One for ‘Moulin Rouge!’ Fans

At first glance from the trailer, the show gives off a “Moulin Rouge!” vibe, but with a graphic and scandalous spin. The flavor looks to be the same: history with a contemporary twist. This shouldn’t be surprising, considering the show’s creator is Craig Pearce, Baz Luhrmann’s co-writer for “Romeo + Juliet,” “Moulin Rouge!” and “The Great Gatsby.” Much like Pearce’s film work, the show is promoted as having a modern soundtrack, where old meets new.

Historical Direction

Golden Globe-nominated Shekhar Kapur directed early episodes of the show, including the long-awaited pilot. The seasoned director has experience in bringing the past to the screen, as he is best known for his historical dramas “Elizabeth” and “Elizabeth: The Golden Age.”

Cast of Players

British actor and recent LAMDA graduate Laurie Davidson will make his television debut as the legendary playwright in his younger years. And, according to the network, this is not your high school English class Shakespeare.

Sarah Aubrey, executive vice president of original programming for TNT, told Deadline, “Shakespeare was a 16th-century rockstar, and ‘Will’ perfectly captures in contemporary terms what that must have felt like for the young writer and his fans. We are delighted to be working with such an extraordinary team of executive producers and cast in putting a fresh, bold spin on the story of Shakespeare.”

“The Shannara Chronicles” actor Mattias Inwood, who will take on the role of famed actor Richard Burbage, will flank Davison alongside Australian up-and-comer Olivia DeJonge, who will appear as Shakespeare’s love interest, Alice Burbage. The latest trailer also boasts British heartthrob Jamie Campbell Bower as the enigmatic playwright Christopher Marlowe, considered to be one of Shakespeare’s biggest rivals.

Bringing Sexy Back

Focusing the series on a historically ambiguous period in Shakespeare’s life will give the show some leeway with the story and the ability to play up the dramatics. Pair that with a passionate and rebellious lead character who is easy on the eyes, and we could see a widespread change in preconceived notions of the centuries-old playwright.

However, the urge to make Shakespeare sexy to younger generations is not a new concept. Theatre lovers will recall Christian Borle’s Tony Award-winning portrayal of the Bard as a leather-clad, celebrity stud in “Something Rotten!” One could also argue Broadway’s smash hit “Hamilton” sparked a renewed effort to modernize history and pique the interest of a technology-driven society. This latest attempt  by TNT certainly shows promise.

Could this be the surprise hit of the summer season? Only time will tell. Check out “Will” on TNT starting Monday, July 10.

‘Will’ you tune in this summer? Let us your thoughts in the comments below.

The post The Bard Is Back In TV’s Newest Summer Drama appeared first on Theatre Nerds.

Here is a list of places where you can catch some of Shakespeare’s work this summer:

1. The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey

This theatre company has been around for over 20 years and is highly devoted to the classics. It has Shakespeare shows happening all year, but it has a great selection during the summer months, boasting both an indoor and outdoor stage. This year, the company is performing “The Merchant of Venice,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “Shakespeare in Love.” If you choose to see a show performed on its outdoor stage, you can bring a beach chair, food and drinks as you relax and watch the Bard’s work. Also, tickets for all shows are under $70.

2. Shakespeare in the Park

Each summer, The Public hosts two Shakespeare shows. These shows sometimes take modern and experimental twists on classics, but you can always count on a great production. There are also many stars who perform in these shows. Lily Rabe, James Earl Jones and Jesse Tyler Ferguson are just some big names who have graced the stage over the years.

This summer, you can find Annaleigh Ashford, Danny Burstein and Phylicia Rashad in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

The best part about Shakespeare in the Park is that tickets are completely free. The only downside with this one is that if you are not a member of The Public, you do need to get there quite early to snag tickets. Tickets are also available through a lottery system on TodayTix.

As an extra bonus, if you are a complete Shakespeare nerd, the Shakespeare Garden is located right near the stage. See if you can find all the quotes scattered throughout the flowers.

3. Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival

Located in Garrison, New York, this outdoor theatre has a series of Shakespeare plays that run through the summer. The scenery of the Hudson Valley is beautiful at this location. There is a garden to walk through, a gift shop and a lawn you can have a picnic on before the show. If you are lucky enough to go on opening night, the theatre usually has free food and a band playing before the show.

Though the performance is held outdoors in an intimate tent, some productions of Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival are traveling. Depending on the show, there are a bunch of locations where it can be seen in New York. Along with some of the classic show’s, this year’s season also features an original work, “The Book of Will.”

