Romeo and Juliet Previews- Page 4

[After Eight]

Posted: 8/25/13 at 11:51am

"This theater seems to be a horrible space for plays."

Yes, it does.

Or else actors need to learn to speak more clearly, not race through and swallow their lines, and most importantly, project their voices.

And if the theatre is indeed an impediment to comprehension, the actors have to work even harder at these things.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 8/25/13 at 11:59am

>why oh why do we have to see old plays on broadway that are boring to the modern audience. We want NEW plays on broadways or revivals with political social elements that a relevant.<

When a new American writer manages to write a King Lear, Hamlet, Twelfth Night or As You Like It - in other words, a play worth studying, pondering, analyzing and enjoying for over 400 years - be sure to let me know. What we 'need' is good theatre, new or old, wherever it comes from. The jingoistic opinion that it's only worthwhile if it's new, politically relevant or American-made is ridiculous and runs contrary to how Broadway has behaved over the last 100 years.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 8/25/13 at 12:23pm

Man, they are both way too old for the roles! Aren't Romeo and Jiliet supposed to be 16-17?

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 8/25/13 at 12:36pm

I'm not bothered by the ages.

Can someone explain to me an instance where Orlando Bloom was something other than the definition of "pretty vacant"?

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 8/25/13 at 12:40pm

I'm not bothered by the ages either look at Norma Shearer and Leslie Howard...

[Kelly2]

Posted: 8/25/13 at 12:41pm

Actually, Juliet is supposed to be 13 and Romeo could reasonably be anywhere from 14 to 17, though Shakespeare does not ever specify his age clearly. The biggest hint is that he has never grown a beard, so he is not well past puberty. I've most often seen him placed around 16 or 17.

Obviously, the idea of Bloom and Rashad bothers me since the youth of Romeo and Juliet is fairly important to the action of the story.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/25/13 at 12:47pm

I saw Fences twice in that theatre from different locations. Never had a problem with anybody's diction or volume.

It could be the set or lack of it causing the issues, but here's the thing ...

There is no excuse not to be heard in any Broadway theatre today. If you charge that kind of money, hire sound designers who know what they're doing. Every theatre has dead spots and issues. They also have other various limitations with fly space and wing space. They manage.

I'm surprised more people don't ask for their money back or don't get the infrared hearing devices.

Either way, it's not acceptable.

[theaterdrew]

Posted: 8/25/13 at 12:57pm

Bloom was "more than vacant" plenty of times, but as a couple of us have pointed out, especially in his scenes with Juliet and Friar Lawrence. He mostly needs to work on his monologs.

The play runs long right now, which surely contributes to the speed of speech and consequent difficulty hearing in places.

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 8/25/13 at 1:02pm

Kelly2, I'm assuming you take similar issue with the production planned for Classic Stage Company? Elizabeth Olsen is 24 and Condola Rashad is 26.

You'd be hard pressed to find a stage production of the play ever where the roles were cast age appropriately.

[choitoy]

Posted: 8/25/13 at 1:17pm

I just checked out the curtain call pictures that BWW has posted up, and I'm a little freaked out on how Orlando Bloom looks a lot like John Mayer in those pictures.

Now I'm imagining Leveaux replacing Romeo's dialogue during the balcony scene with "You're Body's A Wonderland". :-P

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 8/25/13 at 1:20pm

What was the set like for the balcony scene?

[Kelly2]

Posted: 8/25/13 at 1:41pm

"Kelly2, I'm assuming you take similar issue with the production planned for Classic Stage Company? Elizabeth Olsen is 24 and Condola Rashad is 26.

You'd be hard pressed to find a stage production of the play ever where the roles were cast age appropriately."

I take issue with A LOT of Shakespeare productions that get put on, and more often than not for anachronisms in their "modernization" and bizarrely inappropriate casting. I don't take issue with Bloom's calendar age. I take issue with how old he LOOKS. Even in those curtain call photos where he's clean-shaven, he looks 30 at the youngest. You have to admit there's a big difference between a girl in her twenties who looks very youthful playing Juliet (though I do mean youthful, she should look like a girl, not a woman) and a man who is almost 40 pretending to be a pre-pubescent boy.

