By Russell Copley
Director's Note
Romeo and Juliet is the ultimate high school classic. Every ninth grader gets their copy sometime during the year. They look at the text and go "this is weird". Then the teacher slots in the Zefferelli movie for the honors kids, or the Baz Luhrmann version for the demotes. Suddenly everyone is paying attention, and even the Jane Schafer essay format is teachable!
It is really the idea of "the movie" that drove my direction in this production. I wanted to see what would happen if we did a stem cell graft of Zefferelli onto Leonardo Di Caprio's Romeo. So I decided to put Shakespeare in a blender and add some ice cream to put a nice glaze on things. Jessica Velarde joined the home economics experience and whipped up some MTV cream on the melodic milkshake. And with so many musical students I couldn't resist a few extra shots of caffeinated acoustic jam, like a Kurt Cobain white chocolate mocha.
Our wonderful designers, Matt Russell and Kristen Merlino ran with my idea of a dream reality and after several meetings delivered the concept of a teenage mindscape. I had no idea that they had taken the "Unplugged" theme into a lighting design motif within the set until six weeks into rehearsal. At this point the kettle was boiling off the hook.
Seriously. Myself, Dennis McLaughlin, Nick Hall and twenty-two alumni and students had to getaway to London during the spring break to make sure we were on the right track. After seeing Les Miserables and the Blue Man Group in one week, it was pretty ironic that if you put those two in a blender you would be pretty close to our Veronan bistro!
I would like to thank Dennis Harrison and the woodshop students who put so much work into the jigsawed accents to the set. Andy Marr's photography is amazing. He is going to go a long way. And Julie Wiant, you bring such a good energy into the costume room. Thanks to all the parents who contributed to our bi-annual fundraiser, and especially Rhonda Tritch for getting the caskets from Universal Studios. I can now rest in peace!