4. Colorado Shakespeare Festival

Known for its commitment to celebrating and exploring Shakespeare’s work, this festival offers a number of plays and educational programs throughout the summer. Having started in 1958, the Colorado Shakespeare Festival is the second-oldest Shakespeare festival in the country. This summer, it will be celebrating its 60th season.

This festival will have a whopping five Shakespeare shows playing from June to August, including “Hamlet” and “The Taming of the Shrew.”

5. Oregon Shakespeare Festival

In Ashland, Oregon, this festival not only runs in the summer months, but is actually around from February through November. Its goal is to present as many pieces of work as possible nearly year-round. It has two indoor stages and one outdoor stage that opens in June. The outdoor stage is beautiful, with a real Elizabethan feel. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival has six plays going on this summer, including “Julius Caesar” and “The Merry Wives of Windsor.”

6. Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival

The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival has been around for about 25 years. It offers brilliant productions of the Bard’s work and performs musicals, world classics, contemporary comedies, dramas and children’s shows. Along with its regular plays and musicals, this festival offers an hourlong show about Shakespeare just for kids. On the mainstage this year is “As You Like It” and “Troilus and Cressida,” running from July through August.

7. England

Yes, this one is definitely a bit of a stretch, but where better to see Shakespearean shows than where his work originated? ‘Tis the season to travel or take that Shakespeare summer course you’ve heard so much about!

There are a ton of different places in England to see his work. There are usually at least a couple shows playing on the West End in London. Then, of course, there is the Shakespeare Globe, which has productions year-round.

If you want a full Shakespeare experience, you can also travel to his birthplace, Stratford Upon Avon. This town is filled with Shakespeare tours galore and is home to the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Are you going to try to see some Shakespeare this summer? Let us know in the comments below…

The post 7 Places To Get Your Shakespeare Fix This Summer appeared first on Theatre Nerds.

Despite the great love theatre nerds have for Shakespeare, some find fault with his language, claiming it’s too difficult to understand. In all fairness, some of it is. The guy also created nearly 2,000 new words that we still use in the English language. We use so many words and phrases by him on a daily basis and don’t even realize it.

We’re used to hearing the cliche “To be, or not to be” used without much thought or the classic “Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo,” but here are 10 words and phrases you might not know came straight from the pen of Shakespeare:

1. “Break the Ice” — “Taming of the Shrew”

Just think icebreakers. Every time you start a new show and need to get to know the cast, the first rehearsal consists of at least three of these. Funnily enough, it pretty much meant the same thing during Shakespeare’s time. Aside from referring to those awkward get-to-know-you games today, back then it also meant to make someone a little less frigid, i.e., Katherine in “Taming of the Shrew.”

2. “Swagger” — “Henry V” and “Midsummer Night’s Dream”

Bet you didn’t know this one had Shakespearean roots! This word was used in such phrases as “What hempen home-spuns have we swaggering here, so near the cradle of the fairy queen?” Yes, it was used a bit differently than it’s used today, but still is all Shakespearean.

3. “Bedazzled” — “The Taming of the Shrew”

Before referring to the trend of putting rhinestones on anything you could get your hands on, this word was used by Shakespeare to describe the sun. Featured in such lines as, “Pardon, old father, my mistaking eyes, that have been so bedazzled with the sun that everything I look on seemeth green,” the word had a much nicer meaning a few hundred years ago.

4. “Come What May” — ”Macbeth”

via GIPHY

Though you may think “Moulin Rouge” helped catapult this saying to popularity, Shakespeare is the one to thank for this saying. When Shakespeare used it in “Macbeth,” it went a little something like, “Come what come may, time and the hour run through the roughest day.” Try putting that into song.

5. “Love Is Blind” — “The Merchant of Venice”

via GIPHY

One of the most overused romantic sayings in history, this phrase first sprung up in “The Merchant of Venice.” Shakespeare wrote, “But love is blind, and lovers cannot see the petty follies that themselves commit, for if they could Cupid himself would blush to see me thus transformèd to a boy.” This one has pretty much kept its meaning through the years.

6. “Rant” — “Hamlet”

Is anyone surprised Shakespeare is responsible for coining this word? Though the first recorded use of this word was in Shakespeare’s “Merry Wives of Windsor,” it seems more appropriate to use this line from “Hamlet”: “I’ll rant as well as thou.” Like his creator, Hamlet was not very brief.

7. “Green-Eyed Monster” — “Othello”

via GIPHY

Responsible for coining “green-eyed” in “Merchant of Venice,” Shakespeare took it a step further in “Othello” with “O, beware, my lord, of jealousy; it is the green-eyed monster.”

