THE HYPE BARD AND THE BEAT THIS IS NOT YOUR HIGH SCHOOL LITERARY LESSON.Who says you can't blend the Bard and the Bee Gees? Or that Shakespeare and the swinging '60s or '70s can't be ideal bedfellows? Nobody would ever accuse members of the Los Angeles-based Troubadour troubadour One of a class of lyric poets and poet-musicians, often of knightly rank, that flourished from the 11th through the 13th century, chiefly in Provence and other regions of southern France, northern Spain, and northern Italy. Theatre Company of not admiring the works of William Shakespeare. Keeping the original text pure, however, is another matter, especially when there are some vintage tunes to be superimposed su·per·im·pose tr.v. su·per·im·posed, su·per·im·pos·ing, su·per·im·pos·es 1. To lay or place (something) on or over something else. 2. onto a classic story. The Troubadour's current offering, at the Falcon Theatre in Burbank, is ``A Midsummer Saturday Night's Fever Dream,'' a disco-ized version of Shakespeare's comedy. It follows last year's ``Twelfth Dog Night'' with music by Three Dog Night. Next summer, those crazy feuding Montagues and Capulets Montagues and Capulets also known as Dance of the Knights is a score composed by Sergei Prokofiev. It is from Act I, Scene 2 of the ballet Romeo and Juliet. will undoubtedly find a ``kiss on their list'' when Troubadour presents ``Romeo Hall and Juliet Oates.'' Future production possibilities (and be warned, this can get addicting) include: ``Much ABBA-do About Nothing,'' ``Oth-ELO,'' ``Two Gentle Men at Work of Verona.'' ``The music gives it buoyancy,'' says company artistic director Matthew Walker, a graduate of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College. ``During one performance of 'Twelfth Dog Night' last year, we got Chuck Negron from Three Dog Night to sit in with us. People's jaws started dropping.'' The musical fun and games "Fun and Games" is an episode of the original The Outer Limits television show. It first aired on 30 March, 1964, during the first season. Opening narration isn't the only gimmick of a Troubadour production. Company members, who are trained in the art of farce and commedia del arte, will do some pretty wild and crazy things to spice up an evening. ``You will never see the same show twice,'' Walker says. ``A Midsummer Saturday Night's Fever Dream'' plays through Jan. 28 at the Falcon, 4252 Riverside Drive in Burbank. Tickets are $15-$20. Call (818) 955-8101. - Evan Henerson QUOTABLE quot·a·ble adj. Suitable for or worthy of quoting: a quotable slogan; a quotable pundit. quot ``I would advise any actress to do a movie six months' pregnant. You get spoiled big time - I got back massages and foot massages and pots of tea.'' - Catherine Zeta-Jones, who received most of the attention from husband and ``Traffic'' co-star Michael Douglas < ON THE RADIO WHAT'S IN A NAME?:Glendale news-talker KIEV-AM (870) starts the New Year with a new name. The station has acquired the KRLA call letters after that station, at 1110 on the AM dial, changed its name to KSPN and its format to sports talk. The new KRLA boasts a conservative chat lineup that includes Hugh Hewitt, George Putnam, Dennis Prager and Michael Medved. - Fred Shuster NEWS OF THE WEIRDOS WITH A NICK-NACK PADDY-WACKY STUFF: Did the shape of Al Gore's podium really cost him the election? Or will a recently discovered cast of Bigfoot's buttocks buttocks /but·tocks/ (but´oks) the two fleshy prominences formed by the gluteal muscles on the lower part of the back. solve the Sasquatch mystery once and for all? The answers to these and seven other equally odd-but-true news stories appear in the ``Nine Nuttiest News Stories of 2000'' as reported by Wireless Flash News Service, a news agency that provides daily offbeat pop-culture items to more than 800 print and broadcast outlets. Nine Nuttiest Real News Stories of 2000 1. Shape of podium blamed for Al Gore's loss 2. Sneeze sneeze, involuntary violent expiration of air through the nose and mouth. It results from stimulation of the nervous system in the nose, causing sudden contraction of the muscles of expiration. enthusiasts find flu season sexy 3. Mouse clicking may trigger diarrhea 4. Alabama woman: `I was Dick Cheney's sex slave' 5. Cast of Bigfoot butt casts new light on Sasquatch 6. Man invents anti-E.T. abduction Abduction Balfour, David expecting inheritance, kidnapped by uncle. [Br. Lit.: Kidnapped] Bertram, Henry kidnapped at age five; taken from Scotland. [Br. Lit. hats 7. Bush's sheep: sheepish sheep·ish adj. 1. Embarrassed, as by consciousness of a fault: a sheepish grin. 2. Meek or stupid. sheep about moving to D.C. 8. Interest in wine enemas Enemas Definition An enema is the insertion of a solution into the rectum and lower intestine. Purpose Enemas may be given for the following purposes: Precautions overflowing 9. Mad hatter: musician makes roadkill road·kill n. 1. An animal or animals killed by being struck by a motor vehicle. 2. Slang One that has failed or been defeated and is no longer worthy of consideration: hats - Wireless Flash News Service CAPTION(S): 5 photos Photo: (1 -- 2) Beth Kennedy and Ben Livingston, above, and Rick Batalla, top left, star in the Troubadour Theatre Company production of ``A Midsummer Saturday Night's Fever Dream,'' a disco-ized version of Shakespeare's comedy, at the Falcon Theatre in Burbank. (3) no caption (Catherine Zeta-Jones) (4) GORE (5) BUSH |
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