10 Interesting Facts about Romeo and Juliet

By Liz Armstrong

It’s no secret that Romeo and Juliet is one of of Shakespeare’s earliest tragedies. Rivaled perhaps only by Hamlet, it is speculated that this is Shakespeare’s most performed and adapted play to date. 

1. Directing Romeo and Juliet is a dream come true for Besty Mugavero. “I am humbled and honored to have the opportunity to work with some of the most talented collaborators in the country on a play that is so very dear to me,” Mugavero said. What makes Mugavero directing the play even more exciting is that the last production of Romeo and Juliet at the Festival in 2017 featured her as Juliet. 
2. Romeo and Juliet has been produced eight times at the Festival, including in 1968, 1977, 1982, 1990, 1998, 2005, 2011, and 2017. This means that on average, Romeo and Juliet hits Festival stages every seven years. 
3. This play has influenced many movies, such as Disney’s Lion King II: Simba’s Pride and Gnomeo and Juliet. The popular musical West Side Story, adapted into a 1961 and 2021 film, is another retelling. 
4. Romeo and Juliet  is known for being lyrical and beautifully told, so it makes sense that an overwhelming amount of it––90 percent––is told in verse, with only 10 percent in prose. 
5. Although Romeo’s exact age is never revealed, Juliet is only 13 years old when she meets her lover for the first time. This may seem startlingly young to us, but during her time, this was a perfectly marriageable age. 
6. Spoiler alert: the tragic ending of the play is actually revealed to the audience in the form of a sonnet in the prologue!
7. Although Shakespeare wrote the play between 1591 and 1596, women were not allowed on stage until nearly a century later. Mary Saunderson became the first woman to professionally play Juliet in 1662. 
8. Although Shakespeare is credited with the tale, he most certainly based Romeo and Juliet off of Arthur Brooke’s The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet, which was written in 1562. However, it’s said the story was told even earlier, first printed in 1476 in an Italian version called Mariotte and Gianozza.  
9. It actually wasn’t Shakespeare to first mention the Montagues and Capulets, but Dante. Between 1308 and 1321, Dante wrote The Divine Comedy, a long narrative poem that mentioned the warring families.
10. Perhaps the most iconic scene in the play is the balcony scene when the two declare their love for each other after Romeo overhears Juliet speaking of him. How ironic that Shakespeare wrote that Juliet really appeared in a window, and Elizabethan England wouldn’t have even been familiar with the term “balcony.” The famous balcony scene gained its popularity after an adaptation in 1679, in Thomas Otway’s play he retitled The History and Fall of Caius Marius. The idea of the balcony stuck––and this romantic scene is featured in our play artwork by our Creative Director Clare Campbell this season. 

To purchase tickets for the play, visit bard.org/plays/romeo-and-juliet/. 

For more information on the play, characters, synopsis, and a longer summary, visit our study guide here.

Romeo and Juliet: Love and Woe

The Utah Shakespeare Festival announces the cast members for this summer’s production of Romeo and Juliet, directed by Betsy Mugavaro who is making her directorial debut of a mainstage production at the Festival. 

The cast features both returning and brand new actors to the Festival to tell this story of love and woe. Mugavero says “These performers have incredible skill with language combined with access to enormous emotional depth.” She also expressed how excited she is to work with them and see how the actors “develop who these [characters] are and how they tell the story through the prism of their personalities. This combination of talents will leave our audiences breathless and inspired.”

The lead cast is as follows:

Cassandra Bissell is returning to the Festival, this time in the roles of Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet as well as Hippolyta/Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. She has appeared with Actors’ Theatre of Louisville in Memory Play, Arizona Theatre Company in Outside Mullingar, Cleveland Play House in Noises Off, and Milwaukee Repertory Theater in My Name is Asher Lev, among many others. She was last seen at the Festival in 2017 as Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Rosalind in As You Like It, and Rosalind in The Tavern. She is a member of Actors’ Equity Association. 

Aamar-Malik Culbreth is new to the Festival and will be appearing as Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet as well as Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Past roles include Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors, Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet, and Ken in Ain’t Misbehavin’ at Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Tiny in the regional premiere of Kill Move Paradise at Dobama Theatre, and others. 

Ty Fanning returns to the Festival, this time as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet and Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He was last seen at the Festival in 2018 as Charles in Henry VI Part One, Fenton in The Merry Wives of Windsor, and Solanio in The Merchant of Venice. Among numerous other roles, he has performed as Adam/Drummer in the world premiere of Lindiwe with Steppenwolfe Theatre Company, Guildenstern in Hamlet and The Poet in An Iliad at American Players Theatre, and Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Chicago Shakespeare Theatre. He is a member of Actors’ Equity Association. 

Tim Fullerton is returning to the Festival after appearing as Judge in last season’s Sweeney Todd and as Cornwall in King Lear. Audiences can see him this season as Capulet in Romeo and Juliet and Mr. Weston/Ensemble in Jane Austen’s Emma The Musical. Productions with other theatre companies include Poirot: Murder on the Links with Oregon Cabaret Theatre, The Book of Will with Texas Shakespeare, Mamma Mia! with Pacific Conservatory Theatre, and was part of the original cast recording of The Three Musketeers with American Musical Theatre. 

