FROM THE NEW YORK STEREOSCOPIC SOCIETY
posted by Joe Pedoto

Sometimes you love two insanely different things only to discover that together they make the perfect combo — think, peanut butter and chocolate. And that's how I hope things will turn out now that Mark Thomas from Elsinore Films has announced he'll be combining the musical with Shakespeare and — yes, I cannot believe it — 3-D.

With an intent to target the younger audiences that go crazy for High School Musical and Harry Potter, Thomas plans to adapt six of Shakespeare's plays into 3-D musicals, starting with none other than the classic "Hamlet" and moving on to other well-known works like "Macbeth," "Romeo and Juliet," and "Twelfth Night."

Frankly, the idea of a distraught Hamlet thrusting Yorick's skull into the faces of audience members amuses me to no end. But for those of you who remain a tad skeptical about bringing the words of a long-dead playwright to 3-D musical life, I'd like to remind you that — for all of their classic lines and lofty themes — Shakespeare's plays were about titillating the audience. Ghosts, swordfights, gender bending, were par for the course, and if anything the musical infusion will help liven up the extensive monologues that not every person can stand.

Thomas won't be starting from scratch though. Instead he'll be working off of the musical versions that Shakespeare 4 Kidz, a U.K. theater company, created. John Godber is set to direct, and in the meantime Elsinore Films will also be shooting a TV show to cast for the roles of Romeo and Juliet in one of the forthcoming adaptations. The title of the show? Movie Quest — A Romeo 4 Juliet.

See the original article on the New York Stereoscopic Website