A group of local arts organizations and individuals will commemorate the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death this weekend in Rockford with a program called “Shakespearience.”
Mendelssohn Performing Arts Center is presenting the program Saturday night at Rockford’s Court Street United Methodist Church. The Center’s Rulee Stallman led the effort to celebrate the Bard of Avon. She says she realized the anniversary was also a perfect opportunity to celebrate the range of local artists.
“What better way could we have community collaboration than with Shakespeare because he goes across all the performing arts: theater, music and dance, but also into the fine arts, and also into literature and English,” she says.
Performers from Rock Valley College, Rockford University, Rockford Dance Company and Mendelssohn Chorale will be part of "Shakespearience." So will various Rockford area professional performing artists in music, dance and theatre. The program will be wide-ranging, including jazz composer George Shearing’s choral arrangements of Shakespeare’s words, and dances from Leonard Bernstein’s take on “Romeo and Juliet,” “West Side Story.”
Deborah Mogford chairs the performing arts department at Rockford University. She says she wanted to do some things because they are so iconic, like the balcony scene from “Romeo and Juliet.” She also wanted to do pieces that offered opportunities to collaborate.
“’The Midsummer Night’s Dream’” came about mainly because Rockford Dance Company is going to be presenting a portion of the ballet. And I had been working with its choreographer. And we discussed what scenes we could take from ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ that would then lead into the dance portion,” she says.
Mike Webb leads the theater department at Rock Valley College. Webb says he’s excited to be a part of the event. And he says he and the others have spent a lot of time on it. He says the problem with a program like this, is how to deal with an embarrassment of riches.
“So it’s not, you know, 200 hours long, and a marathon. So that you just see pieces. But it’s kind of interesting how pieces that we started with have kind of morphed into other things,” he says
Webb says that’s come about as collaborations developed, and the planners and participants bounced ideas off each other. All told, about a hundred people will be part of the evening. Shakespeare himself - O.K., an actor portraying him - will be on hand to help tie it all together.
Stallman says she wants people to come away appreciating what Rockford has in the way of local arts. She also hopes to draw people who know very little of the playwright or his works, or the art he influenced. She herself grew up on a farm and didn’t learn much about Shakespeare as a kid.
“Some of these things are like, first time I heard some great music live, I just was blown away, because I had never heard anything like that. And I’m hoping that some people get caught up in this and see all of this and say, I’m inspired. I need to learn more,” she says.
Rockford Mayor Larry Morrissey has issued a proclamation declaring April 23 "Shakespearience Day." Stallman, Mogford and Webb say it’s not too much for someone whose work, after 400 years, still speaks to so many today.
