Tuesday, August 27, 2013

PSIP Offers Romeo and Juliet Weekends in September

For Immediate Release
Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Parks
Contact:
Jennifer Tober
jtober@pittsburghshakespeare.com
412.404.8531
Yvonne Hudson
yvonne@newplace.us
412.512.0589

Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Parks offers ROMEO & JULIET in Cityparks weekends September 2013.

Romeo & Juliet.  Everyone knows the story.  Indeed, R&J is one of Shakespeare’s most well-known plays; perhaps the most famous love story of all time.

But now the audience will be forced to choose sides.  Literally.

 “PSIP Director Helen M. Meade plays with space and time in a unique way, even for us,” Artistic Director Jennifer Tober says.  “Meade is staging Romeo and Juliet’s stories simultaneously, and the audience will have to choose sides – will they follow the Capulets (Juliet) or the Montagues (Romeo)? Of course, the lovers will reunite for their scenes together.”

Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Parks is in its 9th season of providing free outdoor classical productions to the Steel City, presenting eight weekend matinee performances of Romeo and Juliet in four city parks, Aug. 31-Sept. 2.

“Our productions are not doublet-and-hose Shakespeare – our shows are rough and tumble,” declares “R and J” director Helen M. Meade, a PSIP veteran and favorite who directed the company's popular “Twelfth Night.”  Indeed, audience members sit on blankets or chairs and move as the action roves about the park, involving the audience in an immediate way.

“Our productions are energetic, in your face, and the performers make the language come alive in a way that even small kids get it.  We often, in fact, have kids – and adults! - become so involved in the action that they talk back to the actors,” laughs Tober.

Costumer and Production Designer Lisa Leibering, who returns after serving as Costumer for PSIP’s 2012 production of The TEMPEST, dresses the characters as though they have sprung from the woods and uses the natural setting of the parks to enhance the action.  Fight choreography is directed by Tonya Lynn and Adam Rutledge, two PSIP favorites who have appeared in and choreographed for the company almost since its inception.


Andrew Miller as Romeo and Danielle Powell as Juliet - photo by Cat Aceto

The cast includes:  Bradford Sadler and Danielle Powell as the star-crossed lovers, Jeffrey Chips as the Prince (and assistant director), Michael Mykita and Elizabeth Farina as Lord and Lady Capulet, Mike Magliocca as Count Paris, and Yvonne Hudson as Juliet's Nurse. The young men of Verona include Adam Rutledge as Tybalt, and Charles Beikert as Mercutio. Tonya Lynn and Gretchen Breslawski are multi-cast in supporting roles.

Ron Siebert, a veteran actor who has worked professionally in over 60 theatres in the U.S, appeared on Broadway with James Earl Jones in “The Iceman Cometh”, and appeared on dozens of daytime dramas and national television programs, makes his PSIP debut as the fateful Friar Lawrence.

Rehearsals take place primarily at Frick Park in Squirrel Hill and are open to the public.

Audience members are encouraged to bring a blanket.  All shows are free to the public.

Schedule: (Shows are only on Saturday and Sunday afternoons).

Aug. 31 - Sept. 1: Frick Park, Blue Slide playground, Beechwood Boulevard and Nicholson Sts, Squirrel Hill (NOT Regent Square).

Sept. 7-8: Allegheny Commons, Ridge Ave and Arch Street, North Side

Sept. 14-15: Arsenal Park, 40th and Butler Streets, Lawrenceville

Sept. 21-22: Frick Park, Blue Slide playground, Beechwood Boulevard and Nicholson Sts, Squirrel Hill (NOT Regent Square).

All shows are at 2 PM.  The show runs about 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Contact: Jennifer Tober, Artistic Director
jtober@pittsburghshakespeare.com
412.404.8531
www.pittsburghshakespeare.com
Facebook: Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Parks

 photo credits:
Jennifer Tober, PSIP Artistic Director - photo by Becky Thurner Braddock
Andrew Miller as Romeo and Danielle Powell as Juliet - photo by Cat Aceto

Bringing you free Shakespeare since 2005.
Bring a blanket, a loved one, and a thermos.
http://www.pittsburghshakespeare.com/
Facebook: Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Parks

Posted on behalf of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates.  Joyce Kane is the owner of Cybertary Pittsburgh, a Virtual Administrative support company, providing virtual office support, personal and executive assistance, creative design services and light bookkeeping.  Cybertary works with businesses and busy individuals to help them work 'on' their business rather than 'in' their business.  www.Cybertary.com/Pittsburgh

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