Category: Uncategorized

SPOTLIGHT: David Who?

Nicholas Anastasia
Credit to: http://theatre.revstan.com/

As David Tennant takes his post-Richard II performance bow, the audience erupts into cheers. Well, really just one cheer. Okay, it was just me that was yelling in excitement–but can you really blame me? Sure, it might seem odd to be expressing enthusiasm to an actor who can’t hear me (him being an ocean away–alas for unrequited love), but the gesture was probably appreciated all the same. Some people laughed, at least, as they did when the woman interviewing the play’s director, Gregory Doran, joked about the “lesser known” actor performing the lead role.

During the performance, Tennant pronounced the line, “I wasted time, and now doth time waste me.” Of all people, Tennant should be more careful, given that he spent five years as a lord of time. For forty-seven episodes, David Tennant took on the role of the Doctor in the British television show Doctor Who, which just celebrated its 50th anniversary. It was this show that inspired Tennant to be an actor, when he was only approximately four years old!

Although at that time, he was watching the show under a different name then the one he is known by today, his birth name: David John McDonald. Tennant wouldn’t take on this stage surname until the actor’s union he was joining forced him to change his professional name since they already had a David McDonald registered. Growing up in Scotland, Tennant developed the brogue that he so often has to hide while playing British characters–though in a moment of excitement during Richard II, the Scottish in his voice could be heard quite clearly. He graduated from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, and eventually moved to London. There, in 2005, he finally achieved his dream of  following in the footsteps of his childhood inspiration by becoming the tenth Doctor. Climbing aboard his newfound vehicle, the TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimension in Space), Tennant zoomed around the universe. In fact, on his travels through time and space, he managed to run into Shakespeare, played by Dean Kelly, whose plays Tennant has been performing since joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2008. In the same episode, Tennant had to call upon the writings of J.K. Rowling in order to beat back the impending threat of an alien-witch invasion. As Harry Potter fans know, Tennant pops over into Rowling’s magical realm to play the role of the insane wizard, Barty Crouch Jr.

Tennant’s role in Doctor Who crosses over with his life in other ways, as during an episode titled The Doctor’s Daughter, he met his future wife and daughter of one of his childhood idols, Georgia Moffett. The title is a pun, as Moffet’s father is Peter Moffet, who played the Doctor in 1981 (when Tennant was still only ten years old ). Tennant and Moffet married three years after the episode aired, and are raising three children together.

Now that his time on Doctor Who is over, though he did reprise the role for a special 50th anniversary celebration episode, Tennant has traded the Doctor’s signature trenchcoat for the gaudy robe of Richard II, and will continue to take audiences on travels through time and space with his performances on the stage.

David Tennant as the Doctor giving Shakespeare a friendly writing tip. credit to: http://severnmartina232.blogspot.com/

Sources

Read More

REVIEW: Royal Shakespeare Company: Richard II

csatter
David Tennant as Richard II   (photo courtesy of The Daily Mail)

 

In his first production as artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, director Gregory Doran presented a expertly crafted and wonderfully mesmerizing production of Richard II. Set in its own time period, this production details the downfall of King Richard II, a vain and somewhat villainous king who bases his power on divine right. Through the use of a simple stage design, lighting, and beautifully sung music, this production felt as if it were in a church, which heightened the religious undertones of the play. King Richard’s assumed god-like authority was further highlighted through the costuming choices, most notably his long mane of hair, white or light colored flowing robes, and the ever present cross around his neck.

The simplicity of the stage design and prop choices allowed the audience to focus on what was really important in the production–Shakespeare’s diction and the spectacular acting of the ensemble. David Tennant’s portrayal of Richard plays up Richard’s powerful and vain nature with a gold manicure and a sense of haughtiness. The real strength of Tennant’s performance, however, is the emotion he pulls out of the character. In one of his best moments on stage, Tennant forces everyone to sit on the ground with him and, as he pulls his knees to his chest and rocks with grief, tell the sad stories of the deaths of kings. Showing Richard’s vulnerability in the moment he realizes his power as king is gone allows Tennant to succeed in attracting the audience’s sympathy for a king who throughout the play is seen as wasteful and abusive of his power.

