Romeo & Juliet

[edjames]

The English heartthrob Orlando Bloom know for his movies “The Lord of the Rings" and "Pirates of the Caribbean” makes his Broadway debut as Romeo in Shakespeare’s romantic tragedy Romeo and Juliet. Directed by five-time Tony nominee David Leveaux, the interracial revival also stars Condola Rashad, a Tony nominee for her work in Stick Fly and The Trip to Bountiful, as Juliet.

First up is the question of whether or not a 36 year old man and a 27 year old woman are really right for the lead roles as the “virginal” lovers. The answer, to me, is yes and no. Orlando Bloom looks years younger than his real age and he is a heartthrob, but that sometimes gets in the way of concentrating on his performance. He’s just too damn pretty for words! Of the two leads he far better trained than his co-star. The “no” is Condola Rashad, she’s just too old for the role and doesn’t appear to be adequately trained as a true Shakespearean actress. It is difficult to watch her perform.

Friends have also commented that they thought this cast lost the true cadence, rhythm, and timing of Shakespeare’s text in this production. It was often hard to hear them. Jane Houdyshell excels as the Nurse, the rest of the cast is talented but seriously folks, Justin Guarini, American idol Season 1 runner up doing Shakespeare????

And, in what age were a motorcycle and an hour glass contempory? Stupidly and clunmsily, Romeo makes his entrance on a Harley.

I liked the scenic design, the lighting and the use of an orchestra was interesting. the script has been edited to shreds, and has been cut down to accomodate the low concentration level of today's audiecnes (re: young woman in front of me watching a video on her iphone in the first act!!!! Maybe she was watching the DiCaprio movie version???)

So, bottom line, I got a great seat on TDF, and for the small investment it was worth my time and effort. It's available on discounts and The Richard Rodgers theater has a orchestra seats, so sight lines are good all over. It’ll be interesting to see what the critics say when it opens on September 19.

 

 

ED