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Shakespeare going hip-hop in the park
By JOHN FLEMING, Times Performing Arts Critic ST. PETERSBURG -- American Stage is going with something completely different for its annual Shakespeare in the Park production: The Bomb-itty of Errors, a hip-hop version of Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors. "I think it's time to look to moving Shakespeare to a younger audience," said interim artistic director Neil DeGroot, who will co-direct with Andrew Goldberg, director of the original version in New York and Chicago. Created by author-performers Jason Catalano, Jordan Allen-Dutton, Gregory J. Qaiyum and Erik Weiner when they were students at New York University, Bomb-itty had a six-month off-Broadway run in 1999. It went on to win the grand prize for best theatrical show at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colo. Last summer it had a successful run in Chicago. The American Stage production will open April 12 at Demens Landing on the downtown waterfront and run through May 12. Bomb-itty has been hailed for its inventive reworking of Shakespeare's shortest play. With a DJ, it employs rap, rhyme and pop cultural zaniness in a fast-moving show. "It should draw that audience of 16-, 17- to 24-, 25-year olds," DeGroot said Thursday. "We had the same crowd (in 1997) for the (punk rocker) Joe Popp Macbeth piece. I think this shares that vision." DeGroot isn't worried that hip-hip Shakespeare will turn off the theater's loyal audience for the park show, marking its 17th anniversary. "Our core audience will still come because it's the traditional outdoor event that they love," he said. "And I think they'll come away from it delighted." American Stage usually announces its Shakespeare in the Park production in September or October, but business as usual was derailed when the board asked artistic director Kenneth Mitchell for his resignation in October. This is the first time the production is not an adaptation of a Shakespeare play -- as a musical in recent years -- commissioned by the theater. "We have licensed the rights from Bomb-itty International, a company in Chicago that represents the creators," DeGroot said. "They're excited because they want to see it get out to other theaters around the country." This will be the third commercial production of Bomb-itty, which MTV has picked up as a possible film. DeGroot expects to have a cast of eight or nine, including a hip-hop chorus that has not been used in previous productions. Casting will be in New York, Chicago and the Tampa Bay area. Two veterans of park productions, scenic designer Lino Toyos and lighting designer Joseph Oshry, have signed on. Tickets go on sale to American Stage subscribers Feb. 4 and to the public Feb. 6. They range from $7 to $22. Call (727) 823-7529.
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From the wire |
