Shakespeare: Last News

Romeo and Juliet four times. I’ve done Macbeth five times. I’ve done Twelfth Night three times.

First Folio. That seminal 1623 publication, the first book to print a collection of Shakespeare’s plays, many of them for the first time, also factors into the new exhibition.

Hamlet.She pulls it off with great intelligence and careful precision in a two-and-a-half-hour production that whizzes by faster than a perceived phantom. From the troubled Danish prince to the forlorn Ophelia and even a cockney gravedigger, Izzard tackles 23 characters with sophisticated panache and effortless flair.Izzard, who has had an impressive career in London and New York, both onstage and in film, and as an actor and stand-up comedian, admitted to ABC News that she is not the most likely person for a solo Hamlet, but has decided to return to her first love, drama.In the same interview, it was revealed that Izzard ran 32 marathons in 31 days on a treadmill during lockdown.

owes a debt to old Hollywood, specifically films known as “comedies of manners,” which followed a wealthy protagonist who invariably fell in love with a down-at-the-heel type. See, “It Happened One Night,” the natural predecessor of “Crazy Rich Asians.” This ‘money can’t buy love and love is the greatest wealth of all’ narrative was by all accounts, comforting to threadbare Depression-era audiences.

Fat Ham, James Ijames relocates Shakespeare’s Hamlet from the kingdom of Denmark to a modern-day backyard in “North Carolina, or Virginia, or Maryland, or Tennessee.”The playwright infuses the tale with the culturally specific atmosphere of Black Americana — pork on the grill, brown liquor flowing, and Frankie Beverly singing “Before I Let Go” as a grown and sexy couple grooves to the music. But instead of a pondering prince, we have melancholy only-son Juicy (Marquis D.

Romeo and Juliet.The co-production with the Glimmerglass Festival is filled with cavorting Capulet partiers as fun as Madonna’s Celebration Tour dancers and an energized cast with fabulous voices. It is impending doom delivered with entertainment and style.In his debut as an opera director, Simon Godwin — normally seen leading the Shakespeare Theatre Company — brings a naturalness to the performances, which feel almost as if the singers are playing themselves.It’s a warmth that infuses the story, keeping it present and alive.

For musical theater lovers intrigued by the idea of a lively 90-minute pastiche of rock, soul, and ballad paired with an interesting premise involving Shakespeare and social justice, Macbeth in Stride is the show for you. With an onstage band and performance at the heart of the production, this is all about clapping along, a goodly portion of expository — some of it sung — and participation as required.For those with a shorter attention span, fear not: there are whiffs of live-concert crowd-rousing, keening gospel gatherings, and even intimate evenings in a piano bar.The question is, other than being very entertaining, does Macbeth in Stride actually have something to say?Maybe, perhaps, sort of.The concept of writer-performer Whitney White is certainly compelling: it starts with a personable and inclusive invitation to consider with new eyes the way Shakespeare writes his female characters, Lady Macbeth in particular (called Woman here).White begins by asking, who was she really? Her answer arrives through the lens of a Black woman laying claim to their world and their power.This is an intriguing premise, but anyone who knows the play will be stumped by a threshold question: why choose a character who is murderously power-mad to the point of driving herself insane? Despite a fair amount of spoken and sung angst, the answer to the question never quite surfaces, and White’s attempts to fill in the gaps never convinces.More to the point, White’s Lady Macbeth presents as too smart, capable, and 21st-century-centered to see murder as her way to power.When even the three witches query her ruthlessness, it’s time to make the message clear, but it still never quite adds up.

much ado about nothing, the theatre might say.According to the Globe’s recount, the incident took place during a matinee showing of the bard’s “A Comedy of Errors” when the man — who has yet to be identified — bought a ticket to stand in the legendary theater’s yard right in front of the stage. Following the performance, one angry audience member complained that they were “shocked to see a man in a full latex gimp suit” and “even more shocked that he was allowed to stay in the theatre despite what he was wearing.”The Post has reached out to the Globe for comment.

robbed,” and took to social media to express their disappointment.“Awful ruling against Ben Chan on tonight’s #Jeopardy,” someone tweeted.“Since when does being off by one letter count in final jep? There’s no other character he could have meant,” another wrote.“Lynn doesn’t finish spelling ‘Juliet’ yet it’s ruled as a complete (albeit incorrect) response, and Ben misspells Benedick by one letter and is ruled incorrect. Clearly they knew what he was going for and yet ended his run on a terrible technicality,” a fan pointed out.“The thing I hate about #Jeopardy is if Ben had said that response he would have got it correct, but writing it was wrong.

that is the question.Running time: 1 hour and 45 minutes with no intermission.  At the American Airlines Theatre, 227 W. 42nd Street.Playwright James Ijames’ “Fat Ham,” which opened Wednesday night on Broadway, thinks so.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, directed by Danielle Drakes, and Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, the groundbreaking 1959 play that shed light on issues of discrimination and racism in American housing, directed by Christopher Michael Richardson.The plays will be performed by the Tour 72’s ensemble of Jordan Essex, Savannah Gomez, Ariya Hawkins, Max Johnson, Melanie A. Lawrence, Lorenzo Miguel, Walter C.A.

Is this a Walther PPK which I see before me? Almost! It’s former James Bond actor Daniel Craig, who’s starring as the Scottish king killer in “Macbeth” on Broadway. His uninvolving and ponderous production (it opened Thursday night at the Longacre Theatre, but barred critics from publishing reviews till midday Friday for reasons that will soon become obvious to you) is a real Blunderball.Two hours and 20 minutes, with one intermission. At the Longacre Theatre, 220 W 48th Street.

conflict or drama,” Povich, 81, tells The Post. “That’s been the kind of TV that attracts an audience — and has been the key to this show.“I have such a loyal audience that cuts across all social groups,” he says.