Okay, I’m not making “much” ado so much as “some” ado, and having written that I can see why Shakespeare used ”much” instead of ”some,” it’s a much better turn of phrase. But I digress. Two bits of news that I came upon in close juxtaposition and are both related to one of my favorite of the Bard’s comedies. The Shakespeare Theater Company is staging a production of “Much Ado…” this winter and it is going to star Ms. Veanne Cox as Beatrice. Ms. Cox is a semi-regular at the STC and she’s yet to disappoint; two of her performances in STC productions, “The Beaux Stratagem” and “Twelfth Night” were simply outstanding. I’m
terribly excited to find she’s in this production because as much as I enjoy “Much Ado…” I’ve seen it more than a few times but now that I know an actress I admire as much as Ms. Cox is performing I’m really looking forward to the the show. I’ve puzzled many times about what takes a show from “good entertainment” and “fine” and tips it over into ”excecptional” and I think that Ms. Cox is one of those performers that with her presence and talent elevates the entire production and I think she’s perfectly cast as Beatrice. I’m going to say that if you get the chance, go see this show. I won’t have an official review until early December but I have a suspicion it’ll be worth the effort.
The other tidbit of news isn’t really theater related but it is “Much Ado…” related and the name attached to it is probably more recognizable, Joss Wheadon. Mr. Wheadon has just completed principal photography on a film version of ”Much Ado..” set in modern day California and many of the actors will be well known to any fans of the Buffyverse, (yes, I’m a geek, shutup) most notibly Alexis Denisof as Benedick, Amy Acker as Beatrice and Nathan Fillion as Dogberry. They shot the movie in 12 days, that has to some kind of record, and filmed it in black and white. It’s going to be making the film festival circuit next spring so hopefully it’ll be in an artsy fartsy theater near you by summer. I know i’ll be keeping an eye out for it. The link to the website is here but there isn’t much info on it yet. 
