Katharina (Ruth Eglsaer) torments her sister Bianca (Maureen Sebastian) in The Taming of the Shrew. Photo © Gerry Goodstein.

Foul turns fair: Rainy weather clears for bright 'Shrew' debut

Tuesday July 25, 2006

Excerpted from the review

By Peter Filichia

It was worth the wait: After two successive rainouts on Friday and Saturday nights, "The Taming of the Shrew" finally opened Sunday on the Outdoor Stage at the College of St. Elizabeth.

Some may assume that the production, originally scheduled to run until Aug. 6, was extended to Aug. 12 to compensate for the rainouts. Not true. Bonnie J. Monte, artistic director of the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, which sponsors the show in Morris Township, decided on the continuation last week. She knew she had an audience-pleaser.

That's no small achievement for director Brian B. Crowe, who edited the script to a taut 90 intermissionless minutes.

... Ruth Eglsaer is an extraordinary Katharina with style, presence and substance...

... Bruce Cromer excels as Baptista ...

The Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey presents this much-loved Shakespeare comedy at an outdoor amphitheater in Morris.

Wednesday July 26, 2006

Excerpted from the review

By Stuart Duncan

The challenge was considerable: find a way to present Shakespeare's comedy The Taming of the Shrew , much loved and much staged, in a new, exciting way...

... The solution: turn the directorial helm over to 11-year veteran Brian Crowe and step back. He, in turn, immediately decided to stage the work as "Commedia Dell'arte." It is not only wildly funny and exciting, but takes care of Shakespeare's final scenes that are certain to arouse modern audiences. Now the contentious courtship of Katharina "the cursed" and Petruchio who has "come to wive it wealthily in Padua" can be handled with grins and winks. Crowe then filled the company with accomplished comedians and then, for good measure, added some snippets borrowed from vaudeville (which, after all, is the legitimate, if bastard issue, of commedia).

Everybody looks good in such a charming outing...

   The show is energetic and great fun, and it has been extended an extra week, through Aug. 12. You shouldn't miss it.

Excerpted from the review
by Robert L. Daniels

Thursday August 1, 2006

After a distinctive roster of plays by the likes of Moliere, Marivaux and Nilo Cruz, the Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey has finally brought on the Bard for the fifth anniversary of its open-air productions. A rollicking production of "The Taming of the Shrew," the farce is garnished with a generous serving of slapstick and knockabout business. Guffaws are abundant.

Set in the flirty '30s with tunes ... played during the scene changes, the show boasts a sunny look with Gatsby-esque costumes. In addition, abridgement of the text makes the comedy accessible to youngsters.

Brian B. Crowe proffers a briskly paced production supported by a delightfully combative pair, Gregory Derelian as Petruchio and Ruth Eglsaer as Katharine. Eglsaer's Kate is brazenly earthy and sexy, and ultimately a submissive beauty. Derelian boasts both dash and an adventurous spirit.

Most of the resourceful players double and triple in a variety of roles; all keenly create little comic gems. Scurrying up and down the aisles of the amphitheater, occasionally pausing to join in little frolicsome dances, they camp it up outrageously yet maintain the spirit of the concept.

A pert Maureen Sebastian as the much-wooed Bianca defines Kate's spoiled, whining sister with a generous dose of spunk. Bruce Cromer clowns as Petruchio's servant and adds amusing bewilderment as Kate's harassed father, Baptista.

Zany Adaptation of The Taming of the Shrew
an Al Fresco Family Treat for a Summer Night

Excerpted from the review
by Bob Rendell

Monday July 31, 2006

...Under the direction (and script editing) of Brian B. Crowe, Shrew provides the framework for a most effective Marx Brothers style romp reminiscent of the best slapstick screen comedies of the 1930s. Providing a delightful ambiance is a musical score which is equally reminiscent of the music we now hear on the soundtracks appended to films of the great silent film comedians, and the music heard in the 1930s Paramount Marx Brothers films.

All in all, there are twenty-one featured roles played by an expert cast of nine principals who let their hair down and joyfully transform themselves into hammy vaudevillians for the night. Gregory Derelian and Ruth Eglsaer as Petruchio and Katharina provide lively humor, delivering each sentence with gusto and an exclamation point!

The balance of the cast either doubles or triples in multiple roles, and all carry off each of their assignments with great aplomb... David Foubert ... emerges as the evening's top banana (a vaudeville return referring to the star comedian). His [is] a consistently hilarious performance.

Director Brian B. Crowe pulls out all the stops with great success.

Happily, the run of Shakespeare Theatre's delightfully vaudevillian The Taming of the Shrew has been extended through August 12. It is an excellent show with which to introduce a youngster to the joy of theatre.