8. “Not Slept a Wink” — “Cymbeline”

More formally spoken in Shakespeare’s work as, “I have not slept one wink,” this one is pretty self-explanatory and is used pretty much the same way today. Whether it be the night before a big audition or all of tech week, this saying is extremely applicable to theatre nerds.

9. “Eyeball” — “The Tempest”

You probably thought this one was created by some physician a couple hundred years ago, but credit goes to Shakespeare yet again. The use of this word has not changed since the late 1500s: “Go make thyself like a nymph o’ the sea: be subject to no sight but thine and mine, invisible to every eyeball else.”

10. “What’s Done Is Done” — “Macbeth”

First used in “Macbeth,” the title character says, “Things without all remedy Should be without regard: what’s done, is done.” Today we use this saying in the same way, though not to refer to a recent murder we’ve committed.

Did any of these words surprise you? Do you have any other Shakespearean words that you use constantly? Let us know in the comments!

The post 10 Words And Phrases You Didn’t Know Came From Shakespeare appeared first on Theatre Nerds.

Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.

-Countess, I.i.66-67

Get thee a good husband, and use him as he uses thee.

-Parolles, I.i.220-221

Our remedies oft in ourseles do lie.

-Helena, I.i.222

Thy casement I need not open, for I look through thee.

-Lafew, II.iii.228-229

Come night, end day! For with the dark, poor thief, I’ll steal away.

-Helena, III.ii.139-140

‘Tis a hard bondage to become the wife
Of a detesting lord.

-Diana, III.v.73-74

Were I his lady,
I would poison that vile rascal.

Diana, III.v.99-100

A heaven on Earth I have won by wooing thee.

Bertram, IV.ii.78

There’s place and means for every man alive.

Parolles, IV.iii.361

Mine eyes smell onions, I weep anon.

Lafew,  V.iii.365

Good job, Bard.

What’s your favorite quote or Shakespearean show? Any great quotes you feel like I left out?

The post The Best Quotes From All’s Well That Ends Well appeared first on Theatre Nerds.

The post Can You Match The Movie With Its Shakespeare Play? appeared first on Theatre Nerds.

Shakespeare was skilled at writing to entertain an incredibly wide audience, from the nobility in their box seats to the “groundlings” or peasant class who could only afford tickets on the ground level looking up at the stage. The Elizabethan theater was structured to accommodate multiple social classes, and Shakespeare’s text was as well. His rich and poetic use of language, metaphor and allusions appealed to the high born educated theater goer, and his penis jokes were written for the rest of us, and our inner twelve-year-old.

Shakespeare was the master of the double entendre, folding two jokes into one and giving double meanings to his punch lines. His plays are riddled with hidden penile puns there to entertain the déclassé audience member.

We Theatre Nerds have compiled a list of 9 of our favorite penis references from the often bawdy Bard

1. Romeo & Julet, 2.4

Mercutio to the Nurse:

for the bawdy hand of the dial, Is now upon the prick of noon.

2. Henry V, 2.3

Pistol to Nym:

I do retort the solus in thy bowels, For I can take, and Pistol’s cock is up, And flashing fire will follow.

3. The Two Gentlemen Of Verona, 5.2

THURIO: Sir Proteus, what says Silvia to my suit?

PROTEUS: O, sir, I find her milder than she was; And yet she takes exceptions at your person.

THURIO: What, that my leg is too long?

PROTEUS: No; that it is too little.

4. Measure for Measure, 1.3

Believe not that the dribbling dart of love Can Pierce a Complete bosom

-Duke Vincentio

5. Love’s Labour’s Lost, 5.2

Dumain was at my service, and his sword

-Maria

6. The Taming of the Shrew 4.1

CURTIS: Away, you three-inch fool! I am no beast.

GRUMIO: Am I but three inches? why, thy horn is a foot; and so long am I at the least

7. Love’s Labour’s Lost, 4.1

MARIA: A mark marvellous well shot; for they both did hit it.

BOYET: A mark! O, mark but that mark! A mark, says my lady!

Let the mark have a prick in’t, to mete at, if it may be.

8. Merry Wives of Windsor, 3.5

MISTRESS QUICKLY: Alas the day! good heart, that was not her fault: she does so take on with her men; they mistook their erection.

FALSTAFF: So did I mine, to build upon a foolish woman’s promise.

9. Two Gentlemen of Verona, 2.5

SPEED: Why, then, how stands the matter with them?

LAUNCE: Marry, thus: when it stands well with him, it stands well with her.

Have one that we missed? Leave a comment below…

The post The Bawdy Bard: 9 Times Shakespeare Told Pen*s Jokes appeared first on Theatre Nerds.