Romeo And Juliet

Annapolis Opera's fully staged production of Charles Gounod's "Romeo and Juliet" at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts last weekend proved a triumph to close the season. My only complaint when I attended Friday evening was the number of empty seats. Though the lower-than-usual attendance was perhaps the result of the move from the opera's usual March dates to May, the show itself was as satisfying as any this year. Based on Shakespeare's timeless tale of star-crossed lovers Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet, Gounod's opera — sung in French to a libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carre — debuted at Theatre Lyrique in Paris in 1867 to mixed reviews, some critics pronouncing it tuneless.

Are we in the midst of a mini-Shakespeare festival? The area is currently enjoying two innovative productions of works by the Bard: Compass Rose Theater's "Romeo and Juliet" — reviewed here last week — and Annapolis Shakespeare Company's "Hamlet," now playing at Bowie Playhouse. Director Sally Boyett boldly delves into the psyche of Hamlet to accomplish a nearly impossible feat: bringing suspense to this much-told tale of the melancholy Danish prince. Boyett places the character in the 21st century, confronting the mystery of his father's death and his anguish over his mother's hasty marriage to Claudius, the king's brother and Hamlet's uncle.

Updated stagings of "Romeo and Juliet" are neither new nor necessarily revelatory, but an imaginative one can make you see and feel the tragedy in a fresh, stronger light, can sweep you up into that fateful vortex where young love collides with stubborn pride and absurd grudges. Folger Theatre's season-opening production succeeds awfully well at doing just that. Directed with a vibrant touch by Aaron Posner, the play gets an essentially American treatment in terms of accent and attitude (if actors inserted a "like" or "you know" into every sentence, it wouldn't seem all that out of place)

Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" is perhaps the world's best-known love story - a tragic tale of forbidden love between teenagers from warring families. Consequently, any producer offering his or her own presentation must bring new insight and a fresh approach, a tough act for a story that has withstood the ages. Aware of this daunting challenge, Compass Rose Theater founding artistic director Lucinda Merry-Browne, who serves in its production of "Romeo and Juliet" as producer and director, noted the necessity of "creating a production that would tell the story in an authentic and powerful way. " Convinced that "Romeo and Juliet" is suited to Compass Rose's teaching mission, Merry-Browne cast very young actors in the title roles - 14-year-old Sydney Maloney as Juliet and 17-year-old Eli Pendry as Romeo.

To hear Angela Germanos tell it, the rivalry between Anne Arundel County's Severna Park and Broadneck high schools can go from friendly to fierce to furious in no time flat. Earlier this year, the Severna Park drama director came up with an idea to bring to a simmer some of the recurring enmity: a joint production of the Shakespeare play "Romeo and Juliet," in which each school's drama department would assume the role of one of the play's feuding families, the Capulets and the Montagues.

At rehearsals last weekend, young actors were busy preparing for professional-caliber productions opening next week. Children's Theatre of Annapolis presents Disney's "Alice in Wonderland," featuring a cast ages 8 to 14, on weekends April 13-22 at its Bay Head Road theater in Annapolis. The Annapolis Shakespeare Company will present "Romeo and Juliet," featuring a cast age 18 and under, April 12-14 at Bowie Playhouse in White Marsh Park. The 1951 Disney animated film is based on Lewis Carroll's classics, "The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland" and its sequel, "Through the Looking Glass.

It's been performed hundreds of thousands of times on stages worldwide, in classrooms, on the big screen and on television, and, since June 29, William Shakespeare's classic "Romeo and Juliet" is being revived at Laurel Mill Playhouse. The show runs through July 15. The play is part of the theater's annual Summer Youth Shakespeare Theatre series, which means all of the characters are middle and high school students. The stage setting for the well-known play about the doomed love affair of two teenagers whose families hate each other is sparse.

Balletomanes searching for a new vision of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" found much to savor last weekend in the three Ballet Theatre of Maryland performances of artistic director Dianna Cuatto's newly choreographed retelling of the timeless classic. At Friday's opening, Cuatto's introductory remarks gave the audience insight into her choreographic task of fusing dance and romantic drama with the antagonism of the rival Capulet and Montague families. Cuatto's major intent was to remain faithful to Sergei Prokofiev's brilliant score, which Cuatto described as "one of the most poetically breathtaking compositions for dance.

Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" is perhaps the world's best-known love story - a tragic tale of forbidden love between teenagers from warring families. Consequently, any producer offering his or her own presentation must bring new insight and a fresh approach, a tough act for a story that has withstood the ages. Aware of this daunting challenge, Compass Rose Theater founding artistic director Lucinda Merry-Browne, who serves in its production of "Romeo and Juliet" as producer and director, noted the necessity of "creating a production that would tell the story in an authentic and powerful way. " Convinced that "Romeo and Juliet" is suited to Compass Rose's teaching mission, Merry-Browne cast very young actors in the title roles - 14-year-old Sydney Maloney as Juliet and 17-year-old Eli Pendry as Romeo.

