Tybalt

For about half its length, the Romeo and Juliet that director Russell Treyz has laid on the stage of the Labuda Center for the Performing Arts works uncommonly well. In the remaining half, however, Treyz is done in by the unevenness of his cast and, perhaps, his own reluctance to push his ideas as far as they're prepared to go. You don't have to read his program note for the production, the second of two in the inaugural season of the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, to recognize that Treyz sees Romeo as a kind of cautionary tale for the young.

If there can be consolation in watching a veteran Pennsylvania Ballet dancer perform his last role, it will be the opportunity of seeing someone you think you know inside out take on a new persona. Think Romeo, and you think Roy Kaiser - handsome, ardent, tender. However, when the ballet continues its run of Romeo and Juliet Wednesday through Sunday at the Academy of Music, Kaiser will be dancing against type. Instead of playing the hero, he'll be the villain - Tybalt. "I really do have a nasty, vicious side," Kaiser says with a shy laugh that completely contradicts his statement.

The Arden Theatre Company's production of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, as it has been cut and cast and focused by director Matt Pfeiffer, takes a while to hit its tragic stride. But once it does, it is very satisfying. The familiarity of the story makes it a hard play to do, since most people know the plot (teenagers from feuding families fall in love; a horrifying series of murders and suicides ensues), and many can quote at least a line or two ("Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?"

Yuri Temirkanov rarely ventures outside the Russian repertoire in his concerts with the Philadelphia Orchestra, but in the program Monday, he showed that he has unnecessarily encouraged a stereotype of his own narrowly nationalistic vision. In the first of his three concerts with the orchestra at the Mann Music Center, Temirkanov closed with Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 (Eroica). His usually sprawling, bumpy but glowing performance style receded in this reading. In its place was a tightly argued performance that had balance, pace and color in its favor.

What do we expect of singing lovers? Say, for instance, opera's Romeo and Juliet? Ardor, certainly. Sensitivity, hopefully. And phrasing to mirror the shyness and the ecstasy of adolescent pillow talk. When Gounod gave the young lovers four duets in his opera modeled after Shakespeare, the number was unprecedented. Four tenor-soprano duos is still a lot of love music, as listeners were reminded at the Opera Company of Philadelphia's production of Romeo et Juliette, which opened Friday at the Academy of Music.

When light breaks through yonder window in the Public Theater's production of Romeo and Juliet, it illuminates a love story that can make you giddy. He climbs the framework to the balcony, and they kiss with passion. He teases, she teases back. He makes eyes, she blushes. Oh! Those crazy, wild, smoochy, smitten kids! Are they really star-crossed, or mostly starry-eyed? Well, both. And under the direction of Michael Greif (Grey Gardens, Rent), plenty of both. This may be the most joyful rendition of Shakespeare's play you'll see, a tragedy but also a ton of fun. The first part, though everyone knows this affair is about to head far south, is upbeat and playful.

Where art Romeo and Juliet? In director Baz Luhrmann's head-spinning revision of Shakespeare's 400-year-old tale of tortured teen romance, the star-cross'd lovers can be found in Verona Beach - a blasting, smog-shrouded metropolis where gangs cruise the streets in low-riders, the cops circle the chaos in helicopters, and all the squalid ghettos and moneyed mansions shimmer in a dazzling Technicolor haze. William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet, with Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes in the title roles, is a throbbing cacophony of a movie that wraps the original Elizabethan text (pruned significantly, and smartly)

You can tell immediately that Michael Beck is one of the good guys. For instance, he has a big white hat on when he opens the door to his trailer. And, while firmly shaking your hand, he looks you squarely in the eyes - no cagey sideways glances, no hurried "Sit down, please . . . let's get this over with. " Of course, it helps that Beck is playing a good guy - Houston detective LeVon Elmer Lundy, Jr. - on the new CBS series "Houston Knights. " Beck is experienced at assuming roles.

Without question, the new version of "Romeo and Juliet" has its flaws. Caution is not one of them. As re-imagined by Australian director Baz Luhrmann ("Strictly Ballroom"), this is an outrageously over-the-top interpretation from Down Under. Romeo drops acid. Juliet speculates about Romeo's manly parts. Mercutio is Dennis Rodman. All of which makes "Romeo and Juliet" sound like a tongue-in-cheek, campy romp, which it really isn't. Peel back the wacky surface, and you'll find this "Romeo and Juliet" to be a heartfelt, serious-minded attempt to contemporize Shakespeare's great tragedy of young love crushed by ancient hatreds.

The sexy, passionate Romeo and Juliet that opened last weekend at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival is just what R&J should be: a mix of potent chemistry between the two teens that rips through a starry-eyed first half and a star-crossed second. It's directed with a command of both the characters and the language by Rick Sordelet, who also happens to be the busiest fight choreographer on Broadway; this season, he's directed the brawling in the revival of Fences and the new musical The Addams Family . Sordelet also provides a historic link to this production: He did the fight scenes for Romeo and Juliet at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, on the campus of DeSales University near Quakertown, in 1992 - its inaugural season.

