Medicine Show Theater's MR. SHAKESPEARE & MR. PORTER Opens 11/13

Medicine Show Theatre Ensemble, one of NYC's longest-running experimental theatres, has announced its revival of "MR. SHAKESPEARE & MR. PORTER," the melding of the plays of William Shakespeare with the music and lyrics of Cole Porter. The production features two different evenings of mini-musicals: Volume 1 ("Hamlet," "Macbeth" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream") runs from November 13th through the 23rd; Volume 2 ("Measure for Measure," "Richard III" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream") runs from December 4th-December 21st.  Adapted and directed by Obie-Award winner Barbara Vann with musical direction by JAKE LLOYD and choreography by Peter Schmidt, the production plays at Medicine Show Theatre, 549 West 52nd St., 3rd Floor (between 10th and 11th Ave.). The performance schedule for both evenings is Thursdays through Saturdays at 8:00 PM and Sundays at 4:00 PM. Tickets are $18 and are available from Smarttix at (212) 868-4444 or via the web at www.Smarttix.com. For more information, please log onto the company's website at www.MedicineShowTheatre.org.
 
MR. SHAKESPEARE & MR. PORTER turns the Bard of Avon's most famous plays into hilarious 30 minute mini-musicals featuring songs (both well-known and obscure) from one of Broadway's wittiest tunesmiths. Among the hi-jinks: Macbeth and Lady Macbeth talk about userping the throne and how they're going to murder Duncan and then break into "You're a Bad Influence On Me" (from "Red, Hot and Blue"); after the tortured Hamlet kills Polonius, he and Gertrude sing "Let's Misbehave;" the jailed and miserable Claudio in "Measure for Measure" musically tells us "Don't Fence Me In."
 
Medicine Show has produced previous editions of the show in 1992, 1995 and 2001.
 
Featured in the cast: PATRICK MICHAEL WICKHAM (National Tours of "Chess" and "Miss Saigon"), LINDSAY KITT-WIEBE ("Cymbaline," Royal Acadamy of Dramatic Arts) and as well as ROB BERLINER, MOLLY BLAU, MERCER BOFFEY, ELIZABETH BOSKEY, LEE CAVALIER, OLVER CONANT, MARK GERING, BETH GRIFFITH, RACHEL GRUNDY, CEDRIC JONES, RICHARD KEYSER, EVA NICOLE, VINCE PHILLIP, SIKA RAUTENBERG, CHARLES ROBY, PETER TEDESCHI, Barbara Vann.

Director Barbara Vann is a founder of the Open Theatre as well as the Medicine Show, and won an Obie Award for her work on the musical "Bound To Rise."

Scenery and lighting is by JOE BARNA and costumes by UTA BEKAIA. "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is directed by ALEXIS HADSALL.
 
Medicine Show Theatre Ensemble was founded in 1970 by Barbara Vann and the late James Barbosa.

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