Nathan Hosner, new to the Festival, will appear as Friar Lawrence in Romeo and Juliet and Egeus in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He has a prolific resume including playing Lord Aster in the first national tour of Peter and the Starcatcher, Polixenes in The Winter’s Tale at Goodman Theatre, Captain Ahab in Lookingglass Theatre’s Moby Dick, Albany in King Lear at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Agamemnon in American Players Theatre’s Troilus and Cressida, and Hamlet in Hamlet for Alabama Shakespeare Festival. He has also performed in film and television on Chicago Med, Girls of Summer, Empire, and Chicago P.D. He is a member of Actors’ Equity Association.  

Alex Keiper returns this season as Nurse in Romeo and Juliet and Petra Quince in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Festival patrons will remember her as Luciana in The Comedy of Errors and The Smiths in The Comedy of Terrors in 2021. She has also performed as Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing at Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Mrs. Wormwood in Gretna Theatre’s Matilda!, Lizzie in Lizzie Borden at 11th Hour Theatre Company, and Martha in The Secret Garden for the Arden Theatre Co., among many others. She is a member of Actors’ Equity Association. 

Naiya McCalla is new to the Festival and will be seen as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet and Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream this season. She has performed as Josephine in Pink Morph Suits at The Tank, Mark Antony in Julius Caesar at Actors Company of Natick, Ophelia in Hamlet at the Scranton Shakespeare Festival, and Izzy in Forward Motion at Out Front Theater Company, among many others. She is also a trained ballet dancer and choreographer. 

Ryan Ruckman is appearing for the first time at the Festival as Mercutio/Apothecary in Romeo and Juliet and Snug in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He has also been in productions of Ring ‘Round the Moon as Messerschmann, bobrauschenburgamerica as Curator, and The Human Comedy as Henry, all for Nevada Conservatory Theatre; Macbeth as Banquo/Macduff for Indianapolis Shakespeare Company; and 1984 as Winston for NoExit, among others.

Gilberto Saenz performed with the Festival Education Virtual Tour of Julius Caesar in 2021 and makes his mainstage debut this season as Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet and Frank Churchill/Ensemble in Jane Austen’s Emma The Musical. He has also performed with AhHa Broadway as Ernst Robel in Spring Awakening, The Tank NYC as Avery the Amazing in Amazing, and Milwaukee Rep as Indio in West Side Story. He has also appeared in the films Voyeur and Untitled Tenderness Project. 

Additional members of the cast are:

Allie Babich returns to the Festival after eight years. Audiences may remember her as Ensign Nellie Forbush in South Pacific, Ela Delahay in Charley’s Aunt, and Vixen/Ensemble in Dracula. This season she plays Balthasar in Romeo and Juliet and Emma in Jane Austen’s Emma The Musical. She has also performed with First Stage, Milwaukee Opera Theatre, American Shakespeare Center, Door Shakespeare, Guthrie Theatre, and an international Disney on Classic: A Magical Night Tour to Japan. She is a member of Actors’ Equity Association. 

Evelyn Carol Case makes her Festival debut as Prince Escalus in Romeo and Juliet and Mrs. Bates/Ensemble in Jane Austen’s Emma The Musical. She has appeared with Prague Shakespeare Company, Shakespeare Orange County, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, The Laguna Playhouse, and ten seasons as a resident artist with the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. 

Max Gallagher is new to the Festival and will be appearing as Peter in Romeo and Juliet and Philostrate/Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Other professional roles include Mrs. Bumbrake in Peter and the Starcatcher and Steve in She Kills Monsters at DCTC, 8 in the world premiere of ALiEN8 at Ignition Arts, Mike in Wabi Sabi for Almost Adults.  

Luke Sidney Johnson returns to the Festival as Sampson in Romeo and Juliet. Previously he has played numerous roles here including Baron Elberfeld/Ensemble in The Sound of Music, Ensemble in Sweeney Todd, King of France/Captain/Ensemble in King Lear, and Younger Brother in Ragtime. He has also performed at Pioneer Theatre Company, Playmill Theatre, Simon Fest Theatre Company, and Alabama Shakespeare Festival. 

Zina Johnstun comes to the Festival for the first time as Ensemble in Romeo and Juliet and Musician Fairy in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. They have performed in productions of White Liars & Black Comedy, Henry V, and Mother Courage and Her Children at Southern Utah University, and appear courtesy of the SUU Fellowship Program.

Kat Lee returns to the Festival, coming directly from this year’s Every Brilliant Thing touring production. This season she will play Lady Montague/Paris page in Romeo and Juliet and Mrs. Weston/Ensemble in Jane Austen’s Emma The Musical. Additional roles with the Festival include two seasons as a Featured Performer in the The Greenshow, Harlem Woman in Ragtime, and Angel-ett/Ensemble in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, among others. She has also performed at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Short North Stage, and Lyric Repertory Theatre.

