THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 17, 1995 TAG: 9503150169
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
To be or not to be. Appropriately enough, that's just the question a local theater company called Summer Shakes is asking.
The company was founded two years ago by former New York actress, now resident, Ann Russell Taylor. Last summer its first production, ``The Star-Spangled Girl'' was presented on the 24th Street Stage, and this year it's back again to produce what it had always intended - an outdoor, summer, Oceanfront Shakespeare festival.
``We already know people like theater at that stage,'' Taylor said. ``For each of the two shows last summer we had 500 people sitting on the lawn, eating picnic dinners, bringing bags from McDonald's. And we know they want Shakespeare, too. We gave everybody a response card to fill out and they said - Shakespeare.''
The idea, according to Taylor, is to pattern it after Joseph Papp's Shakespeare in the Park. That 40-year run in New York City's Central Park has people waiting for hours before each performance to see top actors like Meryl Streep reciting the bard. In Virginia Beach, the plan is to showcase local talent.
Taylor said, ``I even gave their artistic directors a call in New York and they offered to give us technical advice. Do you know how great that is?''
The big jump from Neil Simon to Will Shakespeare, isn't what has the company wondering whether 'tis nobler in the mind. Staging classics by the sea was always the company's goal. It's the move from two shows of the same play to 15 performances of three plays and a budget rise to nearly $30,000 that has them moving cautiously. However, according to Taylor, Cellar Door Productions has engaged them for a run between June 22 and July 16 and is paying a percentage of the costs.
Taylor indicated the rest of the money would need to be earned the same as last season - corporate and private sponsorships, ad sales, contributions - only on a grander, more dramatic scale. The company is incorporated as a non-profit corporation and is working on their non-profit tax exempt status.
The three productions slotted for this first season are ``Romeo and Juliet,'' ``The Taming of the Shrew'' and ``I Hate Hamlet.''
`` `I Hate Hamlet,' that's the twist to our festival,'' she said. ``It's Paul Rudnick's irreverent view of a TV actor doing the role of Hamlet. `Romeo and Juliet' is a crowd pleaser, `The Taming of the Shrew' is a crowd pleaser and a comedy. `I Hate Hamlet' is our corker.''
Auditions for the Summer Shakes Oceanfront Shakespeare Festival are set for April 17-20. Actors interested should contact artistic director, John Anderson, at 491-6921. Also, anyone interested in buying space in the program book to help support the festival can call Linda Oyster at 422-0673. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Ann Russell Taylor
by CNB