Terry, my thoughts are with you!
--Mike
On Tue, May 4, 2010 at 6:30 AM, tlgalloway@aol.com wrote:
Hey guys,
I'm headed for surgery in just two hours. Yikes. Love you.
Have many thoughts about the scenes --love the idea of putting together Shakespeare proper with popular culture takes offs (Brush Up Your Shakespeare, etc ).
It could be such a fun, surprising show!
What are other musical numbers or non musical plays and movies in popular culture that evoke Shakespeare? Let's plunder them for material!
Love, Terry
-----Original Message----- From: Bruce Meyer Bruce.Meyer@UTSouthwestern.edu To: rpees@AkinGump.com; mnemonic@gmail.com; JACKSON@rjackson.com Cc: TLGalloway@aol.com; maggie@bizaffairs.com; jayres@cvctx.com; alicegordon@earthlink.net; churwic@gmail.com; skippytodd@gmail.com; dzieglersf@hotmail.com; susan_g_todd@hotmail.com; kozusko@mac.com; jsuhler@mail.smu.edu; cstromberger@mail.utexas.edu; joyandthomas@msn.com; madge@rudemechs.com; kathrynblackbird@sbcglobal.net; g.mcdonald@soton.ac.uk; michael_barker@spe.sony.com; larsbeck@swbell.net; stan@texashealingarts.com; mmcollins50@yahoo.com Sent: Mon, May 3, 2010 8:45 pm Subject: Re: Some more scene ideas
Bob Wow! Have you been waiting for this for years? I can barely yank myself out of work mode to contemplate playing and here you are with 3 hours of scenes readimade. Damn, i already feel the full inadequacy of my pathetic preparation.... Oh well, chalk it up to another typical winedale experience. Meanwhile, can i plead for a little JOY (the emotion not the comrade) and sillliness - will try to come up with something more than the interlude from MND Yours in embarrasment Bruce
-----Original Message----- From: "Pees, Robert" rpees@AkinGump.com Cc: tlgalloway@aol.com tlgalloway@aol.com Cc: maggie@bizaffairs.com maggie@bizaffairs.com Cc: jayres@cvctx.com jayres@cvctx.com Cc: alicegordon@earthlink.net alicegordon@earthlink.net Cc: churwic@gmail.com churwic@gmail.com To: mnemonic@gmail.com mnemonic@gmail.com Cc: skippytodd@gmail.com skippytodd@gmail.com Cc: dzieglersf@hotmail.com dzieglersf@hotmail.com Cc: susan_g_todd@hotmail.com susan_g_todd@hotmail.com Cc: kozusko@mac.com kozusko@mac.com Cc: jsuhler@mail.smu.edu jsuhler@mail.smu.edu Cc: cstromberger@mail.utexas.edu cstromberger@mail.utexas.edu Cc: joyandthomas@msn.com joyandthomas@msn.com To: Robert Jackson JACKSON@rjackson.com Cc: madge@rudemechs.com madge@rudemechs.com Cc: kathrynblackbird@sbcglobal.net kathrynblackbird@sbcglobal.net Cc: g.mcdonald@soton.ac.uk g.mcdonald@soton.ac.uk Cc: michael_barker@spe.sony.com michael_barker@spe.sony.com Cc: larsbeck@swbell.net larsbeck@swbell.net Cc: stan@texashealingarts.com stan@texashealingarts.com Cc: Bruce Meyer Bruce.Meyer@UTSouthwestern.edu Cc: mmcollins50@yahoo.com mmcollins50@yahoo.com
Sent: 5/3/2010 2:59:18 PM Subject: Some more scene ideas
Hi everyone,
Here are some additional ideas for scenes. For what it's worth, I am fine with fan favorites as well as more obscure gems.
A few ideas for possible opening scenes
- Hamlet III, ii. Hamlet's advice to the players. Perhaps an effective way
to swell an opening scene with our entire crew of patches. ( Just fyi, the act, scene and line numbers in this email refer to the Riverside Shakespeare, Second Edition.)
- Sonnet 30 ("When to the sessions of sweet silent thought/I summon up
remembrance of things past,..."), a fitting poem for a reunion.