Jarod D. Lewis appears for the first time at the Festival as Gregory in Romeo and Juliet. Previous roles include Malcolm in Macbeth, Ferdinand in The Tempest, and Ensemble in Mother Courage and Her Children, all with Southern Utah University’s Theatre and Dance Department. He is appearing courtesy of the SUU Fellowship Program. 

Avery Peterson is new to Festival audiences and appears courtesy of the Southern Utah University Fellowship Program, and will be seen as Ensemble in Romeo and Juliet. She has appeared as Sister Mary Hubert in Nunsense, Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Ariel in The Little Mermaid, and Gertrude McFuzz in Suessical. 

Paul Michael Sandberg will perform this season as Montague/Friar John/Capulet Cousin in Romeo and Juliet, returning after five years. His previous roles at the Festival were Julius Caesar in Julius Caesar, Roy in The Odd Couple, Captain Smollett in Treasure Island, and Egeus in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, among others. He has also performed at the Court Theatre in Chicago, Steppenwolf Theatre, Cleveland Playhouse, and the Illinois Shakespeare Theatre. 

Marco Vega returns to the Festival, this time as Paris in Romeo and Juliet and Snout in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Festival audiences may remember him from numerous productions during the 2014-2017 and 2021 seasons, including The Comedy of Errors as Antipholous of Ephesus, Pericles as Leonine, A Midsummer Night’s Dream as Demetrius, and Much Ado About Nothing as Hugh Oatcake. He has also performed at Texas Shakespeare Festival, The Old Globe, and The Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Braedon Young is returning to the Festival as Abram in Romeo and Juliet and Starveling in A Midsummer Night Dream. He was seen in last season’s All’s Well That Ends Well and King Lear. At the Manhattan School of Music, he has performed in She Loves Me as Georg Novak, Don’t Stop Me as Roger Dickson, and The Drowsy Chaperone as Gangster 2. He has also performed at Carnegie Hall.

The 2023 season of the Utah Shakespeare Festival runs from June 21 to October 7 and includes Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Jane Austen’s Emma The Musical, A Raisin in the Sun, The Play That Goes Wrong, Timon of Athens, and Coriolanus, as well as all the experiences surrounding the plays, such as The Greenshow, seminars, orientations, and backstage tours. Tickets and information are available by calling 800-PLAYTIX or visiting bard.org.

A Midsummer Night's Dream: "A Gift of Love"

The Utah Shakespeare Festival announces the cast members for this summer’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, including actors Festival audiences will be familiar with, along with those making their first appearance here.

Director Jessica Kubzansky says she hopes this show will be “ultimately a gift of love,” which perfectly ties into the Festival’s new Believe Campaign. It tells a story about [characters] undergoing “fantastical, magical, mischievous, illogical, nightmarish, hilarious adventures…and the power of true, authentic love to make the world a kinder, more generous place.” 

The lead cast is as follows:

Cassie Bissell is returning to the Festival, this time in the roles of Hippolyta/Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, as well as Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet. She has appeared with Actors’ Theatre of Louisville in Memory Play, Arizona Theatre Company in Outside Mullingar, Cleveland Play House in Noises Off, and Milwaukee Repertory Theater in My Name is Asher Lev, among many others. She was last seen at the Festival in 2017 as Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Rosalind in As You Like It, and Rosalind in The Tavern. She is a member of Actors’ Equity Association. 

Aamar-Malik Culbreth is new to the Festival and will be appearing as Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream as well as Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet. Past roles include Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors, Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet, and Ken in Ain’t Misbehavin’ at Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Tiny in the regional premiere of Kill Move Paradise at Dobama Theatre, and others. 

Topher Embrey is also new to the Festival, appearing this season as Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Bobo/Moving Man in A Raisin in the Sun. Past regional theatre roles include Christmas Present in A Christmas Carol at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Sicinius Veletus in Coriolanus at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, Sir Toby in Twelfth Night at the Nashville Shakespeare Festival, and Dromio of Ephesus in The Comedy of Errors at the American Shakespeare Center, among numerous others. He is a member of Actors’ Equity Association. 

Ty Fanning returns to the Festival, this time as Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Romeo in Romeo and Juliet. He was last seen at the Festival in 2018 as Charles in Henry VI Part One, Fenton in The Merry Wives of Windsor, and Solanio in The Merchant of Venice. Among numerous other roles, he has performed as Adam/Drummer in the world premiere of Lindiwe with Steppenwolfe Theatre Company, Guildenstern in Hamlet and The Poet in An Iliad at American Players Theatre, and Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Chicago Shakespeare Theatre. He is a member of Actors’ Equity Association. 

Max Gallagher is new to the Festival and will be appearing as Philostrate/Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Peter in Romeo and Juliet. Other professional roles include Mrs. Bumbrake in Peter and the Starcatcher and Steve in She Kills Monsters at DCTC, 8 in the world premiere of ALiEN8 at Ignition Arts, Mike in Wabi Sabi for Almost Adults. They are also trained as a musician and in circus aeriels. 

