Romeo and Juliet, Scored by Stew and Heidi Rodewald, Crosses Stars in CT July 18

By Adam Hetrick
18 Jul 2012

Ali Ahn and Will Jackson Harper
Ali Ahn and Will Jackson Harper
Photo by Monica Simoes

Ali Ahn and William Jackson Harper share star-crossed nights in the Shakespeare on the Sound outdoor production of Romeo and Juliet, which arrives in Rowayton, CT, July 18 after an earlier run in Greenwich, CT, this summer. 

Artistic director Joanna Settle helms the free production that debuted June 26-July 8 in Greenwich, CT's Baldwin Park, and now plays Pinkney Park from July 18-July 29 in Rowayton, CT.

"We are conceiving Romeo and Juliet as a dinner party among eight friends who have an annual tradition of reading a Shakespeare play on a gorgeous summer’s night," Settle said in a statement. "Over the course of reading the play, the story will take over and our guests both on-stage and off will find themselves completely consumed over by the momentum and poetry of the events in Shakespeare's classic romance."

Joining Ahn as Juliet and Harper as Romeo, are David Cale (Friar), Matt Citron (Mercutio), Will Cohn (Benvolio), Rachael Holmes (Lady Capulet/Tybalt), Damian Lemar Hudson (Singer/Paris), Chinasa Ogbuagu (Nurse) and Tony Torn (Capulet).

As previously reported, Passing Strange Tony winner Stew and collaborator Heidi Rodewald penned music and lyrics for Romeo and Juliet. Stew has also been commissioned to author two new scenes for the dinner party, which he will write and develop with the cast. The team previously worked on the Shakespeare on the Sound productions of Othello and As You Like It. Stew created the music for A Midsummer Night's Dream.

"Joanna introduced Stew and I to Shakespeare, so the two of them are kind of inseparable for us," Rodewald told Playbill.com in the popular Cue @ A column. "She really makes it all feel personal, urgent and real. I love the cast she assembles. And how can you not love eating a lobster roll by the water while watching a Shakespeare play?"

Read Playbill's Cue & A with Rodwald here.

The production has set design by Laura Jellinek, costume design by Tilly Grimes, lighting design by Keith Parham, sound system design by Jessica Paz, sound design by Obadiah Eaves and choreography by David Neumann.

For further information, visit ShakespeareontheSound.