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Theater review: With musical makeover, Shakespeare rocks
Jobsite Theater
Ami Sallee Corley (Talia), Stephen Ray (Perry) and the rest of the Jobsite Theater cast puts a punk-rock spin on Shakespeare's "Pericles."
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Published: August 4, 2009
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Imagine taking one of Shakespeare's worst plays, replacing his characters with modern-day Mafiosi and back dropping the whole affair with punk rock music. The result is "Pericles, Prince of Tyre," a violent story about incest and murder, morphing into "Pericles: A New Rock Musical."
Only the adventurous crew at Jobsite Theater could make this combination work.
"Pericles" — the new version — is Joe Popp's baby. The New York-based musician, filmmaker, actor and writer conceived the idea about 10 years ago, thinking the play would translate well into a rock musical. But it wasn't an easy project to produce.
"When I did 'Macbeth' with American Stage [Theatre Company] in '97," said Popp, "'Pericles' was brought up as an idea for Shakespeare in the Park. But nobody was going to touch a play with an incestuous theme for family entertainment."
Fast forward a decade, when Popp pitched his plan to the folks at Jobsite. A former Tampa resident, he had worked with them in the past — beginning with the 15-minute rock opera for "Y2K: Yearn to Know" — so another collaboration made sense. Once again, Jobsite liked his ideas, though not without some initial reservations.
"It sounded a little funky," admitted Shawn Paonessa, Jobsite vice chair and performer. "Neil [Gobioff] and I read a couple of synopses of the original play and then Joe's treatment. Joe's ideas applied, and put together made a really unique version that made sense and made it a lot of fun."
With Paonessa and Gobioff cobbling away at the text and Popp composing the eclectic music mix (think sounds of country, sea shanties, ballads, pop), "Pericles" evolved into a play-cum-rock concert that flies in the face of conventional musicals.
The original play — which scholars argue George Wilkins, a hack playwright, wrote and Shakespeare only contributed to — is an epic journey about a prince evolving into a king. Paonessa and Gobioff started with this basic structure and then massaged the material into a more cogent storyline.
"There are a couple of incidents where 'Pericles' has weird tangents and plot lines that disappear. It's not one of Shakespeare's stronger plays for a reason, because characters cease to exist. We tightened some things, which came from making it relevant. For someone who has never read the [original] play, they won't know what's missing," Paonessa said.
Pericles, Prince of Tyre is now Perry, Prince of Tires and a junior-ranked mobster in New York. King Antiochus emerges as a senator from Massachusetts. The daughter, a Mediterranean-princess-turned-Eastern-Seaboard-rich-girl, is molested by a father who can't stand the idea of another man touching her. Pericles journeys from Antioch to Tyre to Pentapolis to Tarsus, while Perry moves from Brooklyn to Coney Island to Cape Cod and back to Brooklyn. The title characters are subject to one trial after another. Death barks at the heels of both.
"Pericles: A New Rock Musical" is neither a true adaptation nor pure invention. But it is new. It's different. And it's sure to be a really cool production.
THEATER PREVIEW
Pericles: A New Rock Musical
WHEN: Aug. 6-23; 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, 4 p.m. Sunday
WHERE: Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Shimberg Playhouse, 1010 N. MacInnes Place, Tampa
HOW MUCH: $24.50; (813) 229-7827; www.tbpac.org
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