Corey Jones is returning to the Festival and will perform in the roles of Theseus/Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Walter Younger in A Raisin in the Sun. He performed at the Festival in 2017 as Tate in How To Fight Loneliness and King John in King John; and Caliban in The Tempest in 2013; and Aaron in Titus Andronicus and Rev. Sykes in To Kill a Mockingbird in 2012. Among his many roles, he has played The General in the first and second national Broadway tours of The Book of Mormon, Bruce Laird in the world premiere of A Distinct Society at Pioneer Theatre Company, Captain Markinson in A Few Good Men at La Mirada Theatre, Dr. Gibbs in Our Town at South Coast Repertory, and Creon in Oedipus at American Players Theater. He has performed on film and television in Trigger, 11/11/11, Franklin and Bash, A Letter from Birmingham Jail, and Checkout. He is a member of Actors’ Equity Association.  

Kayland Jordan is making her Festival debut as Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Ruth Younger in A Raisin in the Sun. She has been seen as Annabelle “Belle” Pierson in Mirrors at NYTW, Louella in Fancy Maids at Teatro SEA, Lady in Red in For Colored Girls…, and Jo in Thorns for African American Museum. She has also performed in numerous films and television shows, including Betty (HBO), In Ice Cold Blood (OXYGEN), Emergence (ABC), and Keep Me At Bay (MICA). She has also been a member of the Society of American Fight Directors. 

Naiya McCalla is also new to the Festival and will be seen as Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Juliet in Romeo and Juliet this season. She has performed as Josephine in Pink Morph Suits at The Tank, Mark Antony in Julius Caesar at Actors Company of Natick, Ophelia in Hamlet at the Scranton Shakespeare Festival, and Izzy in Forward Motion at Out Front Theater Company, among many others. She is also a trained ballet dancer and choreographer. 

Other members of the cast are:

Ashley Aquino, new to the Festival, will perform as Mustardseed in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and as a Featured Performer in The Greenshow. She was recently seen as Lucy in You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown at Southern Utah University, Janet in The Drowsy Chaperone and Baker’s Wife in Into the Woods with Broadway Bound, and Glory/Marvalyn/Rhonda in Almost Maine with Simon Fest Theatre Company. She is appearing courtesy of the Southern Utah University Fellowship Program. 

Maureen Azzun is also new to the Festival and will appear as Cobweb in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and as Beneatha in A Raisin in the Sun. She has performed as Louise/Ruby/Etta in More Than a Maid with Black Ensemble Theater, Friend in Queen C at Trap Door Theatre, and Emerson in First Date on the Brain with Drawing Cats Productions. She was also in the films Erick and Alisha, Rosemary, and Five-Finger Discount. 

Dylan Fleming is performing the role of Flute in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Joseph Asagai in A Raisin in the Sun, and is new to the Festival. He has performed as Omari in Everyman Theatre’s digital release of Pipeline, as Isa in Kill Move Paradise with Rep Stage, and as T.T. Williams in The Member of the Wedding with 1st Stage.

Taylor Hendricks, who is also new to the Festival, will be seen as Moth in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and as a Featured Performer in The Greenshow. He recently performed as Michael/Doctor in Matilda! for Syracuse Stage, Barnaby Tucker in Hello, Dolly! by Douglas Morrisson Theater, and Robert Martin in The Drowsy Chaperone for Los Positas Theater.

Nathan Hosner, new to the Festival, will appear as Egeus in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and as Friar Lawrence in Romeo and Juliet. He has a prolific resume including playing Lord Aster in the first national tour of Peter and the Starcatcher, Polixenes in The Winter’s Tale at Goodman Theatre, Captain Ahab in Lookingglass Theatre’s Moby Dick, Albany in King Lear at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Agamemnon in American Players Theatre’s Troilus and Cressida, and Hamlet in Hamlet for Alabama Shakespeare Festival. He has also performed in film and television on Chicago Med, Girls of Summer, Empire, and Chicago P.D. He is a member of Actors’ Equity Association.  

Zina Johnstun comes to the Festival for the first time as Musician Fairy in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Ensemble in Romeo and Juliet. They have performed in productions of White Liars & Black Comedy, Henry V, and Mother Courage and Her Children at Southern Utah University, and appear courtesy of the SUU Fellowship Program.

Alex Keiper returns this season as Petra Quince in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Nurse in Romeo and Juliet. Festival patrons will remember her as Luciana in The Comedy of Errors and The Smiths in The Comedy of Terrors in 2021. She has also performed as Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing at Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Mrs. Wormwood in Gretna Theatre’s Matilda!, Lizzie in Lizzie Borden at 11th Hour Theatre Company, and Martha in The Secret Garden for the Arden Theatre Co., among many others. She is a member of Actors’ Equity Association. 

Ryan Ruckman is appearing as Snug in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Mercutio/Apothecary in Romeo and Juliet, performing for his first time at the Festival. He has also been in productions of Ring ‘Round the Moon as Messerschmann, bobrauschenburgamerica as Curator, and The Human Comedy as Henry, all for Nevada Conservatory Theatre; Macbeth as Banquo/Macduff for Indianapolis Shakespeare Company; and 1984 as Winston for NoExit, among others.

