ADK Shakespeare Company's Spring Season to Include ROMEO & JULIET & A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM

ADK Shakespeare Company is launching its first spring tour of upstate NY this year with productions of Romeo & Juliet and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Performances by the company's fully professional cast will be on tour from Saratoga Springs to Upper Jay from April 10-19.

In past years, ADK Shakes has produced spring titles in New York City, but they are excited to make a transition to the upstate area, concentrating all three of their mainstage production seasons in the Adirondack Region. "We have been producing a Summer Festival Season in the Adirondacks since 2010 and an Autumn Season since 2013," says Tara Bradway, the Company's Artistic Director. "It's about time for us to give our upstate audiences a Spring Repertory Season too." The Season is made possible by the New York State Council of the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. Support from the Alfred Z. Solomon Charitable Trust has also helped to make this year's Spring Season a reality.

Stepping into the roles of Conductor for this Season's shows are Meghan Blakeman and Doug Durlacher, both of whom are familiar faces from last Summer. Blakeman will conduct A Midsummer Night's Dream and is also slated to play the Nurse in Romeo & Juliet, for which Durlacher takes the reins as Conductor. Durlacher expressed his excitement for exploring the common themes of these two Shakespearean classics. "Protection of innocence, love born of immediate and seemingly senseless attraction," he describes, "and friendship -- deep, knowing, understanding, secret-telling, and secret-keeping friendship. Our ensemble comes with strong personalities, intelligence, great humor, and a whole bunch of giant hears -- a good start when exploring these complex human conditions, don't you think?" Durlacher has worked with the Company since before it was actually ADK Shakes, appearing in their very first Shakespeare IN THE RAW production of Henry VI, Part 1 back in 2008.

Romeo & Juliet and A Midsummer Night's Dream will be on tour from April 10-19 throughout Adirondack Park with performances at the Upper Jay Arts Center, Tannery Pond Community Center, the Bullhouse Restaurant in Chestertown, the National Museum of Dance, and the Charles R. Wood Theater. For more information on the company's upcoming productions, visit their website at www.adkshakes.org, follow them on Facebook and Twitter, or call (518) 803-HARK. Tickets for Romeo & Juliet and A Midsummer Night's Dream are available through the presenting venues or on adkshakes.ticketleap.com