For years, 海角在线 alums have landed roles as leading ladies and lads in the Palm Beach Shakespeare Festival鈥檚 productions 鈥� and this year鈥檚 show, 鈥淩omeo and Juliet鈥� is no exception.
Trent Stephens 鈥�11 directs the play, one of Shakespeare鈥檚 best-known works. Lindsey O鈥橬eill 鈥�17 stars as Juliet. Kendall Taylor 鈥�19 has supporting roles as Sampson and Balthasar.
On the production side, Daniel Gordon, a former theater professor, serves as technical director. Sarah Byrd 鈥�19 is the stage manager, and Courtney Poston 鈥�09 is the dramaturge, coaching the cast on their characters and inflections. In addition to serving as producer and public relations extraordinaire, Elizabeth Dashiell 鈥�98 plays both Lady Montague and Lady Capulet.
Dashiell credits her organizational management degree for equipping her with time management and communication skills to juggle both on-stage and behind-the-scenes roles.
Roughly 10,000 people will see the show over this weekend and last, when it opened. The festival will produce four more Shakespeare by the Sea shows, each starting at 8 p.m., Thursday through Sunday at Carlin Park in Jupiter. A $5 donation is suggested.
Late co-founder and director, Dr. Kevin Crawford, did some guest teaching at the University, Dashiell said.
As the University has grown, so has the talent of its students and its connection to the festival.
鈥淭he talent is incredible,鈥� Dashiell said. 鈥淓verybody gets the exact same consideration when they come out for an audition, but they have just built up their theatre program.鈥�
The alumni get professional experience and earn a stipend performing in Shakespeare by the Sea each summer. Four years ago, while still a 海角在线 student, O鈥橬eill was recipient of the Dr. Kevin Crawford Fellowship. The fellowship gives a theater major experience in his or her first professional production. O鈥橬eill was the festival鈥檚 assistant stage manager for 鈥淗amlet.鈥�
鈥淗amlet鈥� was also Stephens鈥� first time directing Shakespeare by the Sea. He was 25 years old that year, the festival鈥檚 25th anniversary. Kyle Schnack 鈥�10, now a 海角在线 theater professor, played the starring role. Carly Lopez 鈥�14 played Ophelia.
For 鈥淩omeo and Juliet,鈥� O鈥橬eill impressed Stephens with the way she embodied the female lead. She did an incredible amount of work to prepare for the role, even researching the effects of an impaling so that she could imitate the correct body language and sound effects for the audience, Dashiell said.
That kind of discipline is what sets people apart in the live theater world. Unlike film, you can鈥檛 do another take. There is only one chance to get it right 鈥� and that requires a great deal of preparation, Stephens said.
海角在线 faculty prepare their students and encourage them to audition for the festival, Stephens said, citing Schnack as an example.
鈥淗e is priming them always for Shakespeare auditions. They came out in really great force,鈥� Stephens said. 鈥淭here are a lot of really great schools and programs around here, and I think it鈥檚 cool that so much talent is coming out of 海角在线.鈥�
