Shall I compare thee to just any show?
Thou art more funny and lo, more stirring:
Rude jokes do fall from above and below,
And songs do float on the air as they sing.
The Shakespeare Revue I write of today,
Has come from London to Sun City West,
With bits and skits and finery so gay,
To praise the scribe of the theatre's best.
The Bard of Stratford will not retire,
From stage, or screen whence late he was "in Love,"
His plays and poems do still inspire,
As this evening's folly displays thereof.
So long as shows are performed on the stage
Old Will's words will help actors earn a wage!
The literary desecration displayed on these pages continues! If any of you are still reading, please accept the editor's humble apology for the previous unpleasantness.
The Shakespeare Revue was first performed as a fund raiser back in 1994. The site of this theatrical event was, appropriately enough, the Royal Shakespeare Company's Swan Theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon. It was enough of a hit to soon transfer to the famed Barbican Centre in London, and then to the West End, where it proceeded to run for years. It's been performed on the BBC and has toured all over the world, and will be at ASU's Sundome Center this Saturday night.
Shakespeare finds himself being performed, praised, parodied and generally goofed on over the course of this show. Songs and comedy material by the likes of Cole Porter, Monty Python, Stephen Sondheim, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, and even Mr. W.S. himself are presented by this company of five. These trained professionals (Clive, Jan, Nicola, Malcolm and another Clive) play dozens of parts between them. This cast's theatrical résumé fills a book -- credits include West End mountings of The Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, West Side Story, The Boy Friend and dozens of Shakespearean productions.