The sexy, passionate Romeo and Juliet that opened last weekend at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival is just what R&J should be: a mix of potent chemistry between the two teens that rips through a starry-eyed first half and a star-crossed second. It's directed with a command of both the characters and the language by Rick Sordelet, who also happens to be the busiest fight choreographer on Broadway; this season, he's directed the brawling in the revival of Fences and the new musical The Addams Family . Sordelet also provides a historic link to this production: He did the fight scenes for Romeo and Juliet at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, on the campus of DeSales University near Quakertown, in 1992 - its inaugural season.

The Arden Theatre Company's production of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, as it has been cut and cast and focused by director Matt Pfeiffer, takes a while to hit its tragic stride. But once it does, it is very satisfying. The familiarity of the story makes it a hard play to do, since most people know the plot (teenagers from feuding families fall in love; a horrifying series of murders and suicides ensues), and many can quote at least a line or two ("Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?"

When light breaks through yonder window in the Public Theater's production of Romeo and Juliet, it illuminates a love story that can make you giddy. He climbs the framework to the balcony, and they kiss with passion. He teases, she teases back. He makes eyes, she blushes. Oh! Those crazy, wild, smoochy, smitten kids! Are they really star-crossed, or mostly starry-eyed? Well, both. And under the direction of Michael Greif (Grey Gardens, Rent), plenty of both. This may be the most joyful rendition of Shakespeare's play you'll see, a tragedy but also a ton of fun. The first part, though everyone knows this affair is about to head far south, is upbeat and playful.

Few ballets are as stirring as "Romeo and Juliet," and to these ears no score approaches the majesty and variety of Prokofiev's. Pennsylvania Ballet's season will close with nine performances of this pinnacle of the repertoire, complete with imaginative sets and opulent costumes. Julie Diana, Arantxa Ochoa and Martha Chamberlain will alternate as Juliet, with Zachary Hench and James Ady portraying Romeo (Alexei Borovik injured his knee during rehearsals). The brilliant David Krensing, dancing Tybalt in four performances, will end a superb 19-year career with the company.

Without question, the new version of "Romeo and Juliet" has its flaws. Caution is not one of them. As re-imagined by Australian director Baz Luhrmann ("Strictly Ballroom"), this is an outrageously over-the-top interpretation from Down Under. Romeo drops acid. Juliet speculates about Romeo's manly parts. Mercutio is Dennis Rodman. All of which makes "Romeo and Juliet" sound like a tongue-in-cheek, campy romp, which it really isn't. Peel back the wacky surface, and you'll find this "Romeo and Juliet" to be a heartfelt, serious-minded attempt to contemporize Shakespeare's great tragedy of young love crushed by ancient hatreds.

Where art Romeo and Juliet? In director Baz Luhrmann's head-spinning revision of Shakespeare's 400-year-old tale of tortured teen romance, the star-cross'd lovers can be found in Verona Beach - a blasting, smog-shrouded metropolis where gangs cruise the streets in low-riders, the cops circle the chaos in helicopters, and all the squalid ghettos and moneyed mansions shimmer in a dazzling Technicolor haze. William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet, with Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes in the title roles, is a throbbing cacophony of a movie that wraps the original Elizabethan text (pruned significantly, and smartly)

What do we expect of singing lovers? Say, for instance, opera's Romeo and Juliet? Ardor, certainly. Sensitivity, hopefully. And phrasing to mirror the shyness and the ecstasy of adolescent pillow talk. When Gounod gave the young lovers four duets in his opera modeled after Shakespeare, the number was unprecedented. Four tenor-soprano duos is still a lot of love music, as listeners were reminded at the Opera Company of Philadelphia's production of Romeo et Juliette, which opened Friday at the Academy of Music.

Yuri Temirkanov rarely ventures outside the Russian repertoire in his concerts with the Philadelphia Orchestra, but in the program Monday, he showed that he has unnecessarily encouraged a stereotype of his own narrowly nationalistic vision. In the first of his three concerts with the orchestra at the Mann Music Center, Temirkanov closed with Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 (Eroica). His usually sprawling, bumpy but glowing performance style receded in this reading. In its place was a tightly argued performance that had balance, pace and color in its favor.

For about half its length, the Romeo and Juliet that director Russell Treyz has laid on the stage of the Labuda Center for the Performing Arts works uncommonly well. In the remaining half, however, Treyz is done in by the unevenness of his cast and, perhaps, his own reluctance to push his ideas as far as they're prepared to go. You don't have to read his program note for the production, the second of two in the inaugural season of the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, to recognize that Treyz sees Romeo as a kind of cautionary tale for the young.

If there can be consolation in watching a veteran Pennsylvania Ballet dancer perform his last role, it will be the opportunity of seeing someone you think you know inside out take on a new persona. Think Romeo, and you think Roy Kaiser - handsome, ardent, tender. However, when the ballet continues its run of Romeo and Juliet Wednesday through Sunday at the Academy of Music, Kaiser will be dancing against type. Instead of playing the hero, he'll be the villain - Tybalt. "I really do have a nasty, vicious side," Kaiser says with a shy laugh that completely contradicts his statement.