Marco Vega returns to the Festival, this time as Snout in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Paris in Romeo and Juliet. Festival audiences may remember him from numerous productions during the 2014-2017 and 2021 seasons, including The Comedy of Errors as Antipholous of Ephesus, Pericles as Leonine, A Midsummer Night’s Dream as Demetrius, and Much Ado About Nothing as Hugh Oatcake. He has also performed at Texas Shakespeare Festival, The Old Globe, and The Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Matthew Wangemann is new to the Festival as Thistleweed in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and a Featured Performer in The Greenshow. He appears courtesy of the Southern Utah University Fellowship Program, and has performed in such productions at SUU as Falsettos, Into the Woods, Macbeth, and Radium Girls. He has also been in productions at Hale Center Theatre (Orem), Pickleville Playhouse, and Catalyst Theatre. 

Deseree Whitt comes to the Festival as a new company member and will play Peaseblossom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. She has performed in productions such as Dryland, The Beaux Stratagem, Little Shop of Horrors, bobrauschenbergamerica, and The Bluest Eye. She has also done film, television, modeling, voiceover, and stand up comedy work. 

Braedon Young is returning to the Festival as Starveling in A Midsummer Night Dream and Abram in Romeo and Juliet. He was seen in last season’s All’s Well That Ends Well and King Lear. At the Manhattan School of Music, he has performed in She Loves Me as Georg Novak, Don’t Stop Me as Roger Dickson, and The Drowsy Chaperone as Gangster 2. He has also performed at Carnegie Hall.

The 2023 season of the Utah Shakespeare Festival runs from June 21 to October 7 and includes Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Jane Austen’s Emma The Musical, A Raisin in the Sun, The Play That Goes Wrong, Timon of Athens, and Coriolanus, as well as all the experiences surrounding the plays, such as The Greenshow, seminars, orientations, and backstage tours. Tickets and information are available by calling 800-PLAYTIX or visiting bard.org.

Local Volunteers Help with Props for 2023 Productions

By Liz Armstrong 

Over the last couple of weeks, around 15 local volunteers came to the Utah Shakespeare Festival to assist in set design and props for the 2023 productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Greenshow. 

Working closely with Properties Director Ben Hohman, Assistant Properties Director Marielle Boneau, and Assistant Guest Services Manager Kris Bahr, these generous volunteers glued over 700 trim rosettes for the mossy forest walls in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. On other days, they helped build prop fairies for Appalachian Night of The Greenshow. 

“Quite often we have an idea from a director or designer that is beyond the scope of the labor we have allotted to us, but the idea is such a good one that we want to find a way to make it happen,” Hohman said. 

These volunteers were the answer! Hohman estimated that nearly 300 hours of volunteer labor went into making the rosettes for the set, while 100 hours went into the making of over 200 small fairies. These fairies will be given out over the course of the season to some of the younger guests during the Appalachian Greenshow. 

“We have an amazing group of volunteers who are always willing to pitch in and help out with any aspect of the Festival,” Hohman said gratefully. “We sent out a call and they answered in droves!” Since it has been three years since volunteers gathered to help due to pandemic restrictions, it was a welcome group.

“We cannot express enough gratitude to these unsung heroes,” Bahr lovingly expressed. They were Myra Nelson, Jeannie Rowe, Jim Shammot, Jayne Banks, Sherry Price, Shari Tagney, Linda Tagney, Michelle Decker, Bev Mudd, Jim Mudd, Marva Huntington, Mindy Kropf, Lynn Rogers, and Marilyn Smith. 

Hohman expressed that these two projects simply would not have happened if not for the amazing, talented, and dedicated local volunteers who are always ready and willing to help the Festival. 

“We are so grateful that they stepped up and allowed both of these productions to have a more complete design due to their efforts,” Hohman said. 

To see the hard work that goes into set and prop design, visit bard.org to purchase tickets to this 2023 season.

New Play Reading in NYC Hosted by USF

The Utah Shakespeare Festival is proud to announce a reading of a new play The United States vs. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed on Monday, April 17 at 2:00 p.m. at The Tank, 312 W. 36th Street in New York City. The play is by emerging playwright Jacob A. Greenberg and will be directed by Hassan Al Rawas.

This thrilling, morally and politically complex drama tells the story of the lawyers who volunteered to defend the man who planned 9/11 attacks and those who rose up to oppose them. It’s daring, powerful, often hilarious­­––and it all happens to be true.

“It’s always exciting to work with a new playwright on a new, important play,” says Utah Shakespeare Festival Interim Artistic Director and Director of New Play Development Derek Charles Livingston. “In the case of The United States Versus Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, I knew when I read it that Jake (playwright Jacob A. Greenberg) was writing in the grand, epic, theatrical, and historical scale similar to All the Way or The Grapes of Wrath. What I appreciated is the sharp dialogue, complex characters, and the moral question at the center of this play. We’ve spent two years developing it, including a Zoom reading a year ago. Even though we’re based in Utah, the natural next step, to take the play to the next level, was an in-person reading in New York City. I’m excited to hear Jake’s words, under Hassan’s direction, and with this cast – man!, this cast!”

