Digging In

Good morning everyone! The post below was originally posted by Jim Radloff (Fenton) in the comments section of a previous post. I felt like it needed to be out front where more people could see it--so I made the editorial choice to move it to the front. One of the most interesting things that has come from my involvement with MASC's Shakespeare in the park has been learning about the history and background of all of these shows. Often, what has been previously published can give the crucial bit of insight to solve a problem or answer a question.

So I 'll turn it over to Jim:

I mentioned this briefly to Justin last night, and thought I would share it with the rest of you. (This may become a rant. Sorry.)

After I read this post, I looked at a few of Shakespeare's plays on the Internet Broadway Database. It typed in the first 3 of his shows that came to mind: this one, Romeo and Juliet, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. And I noticed that the last Broadway run of Romeo and Juliet closed in 1987. The last Midsummer run ended in 1996. But Merry Wives has not been seen on Broadway since 1938.

That's right, 71 years since this play saw a Broadway production. There hasn't even been a film version since 1982, and that was made for TV.

This is not necessarily a bad thing. MASC's last production was The Sound of Music, and I remember a lot of people ordering each other to see the movie because they had to get the characters down. People had expectations of what they wanted us to be, and it restricted what we could do.

This show does not give us that pressure. I don't have to imitate William Post Jr because he retired 56 years ago and most people have no idea what he was like.

Instead, I decide let the script talk to me. Fenton is a nice guy because I see him as such. He is friendly because I want him to be. He is kind and energetic because I think he is.

We are each our own Laurence Olivier. Just as he defined how people saw Hamlet or Henry V, we define who Fenton, Falstaff, and Dr. Caius are in our own minds.

It also helps that we have a cast that helps each other, but more on that later.

The point is, our audience is going to see something they have never seen before. It has been a long time since I have been this excited about a show.