interview with Angie Hobin, creative producer of Toil and Trouble Burlesque, which will be presenting a burlesque production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the coming weeks in Los Angeles.

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Theater Review Deja Vu: The Tempest by South Coast Repertory

[NOTE: what follows is a reprint of a theater review from four years ago for a production of The Tempest…perfect fodder for publication on a too-tired-Monday (look for a movie reivew and an interview podcast to come from yesterday‘s activities)…updates to that post will appear in brackets, bolded and red.]

Last Sunday [September 21, 2014], my wife Lisa and I had the pleasure of catching the South Coast Repertory production of The Tempest in Costa Mesa, CA. Now The Tempest holds a pretty special spot in my heart, as it was the first major Shakespeare I ever saw, a magical production with Anthony Hopkins as Prospero at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles back in 1978; I’ll talk about that show more when we get to that play at the end of this project [check out last week’s post!], but suffice to say it was a seminal moment in my love of Shakespeare.

The Tempest is a tough play to pull off. It deals with magic, and how to convey that on stage? It’s not easy. It often comes off as overly solemn or worse, cheesy. The earlier production began with a piece of stagecraft that set a magical tone (especially to this fifteen year-old) and then used that initial shock to carry the play. This [new] production takes a different tack, however. Prospero is a magician, so why not show magic? Real magic (if that’s not an oxymoron).

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My first Tempest

So, as we kick off The Tempest, it’s ‘memory lane’ time…

Excuse me while I wax nostalgic.

Anthony Hopkins and Stephanie Zimbalist in the 1979 Mark Taper Forum production of The Tempest.
Anthony Hopkins and Stephanie Zimbalist in the 1979 Mark Taper Forum production of The Tempest.

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Hamilton

Yeah, yeah, I know… this is supposed to be a Shakespeare blog. And no, I’m not going to go deep-end and say Lin-Manuel Miranda is the new Shakespeare, as some are wont to do (let’s wait a decade or three and see what the complete body of work looks like, ok?). But I am going to say a few words about Hamilton, which I caught on Saturday with the family…

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Friday Non-Film Focus: The Two Gentlemen of Verona by Independent Shakespeare Company

It’s August and a Friday, which means a new summer blockbuster is being released… but honestly in all the business of the week, I haven’t a clue as to what’s opening…but that doesn’t matter. I’m here to talk about what does: Independent Shakespeare Company’s production of The Two Gentlemen of Verona, running through September 3 in Los Angeles’ Griffith Park…for FREE.

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Report from Utah: Wooden O Symposium, day two

OK, this may be a short one (at least initially): it’s post midnight, so technically it’s now Wednesday, but I’m still in Tuesday’s wake-cycle. I’m going to try to get some stuff keyed in before: 1) I fall asleep; 2) I forget stuff.

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