As of April 10, 2023, the cast of The United States vs. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed features Santino Fontana, Rajesh Bose, Peter Gerety, Peter Francis James, Tasha Lawrence, Eliott Johnson, Joe Forbrich, Dennis Boutsikaris, and Marielle Issa.

Director Hassan Al Rawas is a Beirut, Lebanon-based director who has directed with the Quintessence Theatre Company in Philadelphia, assisted directed the premiere production of Jennifer Silverman’s Witch, and, from June 2019 through January 2021, served as the assistant director of The Devil Wears Prada: The Musical. He has also directed Arabic language productions of The Merchant of Venice and Macbeth in Kuwait.

The reading is by invitation only, but inquiries can be directed to USvsKSM@gmail.com.

Festival Launches Believe Campaign

By Liz Armstrong 

**Believe (verb): To have confidence in the truth, the existence, or the reliability of something, although without absolute proof one is right in doing so.**

To inspire connectivity this 2023 season and beyond, the Utah Shakespeare Festival has excitedly launched the Believe Campaign. With this campaign, the Festival is asking beloved patrons to believe in the organization and the transformative power of live theatre. 

“Believe is a campaign where the Festival is inviting you to feel emotions that are very genuine and real,” Director of Development and Communications Donn Jersey says. 

The Inspiration Behind “Believe”

“Only if one believes in something can one act purposefully,” says Jersey.

What started out as a simple brainstorming session in a conference room at the Festival’s administration offices has resulted in a passionate idea to encapsulate the feeling we get from theatre and storytelling, and the power that it holds to transform lives.

Marketing Manager Brittney Corry invites patrons to join the Festival on a journey of discovery and imagination through this campaign. 

“We are inviting everyone to open their minds and hearts to new experiences, and to trust that we will deliver unforgettable performances that will leave you inspired and enriched,” Corry says.

Creative Director Clare Campbell reflected on the beginning stages of the creation of this campaign. 

“So many ideas were tossed around during that brainstorming meeting,” Campbell says. “When we arrived at Believe, something in the room just clicked.”

Aligning “Believe” with Festival Origins

Perhaps what made the idea of the Believe Campaign fit so immediately was that it is perfectly aligned with the Festival’s goals from the beginning. 

“The campaign was inspired by our founder, Fred C. Adams, our local community, the great work the Festival is known for throughout the world, and Festival friends from all over globe.” comments Jersey. 

In 1960, Fred C. Adams and his fiancée Barbara Gaddie were doing their laundry at the Fluffy Bundle Laundromat in Cedar City. It was there that the idea to start a Shakespearean Festival was born. The young entrepreneur and actor wanted to produce great theatre in a destination location.

From there, Fred needed to find someone who believed in supporting the idea. It was the local Lions Club who offered $1,000 and the encouragement Fred needed. What started as an idea scribbled on a notepad in a laundromat over sixty years ago has resulted in the Utah Shakespeare Festival, a Tony Award-winning organization operating on a $7 million budget that entertains over 130,000 people a season. 

The Festival has become successful because of Fred and so many others, who believed in his idea from the start. It’s successful because of the Cedar City community, including the local Lions Club, who first believed in Fred’s plan. It’s successful because of the year-round staff, company members, donors, and volunteers who return year after year to produce world-class theatre. But most importantly, it’s successful because of you––our beloved patrons that purchase tickets in a simple act of support and belief in the Festival. 

What We Believe In

Jersey says: “We Believe in artfully telling stories that broaden our perspectives, enliven our imaginations, and give us a better quality of life.”  

“We Believe in creating impactful theatre that reenacts and celebrates our shared humanity.”

“We Believe in teaching minds young and old. Expanding horizons, outlooks, and understanding through camps, classes, tours, seminars, and other helpful resources.”

“We Believe in you.”

The Creative Process Behind “Believe”

“We wanted to create a feeling of the power of theatre and storytelling,” Campbell says. “To invite patrons to come see what we’re working on, and to get away from the real world for a little while and to take in our stories, our sets and costumes, our talent, and our atmosphere.”

Campbell worked on the Believe logo, creating something timeless and sturdy. She explains her creative process below.

“The middle ‘i’ is replaced with a silhouette of a male figure, female figure, or child to use throughout the campaign,” Campbell said. “Our Festival crown is placed on top of the figures to tie in the look with our current logo. These figures also give an energetic, exciting feel to the campaign, to draw patrons in to learn more.”

The starry sky that appears in various iterations with the Believe logo is based on a beloved story of Fred as a young man spending time in Finland, seeing the aurora borealis for the first time. Another of his group advised everyone to “Look up” as they were trudging through the snow. That became a life motto for him and something that beautifully partners with the goals of the Believe Campaign.

Participate in “Believe”

There is something indescribable about the Festival. It is not just about the plays, the tarts, the actors, the staff, the theatres, the grounds. All of these things––and much more––are important individually, but all together, is when our patrons truly start to believe in the power of theatre offered at the Festival. What makes the experience so unforgettable is the entirety of the experience, and the goal of the Believe Campaign is to epitomize this specific feeling. 