Although Tennant drew a lot of the attention, in no way was this production a solo act. With Nigel Lindsay’s portrayal of Bolingbroke as an intense and powerful man who is not afraid to mock and scorn Richard’s theatricality, Oliver Ford Davies’s emotional and somewhat comedic portrayal of the Duke of York, a man torn between two loyalties, and Michael Pennington’s portrayal of John of Gaunt as a dying man enraged with Richard’s actions, the entire ensemble worked together to create a production that was nothing short of fantastic.

There will be another broadcast of the play December 11th at 7pm at the Michigan Theater. I highly recommend it to anyone with any interest in Shakespeare.

Review: Handel’s Messiah

LitaPitasMusings

Handel’s glorious, “Messiah” was in three parts.
The first part discussed the coming of the Messiah; the second part ( my favorite) deals with his purpose of being on earth and all the sacrifices he made; and the last part discusses why we should be thankful for him.
I loved how some of the notes ( from musical instruments) fulfilled the perfect cresendo and decresendo in the second part as they described some of the more sacrifices that Christ made. Hence, it made the second act the most heightened and dramatic of the three. There were several instruments which helped create this music.
My favorite were the notes from the harpsichord. But perhaps, I am a little biased because the harpsichord is my favorite instrument. I will also add that the choral voices were very uplifting. The performance by Brenda Rae was rather elegant. But my all-time favorite part of this event was when we in the audience got to sing “Hallelujah, Hallelujah.” That truly felt grand to be part of a classically and well known musical verse- and it was fun!

Preview for Handel’s Messiah

LitaPitasMusings

Handel’s Messiah is an Ann Arbor Holiday Tradition! Many townies say that the Holiday season hasn’t officially started here until one sees Handel’s Messiah. So, why not take a break from frenzy-final-studies and go to this glorious masterpiece of music. The instrumental music and glorious voices are offered by the UMS choral union. It is rumored that the Hill Auditorium is decorated with holiday magic for this performance:) Go and See it!!

REVIEW: The Comedy of Errors

csatter

Set during Mardi Gras in the 1960s, the School of Music, Theatre, & Dance presents an interestingly humorous production of William Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors. Like so many of Shakespeare’s comedies, The Comedy of Errors is full of mistaken identity, entertaining situations, and nearly tragic events. As a father faces death for arriving in Ephesus to search for his twin sons (both named Antipholus), both of the twins and their twin servants (both named Dromio) unwittingly wreak havoc as they are constantly mistaken for each other.

Full of the slapstick and running gags, this production’s strength was the physical and nonverbal humor. From a martini glass that keeps getting bigger to a duke constantly finding new ways to stay hidden, the best moment was the over the top chase sequence in which a sequence of characters bike by on progressively smaller bikes. At the center of the slapstick humor were the two Dromios (Ben Blackman, Elliot Cruz) who where frequently being hit with bright yellow hats and rubber fish, punched in the stomach, and kicked in the butt. Although that took up a lot of their time on stage, Blackman and Cruz played up the humor with witty lines, dancing, and rapping, which were playful and entertaining.

While this production was appropriately comical and well acted, it had some struggles with the verbal humor. Since this is thought to be Shakespeare’s first comedy, his hallmark wordplay and wit is less pronounced than in the later comedies, which is why most productions play up the physical humor. In this production, however, some of Shakespeare’s most famous lines from, interestingly enough, histories and tragedies including Macbeth, Richard III, Romeo and Juliet, and Hamlet were added in an attempt to heighten the verbal humor and wit. Although it was an interesting idea, for the most part it fell flat and made the play feel less like Shakespeare and more like an awkward tribute.

Overall, this production was unique and entertaining. The Mardi Gras setting worked well and the cast gave admirable performances. Although the additions to the play sometimes felt awkward and out of the place, when the existing humor was played up, the production was wonderfully engaging.

 

 

PREVIEW: Royal Shakespeare Company: Richard II

csatter
David Tennant in Richard II

WHO: Royal Shakespeare Company featuring David Tennant

WHAT: Willam Shakespeare’s Richard II

WHERE: The Michigan Theater

WHEN: Sunday 12/8 at 7pm, Wednesday 12/11 at 7pm

COST: $12 for students, tickets available online or at the Michigan League Box Office

David Tennant (of Doctor Who fame) returns to the stage in the title role in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Richard II. This is a cinema broadcast from the RSC stage in England where the production is currently running. Given Tennant’s quality acting and his previous success with Shakespeare, this is sure to be a fantastic production.

For more information, visit this website