| Author |
Message |
    
Hank Zona
Supporter
Username: Hankzona
Post Number: 5506
Registered: 3-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 - 11:37 pm: | 
|
We went to see this tonight and I wouldnt have posted a review, but Jamie asked me to and one never refuses a request from a Ross Brother.
First, Jamie..get GrooveLily back some day...after you book Uncle Floyd for Sbenois and me...Id love to see them. Not only do they do a great job with providing live background music and a number of original songs, but they also act, and they do it well. In fact, most of the actors act really well, most of them convincingly delivering the Bard's lines. If you like Shakespeare, this is an interpretation worth seeing. If you want a good starter Shakespeare, this is the show. If your kid is reading this in middle school right now (as I heard some are), it's a great "live" application of what they are reading. We took the kids (3rd and 5th graders), they stuck with it and enjoyed it immensely, but they also were very familiar with the story, having re-read a really good children's version in the past week. But parts of the show are qirky and campy and alot of fun..it's really well done...there are some fun visuals...and it's five minutes from home and running for the next month I believe. |
jamie
Citizen
Username: Jamie
Post Number: 491
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 - 12:02 am: |
|
Hank - thanks for the review - I hope to make it out to the play, I've heard nothing but good things about it.
And I'm sure I'll have GrooveLily back at some point, if they're not too busy with their theater work.
I will definitely look into Uncle Floyd, maybe I'll get him out in the Fall! |
Duncan
Supporter
Username: Duncanrogers
Post Number: 6231
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 - 8:45 am: |
|
My wife and I are going tonight.
I'm a Shakespeare snob who just had a tooth extracted.
Bwahh haa haa` |
algebra2
Supporter
Username: Algebra2
Post Number: 4052
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 - 11:20 am: |
|
Hank -- what would a first grade boy who loves theater think? |
Buzzsaw
Citizen
Username: Buzzsaw
Post Number: 4524
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 - 11:37 am: |
|
Oh, please get Uncle Floyd!
That would be huge.
|
Hank Zona
Supporter
Username: Hankzona
Post Number: 5513
Registered: 3-2002
| | Posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 - 11:42 am: |
|
if you make him familiar with the story, or if he is already familiar with it, it would help alot, but they are doing an accurate reading of Shakespeare, which even a lot of grown-ups cant necessarily follow. But knowing the story made it much easier for my kids to pick out the characters and know what was happening. The music is really good..and there are enough light parts (and only a few mildly suggestive PG-13 parts) to keep him amused and laughing. The woman playing Bottom, Lea Delaria is fantastic and funny and campy (yes a woman playing a male role, and there are amusing female roles played by men and some other "twists"). There is plenty of beefcake in the form of Puck and the fairies and Lysander and Demetrius for those women (and men) interested in that sort of thing. The fairies spend a good amount of time suspended in tree-like structures, a la Cirque du Soleil (and similar sounding to the new Disney "Tarzan" production which seems to take that effect to the next level). The show was 7:30...curtain was at 7:40...15 minute intermission...we were in the car on our way home at 10:10. There were a few kids there last night who appeared to be his age. They also have those plastic boosters there too. And if he likes theatre, look into the family series for the NJ Symphony at NJPAC and the New Victory Theatre on 42nd St. We have liked both alot and are going next week to see "Brundibar" at the New Vic, a children's opera with an interesting and sad history to it. |
algebra2
Supporter
Username: Algebra2
Post Number: 4053
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 - 12:17 pm: |
|
Thanks. I'm going to see if I can find a children's version of the story for us and maybe bring him to a matinee. |
Duncan
Supporter
Username: Duncanrogers
Post Number: 6238
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, April 22, 2006 - 11:45 am: |
|
Algebra... MSND may be the best "starter" shakespeare going. I would give this production a try. As I recall, your son is quite bright and I am sure he would get it, with some guidance.
Most kids versions of shakespeare dumb it down too much (there are some exceptions of course).
I was very sorry not to make it last night but the place where my tooth used to be hurt a lot and I was a tad medicated. Frankly, I would rather have been in a theater.
Algy...check out www.njtheateralliance.com for theaters around the state. Particularly it will link you the various childrens theaters. NJ Shakes tours shows as does pushcart players. But I bet your son, especially if he loves theater, can handle the Papermill production. |
Hank Zona
Supporter
Username: Hankzona
Post Number: 5523
Registered: 3-2002
| | Posted on Saturday, April 22, 2006 - 11:50 am: |
|
Ive got a good children's version from the Maplewood Library that we'll be returning this weekend...there are other versions there by the same folks...really well done story versions, not board books, but with beautiful illustrations too..I looked for them in bookstores a couple of years back but they must have been out of print and I never checked the Amazon/eBay route. |
jamie
Citizen
Username: Jamie
Post Number: 492
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, April 22, 2006 - 12:01 pm: |
|
Here's a online version which might help:
http://abisamra04.tripod.com/msdream.html |
3mom
Citizen
Username: 3mom
Post Number: 225
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, April 24, 2006 - 3:32 pm: |
|
I took my kids ages 10, 8 and 6 last night and we all loved it. the production is gorgeous and the kids laughed all the way through. There is enough going on that even the 6 year old, who really didn't know what was happening, enjoyed it. And sadly the theater was half empty. It's worth the price of the ticket just to see the set; there is one scene where these sort of red hibiscus flowers bloom in the dark and it's incredible to watch. And the music is really wonderful. |
Closed: New threads not accepted on this page