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A Few Clouds 'All the world's a stage...'
Hofstra Shakespeare Festival opens on Feb. 18 with 'As You Like It'
On Stage
Shakespeare Festival
The arrival of Hofstra’s annual Shakespeare Festival means that winter’s end is in our sights. This year’s event features “As You Like It,” the glorious transcendent comedy of love and change. Set mostly in the Forest of Arden and featuring Rosalind, one of his greatest female heroines, Shakespeare explores the human and social condition, in which we all seek true love and make attempts to learn the roles that will help us most to succeed. When Rosalind seeks refuge after being wrongfully banished by her uncle, her unfortunate exile is transformed into a charming adventure when she encounters some of Shakespeare’s most beloved characters — colorful fools, witty rustics and the handsome, lovesick Orlando. A clandestine, gender-bending courtship ensues. As always, the main Shakespeare Festival play is accompanied the Festival Musicale, “Love Is Merely a Madness,” a concert by the Hofstra Collegium Musicum. There is also a companion play, “The Play’s the Thing,” a one-hour version of “Hamlet,” an excellent introduction to Shakespeare’s works, suitable for young theatergoers.
Thursday, Feb. 18, 7 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, Feb. 19-20, 8 p.m.; Sunday, Feb. 21, 2 p.m. $12, $10 seniors and students; with a special performance of “The Play’s the Thing,” Thursday, Feb. 25, 8 p.m. Hofstra University’s Black Box Theater, New Academic Building, Hempstead. (516) 463-6644 or www.hofstratickets.com.
Family Fun
Aladdin Jr.
Take a magic carpet ride to Arabia when Plaza Theatrical Productions presents their lively version of the beloved tale, based on the iconic animated film with the Academy Award-winning score by Alan Menken, Howard Ashman, and Tim Rice. Journey along with a peasant boy, a princess, the sultan’s greedy adviser, and the hilarious genie. Cheer on the street urchin Aladdin when he vies for the attention of the beautiful princess Jasmine, using the genie’s magic power to become a prince in order to marry her. Iago, Jafar, the genie, and all those beloved characters are here in this musical adventure filled with magic, mayhem, and the power of love.
Thursday through Saturday, Feb. 18-20, 11 a.m.; Sunday, Feb. 21, 12 p.m. $10. The Showplace at the Bellmore Movies, 222 Pettit Ave., Bellmore. (516) 599-6870 or www.plazatheatrical.com.
