{"id":6779,"date":"2007-07-05T15:56:58","date_gmt":"2007-07-05T19:56:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=6779"},"modified":"2022-10-13T10:09:15","modified_gmt":"2022-10-13T14:09:15","slug":"romeo-and-juliet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=6779","title":{"rendered":"Romeo and Juliet"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m psyched for Lauren Ambrose. She had a solid debut in Awake and Sing<\/i>, getting some of the best reviews in the cast (example<\/a>) – and now she’s playing Juliet in Shakespeare in the Park..<\/p>\n

There’s something about her that has always moved me. She’s so full – of so much and yet (and this is key to her good-ness as an actress) so uncomfortable<\/i> with being full. She fought against her own expression, her own emotions, in 6 Feet Under<\/i> – like so many people do in real life – we don’t LIKE to cry, or be sad, or give up anger and be forgiving- we fight against these things. Sometimes with actors, tears or anger seem to come really cheap, because it’s a “skill”. But when Lauren Ambrose cried on 6 Feet Under<\/i>, you could always feel her clenching her fists, willing the tears to stop, stop, stop, dammit, stop … She found tears embarrassing. Again, like so many people do. She grew on me . I wasn’t wacky about her at first, it took her a while to get into that character – AND once the series was renewed, she almost visibly relaxed, once she knew her job was safe, for at least another 6 or 7 months. You see that a lot – and she, as the most inexperienced actress in that cast, showed the “oh my god, will this job last?” anxiety more than the others. But once she relaxed? Once she knew she was safe? Great great stuff.<\/p>\n

The review is interesting <\/a>– but here I’m all choked up, reading this:<\/p>\n

But it\u00ef\u00bf\u00bds Ms. Ambrose who gives the production its devastatingly torn heart.<\/p>\n

Best known as the petulant Claire in \u00ef\u00bf\u00bdSix Feet Under,\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd Ms. Ambrose, who recently appeared on Broadway in \u00ef\u00bf\u00bdAwake and Sing!,\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd makes Juliet into a compelling bundle of mixed instincts. Even at 14, she\u00ef\u00bf\u00bds the smartest person in Verona, capable of analyzing exactly what\u00ef\u00bf\u00bds happening to her. Had she lived, she might have been a Viola or Rosalind, a Shakespeare heroine to tutor brash men in the finer arts of loving.<\/p>\n

But because she is 14 (and you don\u00ef\u00bf\u00bdt doubt it), Juliet leads not with her head but her hormones. Every line she utters is infused with equal amounts of intelligence and impetuosity. She has enough erotic life force for both herself and Romeo, but Mr. Isaac gallantly contributes his share. And without a hint of the now usually obligatory nudity, this couple can make a drawn-out kiss light up the night, as Michael Friedman\u00ef\u00bf\u00bds mood-enhancing (but never mood-pushing) music swells in the background.<\/p>\n

Red-haired and luminously pale, this Juliet is a such a brightly glowing candle that the water motif at last makes perfect sense in that final, fatal scene in the Capulet family tomb. It takes a whole lot of water to quench such a flame. But, ah my friends, before then, it gave a lovely light. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Yay for her!!!<\/p>\n

Anyway, look at this photo of her as Juliet. See? There’s something about her. I feel all emotional just looking at her face there. She BLAZES with emotion.<\/p>\n

And look at this set. I’ve heard much about it – but just look at this image.<\/p>\n

That’s Lauren Ambrose as Juliet and Oscar Isaac as Romeo – he was Proteus in the Two Gents<\/i> musical I saw in the park a couple summers ago<\/a>. That was his debut – and now he’s back, as Romeo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m psyched for Lauren Ambrose. She had a solid debut in Awake and Sing, getting some of the best reviews in the cast (example) – and now she’s playing Juliet in Shakespeare in the Park.. There’s something about her that … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16],"tags":[1552,218],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6779"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6779"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6779\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":181052,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6779\/revisions\/181052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}