Asbury Park Press from Asbury Park, New Jersey • Page 94

PanoramaEntertainment Asbury Park Press Thursday, May 26, 1994 E3 i Festival opens with traditional 'Romeo' tit i "Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, at the New Jersey Shakespeare Festival on the Drew University campus, 36 Madison Madison, at 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays and 7 p.m. Sundays through June 11. Tickets from $16 to $30.

(201) 408-5600. Principals Romeo-David Allen Case; Juliet-Arija Bareikis; Nurse-Lola Pashalin-ski; Tybalt-Rick Hearts; Mercutio-Tom Gibson, Friar Laurence-John Curtess. Behind-the-scenes Director-Jimmy Bohr; Sets-Rob Odorisio; Costumes-Mary Peterson; Lighting-Howard Werner; Fight director-Rick Sordelet. 4 By GRETCHEN C. VAN BENTHUYSEN PRESS THEATER WRITER MADISON The popularity of such movies as "Sleepless in Seattle" proves people will flock to good stories about lovers destined for each other.

But this is nothing new. William Shakespeare wrote "Romeo and Juliet" in 1595, and since then that play rarely has been absent long from the stage although sometimes the "naughty bits" were eliminated and the ending changed so the lovers lived. It has attracted famous actors throughout the years and has had' three different operatic interpretations, as well as a ballet and a movie, "West Side Story." The New Jersey Shakespeare Festival has chosen to open its season with a traditional Renaissance production of "Romeo and Juliet," richly costumed, well acted, and staged on an imaginative set that serves the play well. There is no obvious effort to make ring Montague and Capulet families. The street brawlers are dressed in la-ced-up boots, shirts that hang beneath their leather jackets, belts carrying weapons, earrings 400-year-old street-gang fashion with modern characteristics.

The actors move through the three-hour production mostly with ease, but rarely with inspiration. The famous balcony scene is neither stupendous nor routine. As Romeo, David Allen Case crafts his idealistic, naive character who sees nothing but the face of his love, Juliet. As the almost 14-year-old Juliet, Arija Barejkis looks the part and imbues her role with innocent conniving that allows her to get away with her secret marriage to a man she's known barely 24 hours. Part of the problem is the play as Shakespeare wrote it he has Tybalt kill the flamboyant Mercutio in the first act.

Romeo extracts revenge by murdering Tybalt which, in this production, is brutally done by beating Tybalt to death. For people not used to such violence, it is shocking but effective when it comes from the passive, love-sick Romeo. The love story then heads toward its tragic conclusion as the plot thickens, the weeping and wailing increases, and Juliet's parents plan to marry her to someone else. Lola Pashalinski as the Nurse to Juliet and Berton T. Schaeffer as Romeo's cousin Benvolio lend a good amount of comic relief and support to the leads.

John Curless as Friar Laurence delivers the role of the priest who gives Juliet the sleeping potion after his renegade action of secretly marrying the lovers and then plotting to whisk them away to safety. As in much of Shakespeare, knowing the ending does not take away from the enjoyment of watching the story of young, innocent love unfold. And for young audiences who have not attended previous interpretations, seeing a story they may personally be experiencing now as it was told 400 years ago may be a revelation. 5. 1 -4 it contemporary such as setting the story about two warring families in Northern Ireland (or Bosnia, or South Africa or, well, you get the idea) yet it has a modern feel.

Perhaps that is due more to today's society, where street brawls, dissolute youths, love among teen-agers and parents who haven't a clue about what their children are up to are daily news stories. Director Jimmy Bohr opens the play with a sword fight between the war irzrJS 5, II Hurry in today for the best selection! An ornate set adds to the performances of David Allen Case as Romeo and Arija Bareikis as Juliet. 'Loving's' Philip Brown knows about change ired at the age of 10? Impossible, you say. Not if you're Philip Brown Buck). By Lynda Hirsch An actor by the age of 7, Brown played Doris Day's son on the show named after her.

"Actually, I started the show at 7. By the time I was 10, 1 wasn't on the show very much. I asked my mom about it, and she said she wasn't sure why, so I decided to call Doris myself. Doris said she liked me but the show's format needed to change and she had decided it was better for her character not to have a son." Two years later, the "Doris Day Show" was canceled, so evidently the change in format did not do much for the show. Brown says that made him truly understand the business.

"When you're doing a show and I've done lots of them you become very close to the cast; They really are like a second family. But when the show is off the air, or your character is written out, you rarely see those people again." that hasn't made him wary of getting close to his cast mates. "One of the things I like about this business is ihe bond that you do form when you're on a show. It's like life nothing goes on forever. But I wouldn't want to give up the closeness you can have for fear of being sad upon losing iC i In the 1980s, Brown went to South Africa, where he did a string of movies.

"It was so strange to be in a country where people could not go into a restaurant because of their skin color. When I first went to South Africa, everything was separated. By my second year there, some restaurants and motion picture theaters were open to ev- eryone, but certainly, there was still a lot of separation. In the beginning, I justified my being there by saying, 'It's not my After two years, I came to realize that just by being there making money, I was part of the process. "I knew that if the United States and other countries placed sanctions against South Africa, what we've seen happen this year the end of apartheid would happen.

Sadly, it could have taken only five years instead of the time that it did. Now I would love to go back to see what the changes bring." Brown believes that countries, people and, yes, even soap opera change. Take Buck, for ample. "When Buck first came on the show, he seemed to be pure evil. Now, Buck really is a good guy or a guy who tries to be good and just makes the dumbest choices because of his past, his lack of belief in himself and his desire to get ahead." A veteran of nighttime shows such as "Knots Landing," Brown says his work oh soaps has really changed his acting style.

"The first time I walked on a soap set and realized, 'Hey, there are three cameras instead of one, and I don't get to do 100 takes (only two if I'm I thought, 'This is never going to Here we are, almost a year later, and it's working. So once again, my belief that anything can work if you stick to it has been proven true." CSC Starring The Duprees "You Belong To Me" Fred Parish and the 5 Satins "In The Still Of The Night" The Fabulous T-Birds Dance Contest Live Broadcast on Oldies 107 May 27th Showtime 8:00 pm I II 1111 1111 Ocean Place Hilton Call 918-0144 for Tickets and Information MpNMO'UTfc MEDICAL CENTER Community Health Education r-0 ncs DIABETES lcONTROL LECTURE SERIES Traveling Tips for People with Diabetes Monday, June 13, 1994 7:30 p.m: Free of Charge Presented by: Dr. Alvln Fried, Dlabetologlst Find out about how to travel around the state or around the world when you have diabetes. Topics Included will be adjusting your schedule for different time zones and how to obtain diabetes supplies while In a foreign country, as well as other planning tips to keep your diabetes well cor further Information and to prereglster call The Diabetes Treatment Center controlled while you are away. In'the Greenwall Conference Room at Monmouth Medical Center Long Branch, NJ MONMOUTH MEDICAL CENTER .100 iiCOND mNtH'lONG HUNCH, 0 77 40 870-5696 nitijl4rir''t.