- Henry V Prologue (Might be interesting to somehow marry the "Muse of Fire"
speech with James Loehlin's traditional no-smoking injunction at the beginning of a performance; perhaps the Chorus could get busted for lighting a cigarette)
Revenge and Cruelty
- 3 Henry VI, I.iv.. This scene is to Shakespeare what a mechanical shark was
to Steven Spielberg-it's an early-career stroke of genius with more than a hint of sensationalism. Richard Duke of York is ensnared by adversaries led by the powerful Queen Margaret, who mockingly coronates him with a paper crown. Before his brutal execution, York delivers a number of choice insults, including the line "O tiger's heart wrapped in a woman's hide!" This is a truly great scene that remains relatively little known.
- Titus Andronicus, II, iv.. Enter the Goth empress's sons, Chiron and
Demetrius, ridiculing Lavinia, whom they had just mutilated and raped. Exeunt Chiron and Demetrius and enter Lavinia's uncle Marcus. His speech upon seeing his niece is a real challenge for any actor.
Love
- Othello, I.iii. 60-169. Confronted by an angry Brabantio, who claims that
his daughter was seduced by sorcery, Othello explains how he won the love of Desdemona: "She lov'd me for the dangers I had pass'd,/And I lov'd her that she did pity them./This only is the witchcraft I have us'd."
- Romeo and Juliet , III.ii, 1-31. Juliet delivers her ecstatically
passionate soliloquy "Gallop apace, you fiery-footed steeds" A great speech. Though the soliloquy stands on its own, the next 111 lines also feature a remarkable exchange between Juliet and the Nurse, who shares with Juliet the news of Tybalt's death and Romeo's banishment.
- Sonnets 40, 116, 130, 138 or any of a number of others.
Jealousy
- Antony and Cleopatra, II, v. A messenger from Rome reports to Cleopatra
that Antony has married Octavia. Cleopatra's reaction is befitting a woman who is never, never, never, never, never off-stage. I think this scene has much comic potential.
- The Winter's Tale, II., iii. Holding Queen Hermione's infant son, her
loyal friend Paulina confronts King Leontes, who, blinded by jealousy, refuses to acknowledge the child as his: "This brat is none of mine,..."
- Othello, III, iii. Famous scene where Iago plants and carefully
cultivates the seeds of jealousy in Othello's mind.
- Sonnets 138, 142 and others
Treachery and Lechery
- Cymbeline, II, ii. The villain Iachimo smuggles himself into Imogen's
bed-chamber via a trunk. Short scene but highly dramatic.
- Measure for Measure, II, iv. The powerful Angelo will spare a nun's
brother...in exchange for her virginity.
Drinking and Carousing
- Antony and Cleopatra, II, vii. Drunken Romans, geopolitics, a Bacchanalian
song and dance-what could be better?
Any of a half-dozen scenes featuring Falstaff
The Tempest scenes with Caliban, Stephano and Trinculo (the task here would
be to make the scenes, as Terry Galloway suggests, new and fresh rather than recycled; the Toby,/Clown/Aguecheek noisemaking scene in Twelfth Night also falls into this category)
- The Porter scene in the Scottish Play
Time
- The theme of time seems appropriate for a 40th Anniversary reunion. A
number of scenes in Richard II, The Winter's Tale, and other plays emphasize Time, and dozens of the Sonnets also play with the theme. And multiple scenes in Lear deal with age. Finally, let's not forget the fat knight's "ill white hairs" described by King Henry in 2 Henry IV (it would be great to have the banishment speech included!).
A few ideas for possible closing scenes
- The Epilogue to Henry VIII. ("All the expected good w' are like to
hear/For this play at this time, is only in/The merciful construction of good women,..." is a line that could be a tribute to those six who have in this process acquired the collective shorthand title of the "gals')
- The Epilogue to The Tempest ("Now my charms are all o'erthrown"), or
Prospero's speech after the pageant ("Our revels now are ended"). A bit predictable but crowd favorites for good reasons.
- A bawdy jig.
And I suspect that we could also just throw darts at random pages of Hamlet and Lear and identify more great scenes. My list above also doesn't harvest enough from the great comedies.
Best regards,
Bob
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