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Tennessee Shakespeare Company The Second Stage Season
January 2010

In This Issue
  • JULIUS CAESAR March 26-April 11 Buy Tickets Now
  • A Letter from Dan McCleary, Artistic Director
  • Meet the women of JULIUS CAESAR
  • All New - Dinner with Shakespeare!
  • Show us your backside...

  • A Letter from Dan McCleary, Artistic Director
    Dan McCleary headshot

    Dear Friend,

    We are about to go into rehearsals for our production of Julius Caesar in much the same fashion as I imagine William Shakespeare might have when his Rose and Globe Playhouses were shut down: with eight actors, all of one gender, a reduced or restructured script, no scenery, and using the tiered platforming and luxurious chairs of the County Seat, all generously provided by the City Council and its administration.

    It was an inexpensive way to travel the countryside 410 years ago, and, I imagine, an exciting way for audiences to hear the text and get physically closer to the action of the story.

    We are producing this famous play, through the generosity of The City of Germantown, by way of a few philosophical encouragements:

    * The play is less the political masterpiece often taught in school and more a public love story,

    * Talented women actors deserve a chance to play the great classical roles,

    * Julius Caesar, the play, is not an accurate recording of factual events,

    * If the playwright could have put women on stage, there would be more than just two female roles in the play - both of whom are notable for having their accurate instinct roundly ignored by the men before Caesar is killed.

    And artistically for us, I want to see the women we have cast, most of whom I have worked with around the country, work on the story as a group of actors, dancers, clowns, musicians, and thinkers. This group of gifted, intellectually inquisitive actors excites me.

    Shakespeare takes much of his play from Plutarch's famous writing, including its gossipy nature. He even puts a clock in the play. We have taken his hints and restructured the play for our production, including an exploration of much of the text in dance and movement, accompanied by live cello music inspired by the works of Bach, Kodaly, Philip Glass, and our own Iren Zombor.

    With more women now than ever before in powerful positions in politics, business, and education, does it seem so strange to imagine a society in which women are not only in the census majority but the leadership majority? Women love differently than men and hold their personal and professional relationships differently than men - important to note for our play. And I wonder how these women might handle the military violence and mob rule prevalent not just in Rome over 2,000 years ago, but, unfortunately, today in too many parts of our own world.

    As an audience member, you will have the opportunity to sit in the Mayor's and Aldermen's chairs as we play the story in-the-round in a chamber that naturally embraces a charged atmosphere for rhetoric and debate, cheering and booing, and grave responsibility for the welfare of a citizenry.

    In short, we have the ideal theatre, with the ideal actors, and the ideal play. You probably won't see anything like this anywhere else, and there are only 9 public performances. See you in the chamber from March 26 - April 11.

    Much love,

    Dan


    Meet the women of JULIUS CAESAR
    Julius Caesar poster

    Returning to TSC are NYC-based Vanessa Morosco (Helena in TSC's A Midsummer Night's Dream) as the scheming Cassius and Massachusetts-based Caley Milliken (Peaseblossom in A Midsummer Night's Dream) as Caesar's prized officer, the spirited Marc Antony.

    TSC Artist-Manager Brittany Morgan will play Portia and Decius Brutus, in addition to teaching Playshops for middle and high school students in the Memphis area.

    New to TSC, but probably familiar to many of you, is Memphian Emma Crystal, our dance choreographer.

    We are looking forward to introducing you to Jennifer Drew from Illinois as the mystical Soothsayer, New Yorker Elizabeth Raetz as the heart-heavy Brutus, and Tracy Liz Miller (also from New York) in the title role. From Oregon, Kerry Ryan with make her Memphis debut as Casca and Calphurnia.

    Irene Zombor, Assistant Principal Cellist of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, will play live at each performance. Compositions will include those of Bach, Kodaly, Philip Glass, and her own. Bruce Bui, resident designer at Ballet Memphis, returns to design costumes.


    All New - Dinner with Shakespeare!
    Shakespeare Trivia

    Back by popular demand - with a new twist of the cork!

    Join us for our new 2010 Dinners with Shakespeare! Each month we will feature a new Shakespeare play, a little trivia contest, and a three-course dinner hosted by a different Memphis-area restaurant.

    The Grove Grill will host our first fun event on Monday, February 8. We'll play with scenes from The Taming of the Shrew and be delighted by Owen Tabor's renditions of Cole Porter tunes on the keyboard. You may even get a chance to sing along with Kiss Me, Kate! Click here to get your tickets.

    Like last year, we'll start with music as you arrive at 6:00 pm - but then we'll play in an all new way!

    During dinner, you and your table will test your Shakespeare knowledge as a team and compete to win great prizes. Topics range from the play and its history, to movies and music based on Shakespeare's works. Don't worry, you don't need to be an actor or an English major to compete or win. Everyone will know something at your table!

    Already have your team together? Buy all your tickets together here, or call us at 901-759-0604 to let us know who you'll be playing with.


    Show us your backside...
    TAC License Plate

    .. of your car, that is!

    Tennessee Arts Commission, through a partnership with ArtsMemphis, is offering specialty license plates to help you show your support for the arts in Tennessee. The funds from these three specialty license plates support our local arts community. TSC has received generous support from both organizations in the 2009-10 season.

    As an added gift of thanks, stop by the ArtsMemphis office at 575 South Mendenhall or send them a picture of your car with an arts plate to receive a complimentary ArtsMemphis membership, including an ArtsCard (redeemable for 2-for-1 tickets to many venues across the city!). Remember to tell them Tennessee Shakespeare Company sent you, and please thank them for their continued support.

    Tennessee remains the innovator and only state to raise arts revenue through specialty license plates.

    It's easy to order, and only $35. Click here for detailed instructions on how to get your own!


    JULIUS CAESAR March 26-April 11 Buy Tickets Now
    Elizabeth Raetz

    Elizabeth Raetz, Brutus in Julius Caesar

    Elizabeth is delighted to be working with TSC. Her theatre credits include Shakespeare & Company: Twelfth Night (Olivia), Hamlet (Ophelia); Long Wharf Theatre: The Tempest with Olympia Dukakis (Miranda); Shadowland Theatre: How I Learned to Drive (Li'l Bit), All My Sons with Paula Prentiss and Richard Benjamin (Ann); Artists Repertory Theatre: The Seagull (Nina); Chenango River Theatre: A Shayna Maidel (Lusia), Talley's Folly (Sally); A.C.T.: Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Cecile); and New Harmony Theatre: The Philadelphia Story (Liz Imbry).

    Elizabeth has studied at the Public Theater/NYSF Shakespeare Lab and at the Upright Citizens Brigade. She is also a graduate of the American Conservatory Theater's M.F.A. Program in San Francisco.

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