Shakespeare
Lucky for us, Shakespeare’s plays are timeless enough to be performed in almost any setting. I’ve worked on productions of Romeo and Juliet in modern-day Appalachia; As You Like It in the Hooverville shantytowns; and The Two Gentlemen of Verona in the hippie culture of the 60’s, to name a few. I was able to explore both the written Shakespearean world as well as the vision of the directors and producers.
More Information
This is an example of an original piece – a Doo-Wop song I wrote for The Taming of the Shrew set in the 1950’s. I used inspiration from Shakespeare’s own words to write some of the lyrics:
. . . Tranio, I burn, I pine, I perish, Tranio,
If I achieve not this young modest girl . . .
– Act 1, Scene 1
. . . Well, we’ll see’t. Come, madame wife, sit by my side, and let the world slip,
we shall ne’er be younger . . .
– Act 1, Prologue Scene 2
Occasionally Shakespeare will write, “Music” and you’re left to create whatever you want, but mostly he gives the lyrics and you come up with the rest. As You Like It is Shakespeare’s most musical play and this is a piece I arranged for “Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind”. I used the melancholy Jaques character as a response to the lead singer.