Thanks to all who participated in the Shakespeare Quiz. The answers are:

Which Shakespeare play:

1. mentions America? The Comedy of Errors
2. contains a character who is a native Russian? The Winter's Tale
3. contains a group of men who disguise themselves as Russians? Love's Labour's Lost
4. has scenes set in The Garter Inn? The Merry Wives of Windsor
5. includes the Battle of Actium? Antony and Cleopatra
6. has a character who wishes he was a glove? Romeo and Juliet
7. has scenes set in a brothel in Mytilene? Pericles
8. includes an English King who sings on his deathbed? King John
9. includes two husbands who kill their wives on stage? Othello
10. has a heroine who is the only female character in the play? The Tempest

And the winners of Bill Bryson's Shakespeare, The World as Stage are:

1. Tory Talbot, Montclair, NJ
2. Nora Corrigan, Columbus, MS
3. Lea Luecking Frost, St. Louis, MO
4. Keith Jones, St. Paul, MN
5. Scott O’Neil, Bel Air, MD

Congratulations

The Shakespeare Contest

The publishers of Bill Bryson's national bestseller, Shakespeare, The World as Stage have donated five (5) copies of the book to the first 5 News on the Rialto readers who can correctly answer the following questions and email them to mike@lomonico.com.

Which Shakespeare play:

1. mentions America?


2. contains a character who is a native Russian?


3. contains a group of men who disguise themselves as Russians?


4. has scenes set in The Garter Inn?


5. includes the Battle of Actium?


6. has a character who wishes he was a glove?


7. has scenes set in a brothel in Mytilene?


8. includes an English King who sings on his deathbed?


9. includes two husbands who kill their wives on stage?


10. has a heroine who is the only female character in the play?

source: That is the Question: The Ultimate Shakespeare Quiz Book by Thomas Delise

Memorize Shakespeare Offers Actors New Way to Learn Lines - PR.com

Memorize Shakespeare Offers Actors New Way to Learn Lines

Memorize Shakespeare Offers Actors New Way to Learn Lines
Tailor-made audio drills cut down study time and increase recall. Actors at all levels can benefit from this new approach to memorization.
Toronto, Canada, January 17, 2009 --(PR.com)-- Memorize Shakespeare, a new Toronto-based company, has launched its flagship product for three of Shakespeare's most popular plays: Romeo & Juliet, Macbeth and As You Like It. The product, ScenePartner, helps actors learn their lines by listening to them, like learning a foreign language.

Shakespeare’s plays are the most frequently performed in the English language. Professional and amateur productions abound, especially in outdoor summer shows. Performance and study of Shakespeare is a foundation in most theatre schools. However, the difficult subject of memorizing the lines is often glossed over in the curriculum.

"The question I hear most often from first-time Shakespearean actors is, 'How do I memorize all these lines?,' The question isn't trivial," says Memorize Shakespeare founder David McCormick. "Teachers and directors typically answered vaguely: Read them over and over, Drill them... But this is time-consuming and often ineffective."

McCormick created ScenePartner to address this issue for actors. The actor downloads the ScenePartner for his or her desired character. Each “Partner” is an audio album of the lines for that part, which can be played on any digital music player. The lines are split into short segments, optimized for memory retention. At the conclusion of each segment, a bell sounds, and the performer repeats the segment, using the recording as a guide.

This method of rote memorization is not new. Language-learning programs have employed it for decades, and some actors routinely record their lines onto audio recording devices. ScenePartner was developed to save actors the time and trouble of making their own recordings. Inexperienced actors, or those unfamiliar with Shakespeare's more complicated passages also benefit from hearing the difficult language pronounced by an expert reader.

ScenePartner is especially effective because the speaking performer remembers the sound of the phrase instead of the image of the printed page. Busy actors can use the albums to learn their lines without a script in hand, even while commuting or jogging. ScenePartner also has benefits for actors with conditions that might make reading the lines difficult, such as sight impairments or dyslexia.

McCormick is quick to point out that "ScenePartner is not an audiobook or a recorded performance. The lines have been broken down for the quickest possible memorization. Our actors read the text with only the appropriate rhythm and punctuation, not with emotion. That way, the actor learning the lines will not be forced into a particular style or encouraged to mimic another actor."

Memorize Shakespeare plans to expand by three or four plays per year. The next products will be Hamlet and A Midsummer Night's Dream. For more information (and a sample), visit www.memorizeshakespeare.com.

About Memorize Shakespeare:

Founded in 2007 by Toronto entrepreneur David McCormick, Memorize Shakespeare aims to provide effective and affordable audio products to aid in the memorization of Shakespeare's plays for actors at all levels. For more information (and a sample), contact David McCormick or visit www.memorizeshakespeare.com.

Hollywood heads for inauguration - Entertainment News, Film News, Media - Variety

George Lucas is scheduled to accept an award at the Folger Shakespeare Library as part of the Bytes and Books Inaugural Ball, coordinated by the National Coalition for Technology in Education and Training.

“The nation’s leaders in technology and education will gather to celebrate the inauguration of President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and the new Congress at the Bytes & Books Inaugural Ball Jan. 20 at the Folger Shakespeare Library. The black-tie gala, coordinated by the National Coalition for Technology in Education and Training (NCTET), will welcome members of Congress, administration officials, education leaders, corporate leaders, media, education stakeholders and other dignitaries.

The Bytes & Books Inaugural Ball seeks to raise the profile of the important role technology plays in education. The hosts of the ball are committed to improving education through more efficient uses of technology in schools and to better prepare the next generation for work and life.

Four leaders will be honored with NCTET’s annual Community Builder Award. These honorees include U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, George Lucas, filmmaker and founder of The George Lucas Educational Foundation, Barbara Stein of the National Education Association, and William (Bill) R. Thomas, director of Educational Technology, Southern Regional Education Board.”

Sen. Kennedy has not confirmed that he is attending. But Lucas has confirmed.

 

Cate Blanchett unveils Shakespeare epic The War of the Roses | The Australian

Cate Blanchett unveils Shakespeare epic The War of the Roses

A storm of golden flakes shower down onto Cate Blanchett in the opening scene of The War of the Roses.

The Sydney Theatre Company's production spans 100 years English history by condensing eight of Shakespeare's history plays into an eight-hour epic.