MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING Comes to Alabama Shakespeare Festival

Alabama Shakespeare Festival will present Much Ado About Nothing, directed by Bruce Longworth, March 19 — April 5 on the Festival Stage. 

Shakespeare's original romantic comedy tells the story of Beatrice and Benedick, two opposites who — despite their best efforts — can't help but attract one another. Friends plot to bring them together while secrets threaten to tear other lovers apart. What ensues is a whirlwind of romance, deception, and laugh-out-loud mischief. 

The production is set in Messina, Italy, during the summer of 1919. ASF Artistic Director Quin Gresham said the theatre believes Shakespeare shouldn't be kept behind glass. “[Shakespeare's] plays survive because they still speak to us about relationships, reputations, and the chaos that ensues when people talk too much or not enough,” said Gresham. 

“This performance is part of a long theatrical lineage, but it only exists because these artists and this audience have come together right now,” said ASF Executive Director Todd Schmidt. “Once the curtain falls, this exact version is gone forever.” 

Portraying the romantic Shakespearean foils is real-life couple and ASF staples Tarah Flanagan as Beatrice and Christopher Gerson as Benedick. Flanagan has been seen most recently at ASF as Greta in Murder on the Orient Express and as the Sheriff of Nottingham in Sherwood: The Adventures of Robin Hood. Gerson also performed in ASF's Sherwood as Friar Tuck and as King Hamlet in Hamlet. 

Playing the young lovers are Sigrid Wise as the innocent Hero and Felix Torrez-Ponce as the distrustful Claudio. Wise has appeared on the ASF stage as Hermia in A Midsummer Night's Dream and as Miranda in The Tempest. Torrez-Ponce recently appeared on Broadway in Sweeney Todd. Rival brothers Don Jon and Don Pedro are played by Patrick Halley and Chauncy Thomas, respectively. Halley makes his ASF debut, while Much Ado About Nothing marks Thomas' seventh production at ASF, including A Christmas Carol's Ghost of Christmas Present.

Fans of TV's “3rd Rock from the Sun” may recognize French Stewart as the foolish Dogberry. In addition to Stewart's substantial TV and film credits, including “Mom,” “Seinfeld,” “The Larry Sanders Show,” “The Drew Carey Show,” “Leaving Las Vegas,” “Inspector Gadget 2,” cult favorite “Love Stinks,” and more, he also has extensive stage credits, from Harvey at Laguna Playhouse to Voice Lessons with Laurie Metcalf Off-Broadway at Theatre Row and at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre.

Rounding out the cast are David Cantor, Alex Daspit, Bob D'Haene, Ellen Grace Diehl, Kelly Gibson, Michael Grieve, Larry Tobias, J.D. Webster, and ASF alum Greg Thornton.