Audio By Carbonatix
Independent Journalism in Phoenix Needs You
We need to raise $15,000 by August 9 to support the reporting our community depends on. Reader support keeps us independent and is playing a larger role in funding local journalism and shaping what comes next. If you believe independent local journalism matters, make a contribution today.
When pop culture mates with Shakespeare, the hybrid seems to work rather well on the big screen. Case in point: Director Baz Luhrmann’s visually stunning Romeo + Juliet. So with any luck, the mash-up should be equally successful on the stage — especially if the pop culture papa in question is Elvis Presley.
Enter Arizona Broadway Theatre’s production of All Shook Up, which melds Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night with The King’s famous tunes. “Isn’t it great how music can get into your soul and change you?” asks director Robert Kolby Harper, paraphrasing one of the character’s lines. If you’ve read Twelfth Night, you know what kind of gender-bending “change” to expect here.
The show follows handsome hero Chad, a motorcycle-riding James Dean-esque rebel who stops by a small town auto repair shop to get his ride fixed. The catch? His mechanic turns out to be a girl in disguise, who falls head over heels for her latest client.
July 3-10, 2011