The star of the student-alumni production of Romeo and Juliet at Howard Community College is the director, MaryBeth Wise. She may not have the Royal Shakespeare Company to work with - classical actors trained in movement, dance, fencing and the speaking of blank verse - but she has turned out a lively and effective show. The great thing about Shakespeare is his universality. His situations and characters can be made relevant to almost any audience in any age. Romeo and Juliet depicts teen-age love in all its headstrong intensity - something we've all experienced or at least witnessed.

Updated stagings of "Romeo and Juliet" are neither new nor necessarily revelatory, but an imaginative one can make you see and feel the tragedy in a fresh, stronger light, can sweep you up into that fateful vortex where young love collides with stubborn pride and absurd grudges. Folger Theatre's season-opening production succeeds awfully well at doing just that. Directed with a vibrant touch by Aaron Posner, the play gets an essentially American treatment in terms of accent and attitude (if actors inserted a "like" or "you know" into every sentence, it wouldn't seem all that out of place)

Each week The Sun's John McIntyre presents a relatively obscure but evocative word with which you may not be familiar, another brick to add to the wall of your working vocabulary. This week's word: PULE Whining is an annoying tone that gets on the nerves, and the British whinge , at least to my ear, is whining with a little more edge to it. But that's not the end of it. You may find your irritation rising as well at puling . To pule (pronounced PYOOL)

In its nearly two dozen years, Signature Theatre has presented a rich variety of works, but none by the Bard -- not that there's anything wrong with that. The Tony Award-winning company has now taken the plunge in a terrific way. "Shakespeare's R&J" examines the star-crossed lovers of Verona through the unexpected prism of a repressive, all-male Catholic boarding school. This brilliant and provocative work, created by Joe Calarco, first appeared in the late 1990s and has been widely performed since.Calarco recently revised the piece, and that new version is receiving its North American premiere in a bracing, in-the-round production that he has directed with considerable flair.

There's one huge problem with the University of Maryland's decision to move to the Big Ten athletic conference: Who replaces Duke as the team that Terps fans love to hate? Some great drama is being lost with Maryland bolting the ACC. Future basketball seasons will be like reading "Romeo and Juliet" without the Montagues. Or watching "Star Wars" without Darth Vader.  No author would have dreamed up such a move -- taking the great villain out of a compelling story. It figures that the plan was dreamed up by university administrators seeking financial gain.

Sunday, July 29 Onstage, outdoors The Chesapeake Shakespeare Company presents "Romeo and Juliet" and "Pride and Prejudice" at 6 p.m. at Patapsco Female Institute Historic Park, 3691 Sarah's Lane in Ellicott City. Admission is $15-$36; free for children younger than 18. Tickets and information: 410-313-8661 or chesapeakeshakespeare.com . Music by the lake The Richard Walton Group takes the stage from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. as part of the Columbia Lakefront Summer Festival at 10275 Wincopin Circle.

'Calling All Artists' The Meeting House Gallery, Oakland Mills Interfaith Center, 5885 Robert Oliver Place in Columbia, is accepting applications for work to be exhibited November to spring. People older than 18 who live in Maryland, Washington, Virginia, Delaware and Pennsylvania may apply. Artwork in all media and styles that can be hung, including wall sculptures, is acceptable. The deadline is Sept. 1. Information: 410-730-4090. Fall adult basketball leagues The Department of Recreation and Parks is accepting registrations for its fall adult basketball leagues.

The big sleeper of the Kirov Ballet season was the revival of Leonid Lavrovsky's "Romeo and Juliet," created in 1940.Common wisdom had it that Lavrovsky's remarkable fusion of mime and dancing would look old-fashioned, that this Socialist Realist epic with decadent aristocrats pitted against "the people" could no longer be taken seriously.Surprisingly, this once-controversial treatment of Prokofiev's score (seen in New York with the Bolshoi in 1959) was a superb revelation all over again.

It's been performed hundreds of thousands of times on stages worldwide, in classrooms, on the big screen and on television, and, since June 29, William Shakespeare's classic "Romeo and Juliet" is being revived at Laurel Mill Playhouse. The show runs through July 15. The play is part of the theater's annual Summer Youth Shakespeare Theatre series, which means all of the characters are middle and high school students. The stage setting for the well-known play about the doomed love affair of two teenagers whose families hate each other is sparse.