Review: "The Masque of Night" Proves One of The Bard's Most Well-Known Plays Is Not Past Its Dancing Days
The Masque of Night: A Romeo and Juliet Cabaret Music Direction by Flavio Gaete Directed by Janina Picard and Craig Bacon Presented by New Place Players at Casa Clara 218 East 25th Street, Manhattan, NYC March 8-10, 2024 Front left: Libby Lindsey and Maximilian Macdonald. Photo courtesy of Kampfire PR How to infuse the most well-known of well-known Shakespeare plays with new energy, making the age-old story of star-crossed lovers as fresh and captivating as it was when the audience first encountered it (probably in high school)? The New Place Players’ The M asque of Night , a cabaret of songs (some Elizabethan, mostly contemporary) interspersed with Romeo and Juliet’s most iconic set-pieces, does just that. Running a little over an hour, the production draws on its multi-talented cast to deliver some of the play’s titular characters’ most memorable lines as well as sing, dance, and play instruments. Maximilian Macdonald’s Romeo was the star of the show, embodying the youth...