“My bounty is as boundless as the sea,
My love as deep; the more I give to thee,
The more I have, for both are infinite.”
Shakespeare’s famous play was popular during his lifetime and is still
popular today. The play has been revised into many versions, including adaptions to opera, ballet, musicals and film.
Here are a few examples:
Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) wrote music to the
1935 ballet and originally included a happy ending!
Due to Soviet cultural circumstances he changed the ending to the
tragic, traditional one.
**Speaking of a non-traditional performance:
Watch ice skater Marina Anissina lift her dance partner
in a beautiful dance to excerpts from Prokofiev’s music
(To watch – click on YouTube):
The play is set in the beautiful city of Verona, Italy:
“There’s a place for us
Somewhere a place for us …”
“Somewhere” from “West Side Story”
Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim
Music: Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)
Although the 1957 musical “West Side Story” (and the 1961 film)
is set in New York City, it was inspired by the Verona story.
Enjoy a heart-melting performance by Julie Andrews:
“You and me, babe, how about it?”
“Romeo and Juliet”
Lyrics & Music: Mark Knopfler (“Dire Straits”)
The film “Romeo and Juliet” (1968) directed by Franco Zeffirelli is one
of the most popular adaptations of Shakespeare’s play. Its unforgettable music was composed by the famed Italian composer Nino Rota (1911-1979):
