Actors overshadowed by musical additions
by TwoTeachers2 on 7/12/11Ewing Manor - NormalI hate to admit that my family was quite disappointed with our recent experience at Ewing Manor and the performance of Romeo and Juliet. The modern inserts of pop music were distracting and absolutely unnecessary. It is our opinion that the musical additions completely overshadowed and soured the performance of the actors. Additionally, many of the "secondary" characters, such as the Nurse and Mercutio were plagued with minimized roles--which was extremely unfortunate. Traditionally, the role of the Nurse and Mercutio provide a much needed comical break, and produce many of the most enjoyable scenes of the play. It was sad to see the roles minimized. What we were allowed to enjoy of the Nurse and Mercutio was absolutely wonderful. The last acts of the play were improved, and were much more traditional. My husband and I bring our children (two teenagers--boys ages 14 & 15) to the festival each year, and we all were disappointed with this performance. Our children, who have both read and understand the play, also expressed that the ridiculous insertion of pop music damaged the performance of this play. I feel that the last two productions that we have seen at the festival have not been enjoyable. I am not sure that we will return next year.