“It can be whatever our community of Festival friends want it to be, it can be used to tell their own story as it relates to the Festival’s productions and immersive experiences,” Jersey explains. 

“The Festival believes our communities and lives become better at the intersection of arts, humanity, and society. The invitation to our supporters and friends is to come to the Festival and listen, sing, dance, heal, live and connect with the art…all you need to do is Believe in the power of theatre and the Festival.”

For more information or to purchase tickets for the 2023 season, visit bard.org or call 800-PLAYTIX.

Fifth Annual Make A Scene Fundraiser to be the Most Fun-Filled Festival Gala Yet

By Liz Armstrong

The Utah Shakespeare Festival is proud to announce the fifth annual Make A Scene fundraising event on April 19 in West Valley City, UT. The one-night-only gala will feature dinner and a comedic performance of Romeo and Juliet, directed by Quinn Mattfeld.

Doors open at 5:30 p.m. with dinner at 6:00 and the performance at 7:30. This will be an exciting chance to meet with actors, state and local politicians, business leaders, media personalities, Festival administration, and more. 

Located at 3333 S. Decker Lake Dr., the event will be held at the West Valley Performing Arts Center and boasts the largest professional cast yet. 

Director of Development and Communication Donn Jersey guarantees that Mattfeld who will share the stage with Festival favorites Melinda Parrett and Michael Doherty will have those in attendance “belly-laughing for 65 minutes straight.”

Quinn Mattfeld debuted at the Festival in 2009, and has been in two of the Festival’s past mainstage productions of Romeo and Juliet. He played Benvolio in the 2009 production and Tybalt in 2017. The actor has most recently been in the Festival’s productions of Shakespeare in Love (2017), Hamlet (2019), and Macbeth (2019). Mattfeld’s experience and humor made him the perfect fit to star at the gala. 

“Quinn wrote the script especially for this night, and is directing and acting in it too. It’s just going to be so much fun,” Jersey said. “It’s Romeo and Juliet with a comedic twist, and the script is just ridiculous. We are writing four or five different scenes with our professional actors and surprise guests that will be joining onstage.”

Melinda Parrett first came to the Festival in 2007 for roles in Candida and Lend Me a Tenor. She has performed in over twenty roles at the Festival, including last season, when she starred as Mrs. White in Clue and Elsa Schraeder in The Sound of Music. 

Michael Doherty debuted at the Festival in 2015. He took roles last season as Mr. Green in Clue, Lavatch in All’s Well That Ends Well, and Jonas Fogg in Sweeney Todd. He also starred in last year’s Make A Scene Gala in the one-actor show, Every Brilliant Thing.

Professional magician and Festival actor Rhett Guter will bring something different to the gala this year, performing magic tricks in the lobby and throughout dinner. His expertise will add another layer of fun to the fundraising event. Guter is known for his roles at the Festival in the 2013 production of Peter and the Starcatcher and his most recent roles in Ragtime and The Pirates of Penzance in the 2021 season.

In addition, Mia Gatherum, an actress from the Caine College of the Arts at Utah State University, will be taking on the role of Juliet alongside Mattfeld as Romeo. She has a strong tie to the Festival, having performed in numerous Playmakers Education Program productions when she was growing up in Cedar City. 

“When you get this all-star cast to share their talents and wit…it’s going to be a super fun night,” Jersey emphasized. “It’s going to be whimsical and accessible and fun, while also raising important funds for the Festival.”

The ticket price is $275, and there are sponsorship tables of eight available for sale. Although you don’t have to attend dinner to see the show, don’t miss out on any of this fun-filled night!

To purchase a ticket or reserve a table for this annual fundraiser, contact Development Assistant Emily Cacho at 435-586-7877 or through email at emily@bard.org. Reservations can be made up to the day of the event.

Follow our Instagram and Facebook accounts @utahshakespeare to stay up-to-date on gala announcements.

A Glance Back at A Midsummer Night's Dream Through the Years

Our production for 2023 will be the eleventh time we have done this popular Shakespeare comedy in our 62-year history. Enjoy a look back over our past productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream!

A Midsummer Night’s Dream: 10 Interesting Tidbits About the Play

By Marlo Ihler

As one of Shakespeare’s most popular and beloved comedies, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is filled with rich elements from folklore, literature, nature, mythology, and the supernatural. It tells of the whims, desires, and impulses of love, both mortal and fantastical. Visit our Study Guide for the synopsis and list of characters, if you need some additional background. Now enjoy some fun facts about the play as you prepare for your visit this season:

