William Shakespeare\u2019s epic tales of comedy, romance and tragedy will be reinvigorated with a jazzy twist at \u201cShakespeare Swings!\u201d\u2014 a cabaret-style production premiering next week at UCF Celebrates the Arts 2015 at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.<\/p>\n
The English playwright\u2019s masterpieces have been translated into many languages, but the arrangements of UCF\u2019s Flying Horse Big Band with vocals coordinated by the Orlando Shakespeare Theatre reinforces that music is the universal language.<\/p>\n
\u201cShakespeare Swings!\u201d will give the bard\u2019s time-tested lyrics and sonnets a new sound at 8 p.m. April 11 as part of UCF\u2019s free April 10-15 arts festival. The weeklong event of artistic presentations by university students, faculty members and partners will showcase studio art, music, theatre, dance, gaming, animation, photography and film in one venue for the first time.<\/p>\n
The Flying Horse Big Band, formerly the UCF Jazz Ensemble I, is composed of students from the university\u2019s jazz studies program under director Jeff Rupert. Rupert, whose range of talents includes saxophonist, composer, record producer and recording artist, said it was a great opportunity to bring together the mash-up with the Orlando Shakespeare Theatre.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOur collaborative production of jazz-music-meets-Shakespeare came together naturally because many composers and musicals already embody Shakespeare and\/or are inspired by Shakespeare\u2019s works,\u201d Rupert said. \u00a0\u201cIn our performance of \u2018Such Sweet Thunder\u2019 for UCF Celebrates the Arts, as it relates to the famed balcony scene of \u2018Romeo and Juliet,\u2019 the tenor saxophone will represent Romeo and the alto saxophone will represent Juliet.\u201d<\/p>\n
When UCF announced the arts festival, community partners were asked to help develop some collaborative ideas.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had been dreaming of doing some sort of Shakespeare cabaret production to showcase the love songs of Shakespeare,\u201d said Jim Helsinger, artistic director at Orlando Shakespeare Theatre, which has been a UCF partner for 26 years. Helsinger credits Jeff Moore, chair of the UCF Music Department, with suggesting a Shakespeare program with the UCF jazz studies program.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The world-premiere revue will hit a high note with a variety of original compositions, swing music and Broadway standards.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith much of Shakespeare we have the lyrics but not the music so our performance will have new interpretations, such as for \u2018The Two Gentlemen of Verona\u2019 and \u2018The Wind and The Rain\u2019 from \u2018Twelfth Night,\u2019\u201d said Helsinger.<\/p>\n
Rupert said developing the program was a fun project for the jazz students.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe band even helped to come up with the title of \u2018Shakespeare Swings!,\u2019\u201d\u00a0 he said.<\/p>\n
The singers for the show will be local performers Michael Andrew and Andrea Canny, with guest artist Sisaundra Lewis, a fan favorite on the sixth season of NBC\u2019s \u201cThe Voice.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShakespeare Swings!\u201d is one of several musical collaborations planned for UCF and select partners during UCF Celebrates the Arts. Some other partnerships include UCF Choirs providing vocals for the Orlando Repertory Theatre\u2019s production of \u201cCivil War Voices,\u201d which uses diaries and letters to tell the true stories of people who lived through the war, and the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra rehearsal for \u201cTosca\u201d with an instructional class for voice students.<\/p>\n