Anyway, I'm done harping on it. I knew this production would bother me from the start and I really shouldn't be indulging myself in spending time on it's obvious flaws. I do hope it improves purely because I don't think audiences should be subjected to bad Shakespeare.

[chrisampm2]

Posted: 8/25/13 at 2:45pm

Kelly2, you're judging a production as "bad Shakespeare" when that's not the consensus here from just one performance. Age isn't necessarily a problem if a production justifies it. Recently, Lauren Ambrose and Oscar Isaac were good at the Delacorte, though they didn't look 13 or 17. Ralph Fiennes made a wonderful Hamlet but no one would have mistaken him for college age.

[xoffender45]

Posted: 8/25/13 at 3:18pm

Now that people have been to the newly renovated theater and seen the set design, can anyone tell me how high the stage is, and if there is any set piece that could possibly block the view of someone sitting to the extreme side of the first few rows?
Thanks!

[NYC4Life]

Posted: 8/25/13 at 3:23pm

It is so tiresome to heat people on BroadwayWorld complain about Shakespeare being done too often or complaints about a directors concept. Shakespeare's plays should be done all the time and interpreted by different directors often. A lot of people enjoy Shakespeare. I for one think he was the greatest and if I knew production opened every weekend of his plays I would attend. If you don't like his plays or if you don't understand his plays, DONT SEE HIS PLAYS!

[Gothampc]

Posted: 8/25/13 at 3:40pm

Recently, Lauren Ambrose and Oscar Isaac were good at the Delacorte, though they didn't look 13 or 17.

I beg to differ. Other than that silly set that had everyone wading through water, Ambrose and Isaac were the worst things about that production.

Ambrose played the young girl like she was playing Lady MacBeth. People in Hoboken were calling people in Manhattan and asking why some girl was screaming like she had just murdered someone.

And if Isaac had a character for Romeo, nobody past the second row of seats could find it. Plus he looked too old to play the role.

The best two things about that production were Mercutio and the Nurse. Christopher Evan Welch as Mercutio, who in the dying monologue blew away any acting ability that Ambrose/Isaac thought they had. I have never seen that monologue done more brilliantly than he did it. I saw meaning in that monologue that I had never seen before. The audience witnessed the cost of being Romeo's friend and the result of defending him.

And Camryn Manheim as the Nurse went deep into the characterization of the Nurse and made her a person rather than a Shakespeare cardboard cutout.

Updated On: 8/25/13 at 03:40 PM

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 8/25/13 at 4:32pm

I think you'll enjoy Christian's Mercutio, gothampc.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 8/25/13 at 5:42pm

^ Off topic, but I LOVE the avatar, theatertrash!

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 8/25/13 at 6:14pm

Thanks. I didn't realize someone else had the Babs/lollipop avatar until this morning.

[theaterdrew]

Posted: 8/25/13 at 6:48pm

^The stage didn't seem that high, and the set pieces are almost exclusively upstage. I don't think you'd miss much of anything in the extreme side seats up close, but if you have a choice, take the left side.

[NYC4Life]

Posted: 8/25/13 at 10:12pm

The production of Romeo and Juliet in the park 6 years ago was an exciting night. It felt like everyone on stage was on full throttle (in a good way). Lauren Ambrose was mesmerizing and magnificent. Don't remember finding any faults.

[RW3]

Posted: 8/27/13 at 7:50pm

Has anyone seen it since it opened? What changes have they made, if any?

[Kbradstein]

Posted: 8/27/13 at 8:23pm

@RW3
It has not opened yet and the show is still in previews for about another month. So changes are being made constantly until opening

[RW3]

Posted: 8/27/13 at 8:27pm

^ I meant since previews started.

[goldenboy]

Posted: 8/27/13 at 9:47pm

Well of course it stinks. David LeVeaux directed it.