A artist's rendering the new East Entrance. |
They've excavated below to create and expand even to the point of recasting the entrances to subterranean walls of glass facing a patio and sloping pathway encircling a gorgeous butterfly garden. Dormant now, but brimming with possibilities. "The Winter's Tale" is the inaugural production. How you ever seen it? I had not. I had not even bothered to read it or any cliff notes. So the story was new to me as I watched it for the first time.
In a nutshell, it's about two kings, who are or consider one another brothers. The King of Bohemia is visiting the King of Sicilia. They are inseparable until suddenly the King of Sicilia, Leontes, becomes convinced that his "brother," Polixenes, the king of Bohemia is doing the nasty with his once virtuous wife, Hermione. Much of the first half is consumed by Leontes spiraling into madness over it. He plots to have Polixenes assassinated and tasks his servant, Camillo, with the deed. But Camillo thinks the king is off his rocker and warns Polixenes instead escaping to Bohemia with him and changing his allegiances. Meanwhile, Hermoine, very much pregnant is thrown in prison where she gives birth to a daughter (they already have a son). With no one left to punish, Leontes sets out to burn his newborn daughter, whom he thinks is a bastard child and kill Hermoine. A nobleman named Antigonus implores Leontes to have mercy on the baby is given permission to take it away and abandon it on some far foreign shore. A little while back, Leontes sent of to Apollo the seer for confirmation of his twisted ideas. Just as he is about to put Hermoine to death, the servant returns with the seer's response. It is read aloud in the court and all of Leontes' ideas are called false, suddenly another servant arrives to announce that his now only child, the boy Mamillus has died by mysterious causes. Leontes cries out that it is Apollo punishing him, and Hermione collapses and dies, too.And this is a Comedy?
In the second act much of what has gone wrong is made right. There are a few laughs--we've moved the action from Sicilia to Bohemia. A buffoonish, peddler, pic-pocket is introduced as well as poor shepherd and his son, Clown <-- that's his son's name find the baby and raise her. She falls in love with Florizel, Polixenes' son. One thing leads to another and "All's Well That Ends Well." as they say!
Reza Salazar from a guest role on Law & Order in 2007's episode "The Melting Pot". |
The costume were fine, the staging functional and solid, the lighting seamless...save for the light bulb meant to illuminate the two rows of seats were I sat under the rear balcony, stage left. Tens of millions of dollars and 3+ years of renovations and you don't replace a light bulb? My biggest complaint!
The opening scene is Birthday Party for Mamillus who has just turned 8!
Hermione (Antoinette Crowe-Legacy) and Polixenes (Drew Kopas) share a friendly conversation at the party, and thus the die is cast...
Leontes (Hadi Tabbal) begins to succumb to his jealous heart and his son, Mamillus (Richard Bradford--not present in the production I saw. Minors are played by two actors who switch off performances)
Leontes entreats Camillo (Cody Nickell) to poison Polixenes
The time has come to execute Hermione, and she pleads her innocence even as she refuses to beg for a different fate. [L-R: Lady-in-waiting (Sabrina Lynn Sawyer), Antigonus (Stephen Patrick Martin), Leontes (Hadi Tabbal), Hermoine (Antoinette Crowe-Legacy) and Nicholas Gerwitz (Gaoler)
Act II opens with Time (Clarence Michael Payne, who also played Mamillus in the production I saw) recapping the events of the first half and setting the stage for a 15 year jump into the future.
Autolycus (Reza Salazar)
Camillo (Cody Nickell) and Polixenes (Drew Kopas) don disguises as sheep shearers to spy on the Shepherd (Stephen Patrick Martin) and the Prince Florizel to see he is up to
Florizel (Jonathan Del Palmer) is up to Perdita (Kayleandra White) and they in love!
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