1. The forest in many of Shakespeare’s works, including A Midsummer Night’s Dream, is considered a place of transformation, symbolism, or relief from rigid order. In this play the lovers run away from restrictive Athenian customs to hide in the forest, find themselves entangled in a supernatural and chaotic experience, and emerge changed and renewed. 
2. So what is a changeling child anyway? Titania, the Fairy Queen, is trying to protect a changeling boy from her jealous husband Oberon, the Fairy King, who wants him for his court. According to English fairy lore, a changeling is a fairy who was left in the place of a child that was taken. It can also be a child that was taken by fairies during their infancy. Although the changeling child in this play isn’t a speaking role and in some productions isn’t even seen on stage, he is pivotal to the plot. Shakespeare also uses references to this lore in A Winter’s Tale and Henry IV Part One. 
3. The Roman poet Ovid’s epic poem Metamorphoses was a primary source of inspiration for A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Other sources of inspiration were Plutarch’s Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans and Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales.  
4. Speaking of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, some scholars believe that Shakespeare used the “rude Mechanicals” characters––the six skilled laborers who aspire to be actors but are not very good at it––as a way to mock the clumsy and inept translation of Metamorphoses from Latin to English by Arthur Golding in 1567.  
5. As for the Mechanicals, near the end of the show they perform their play-within-the-play, The Most Lamentable Comedy and Most Cruel Death of Pyramus and Thisbe. It is a parody of the experiences the lovers had in the forest the night before, except that the lovers obviously survived their ordeal to laugh about it on their shared wedding day.
6. Audiences during Shakespeare’s time were used to the patterns of Roman comedy, such as stock characters, slapstick gags, a clever slave, and plots focusing on domestic issues. A Midsummer Night’s Dream introduced the use of fairies, magic, unexpected and uncontrollable events, and desire-induced chaos while also giving glimpses of familiar Roman comedy character types.  
7. The love potion from the magical flower used by Puck is one of Shakespeare’s most famous. It is supposedly made from a wild pansy called ‘love-in-idleness’, which ironically, is how the characters affected by the love potion behave. 
8. One of the reasons this play is significant is because it was one of the first during Shakespeare’s time to pull away from the idea of religious topics and values, which writers and poets during his time were expected to highlight. He explored the ideas of places beyond reality that are transformed by magic, enchantment, and the supernatural. 
9. Puck––or Robin Goodfellow or Hobgoblin––is based on a mischievous brownie-like sprite taken from English folklore or the púca from Celtic mythology. 
10. This popular story has been adapted and produced as operas, lavish pageants, ballets, films, and a television series. 
11. BONUS - The Festival’s production during the 2023 season will be the eleventh time we’ve done this show in our 62 year history!

Ten Things You May Not Know about A Raisin in the Sun and Its Playwright

By Liz Armstrong

As we prepare for this coming season’s production of A Raisin in the Sun, let’s dive deeper into it and its inspirational playwright Lorraine Hansberry, as well as the impact she had on the Civil Rights Movement.

Inspired by playwright Lorraine Hansberry’s personal experience as a child when her father purchased a house in a predominantly white neighborhood, A Raisin in the Sun reflects historical significance. The Hansberry family won their right to be heard “as a matter of due process of law in relation to the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, reflecting the familial success and unity that is highlighted in A Raisin in the Sun.

Perhaps just as interesting as the success of the play was the life of its’ inspiring and legendary playwright Lorraine Hansberry. For more information on the playwright, click here.

1. This was the first play to be produced on Broadway written by an African American woman – Lorraine Hansberry.
2. The title of the play was inspired by the poem “Harlem” by Langston Hughes. He wrote: “What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?”
3. Hansberry knew Hughes personally, as her family was often visited by the poet, along with other prominent figures, including professor W. E. B. Du Bois, political activist Paul Robeson, musician Duke Ellington, and Olympic gold medalist Jesse Owens.
4. Hansberry’s father purchased a house in the Washington Park Subdivision in the South Side of Chicago – and many of their white neighbors were angry, an uncanny parallel to the plot point in her play.
5. The play was adapted into a film in 1961, including actors from its original Broadway production: Signey Poitier, Ruby Dee, Claudia McNeil, Diana Sands, Ivan Dixon, Louis Gossett Jr., and John Fiedler. Hansberry wrote the screenplay. Poiter and McNeil were nominated for Golden Globe Awards in this film.
6. Publications including The Independent and Time Out have listed A Raisin in the Sun among the best plays ever written.
7. A musical version of the play ran on Broadway from October, 1973 to December, 1975. It was written by Hansberry’s former husband, Robert Nemiroff. The show won the Tony Award for Best Musical.
8. In addition to being the first play written by an African American woman to be produced on Broadway, it was directed by actor Lloyd Richards– the first African American to direct a play on Broadway since Ernest Hogan in 1907.
9. It took producer Philip Rose 18 months to raise enough money for the play to hit Broadway, and it was considered a risky investment. However, A Raisin in the Sun was met with flaming success, and in 1983, The New York Times wrote that the play “changed American theater forever.”
10. Hansberry’s play appeared in London’s West End at Adelphi Theater in 1959. A Raisin in the Sun was also adapted into a 1989 TV film, receiving three Emmy Award nominations. Other adaptations included a 1996 and 2016 BBC Radio play, 2008 TV Film (watched by 12.7 million viewers), 2004 and 2014 Broadway revival, and 2010 Manchester production.