Producers add own touch to classic

When producer Gary Lamb suggested William Shakespeare's "Antony and Cleopatra" for this year's Nevada Shakespeare in the Park, he hadn't read it.

After seeing a London production of the tragedy, Lamb and co-producer William Reilly were disappointed. The production didn't live up to the lead actress' performance, and the duo was hit with the inspiration to improve it.

"There's so much you can do with the Egyptian and Roman time period with music and sets," Lamb said. "We thought we could add a lot (to it)."

Since early June, set, costume and lighting designers have been working on the visual aspect of the show. The actors are currently going through three 25-hour weeks of rehearsals. The extra time allows the actors to familiarize themselves with the script and get comfortable in their characters' skins, Lamb said.

The tragedy, which chronicles the ill-fated love of a Roman general and an Egyptian queen, had to be cut in order to keep the performance 130 minutes with an intermission. This involved combining and cutting characters -- from 32 to 17 -- and sticking to the heart of the story, Lamb said.

Produced and performed by Lamb and Reilly's La Petite Musicale of Los Angeles, "Antony and Cleopatra" will remain in Los Angeles until three days prior to opening when trucks will move into the performance site at the Foxridge Park in Henderson.

Once the play was decided, Judi Steele, Arts Council of Henderson president, opened the bidding process to local companies but came up dry.

"What we're most concerned with is not that it's from outside or inside the community," Steele said. "We only do this once a year, so we wanted to make sure we had a group who had done this before and who had a good track record."

Los Angeles' large pool of professional actors also gave Lamb and Reilly the chance to find the perfect cast.

McKenna King (Cleopatra) is an example of finding the perfect actor to play a role. Although she had never read for Lamb, he knew he had the queen from the moment she auditioned.

"She's been reading Shakespeare since she was 12 years old, and this role came really natural to her," Lamb said.

"A lot of times, as a director, you want to play it safe and use people you know. It's really a unique thing when unknowns come in and blow you away and become leads in your show. So, I'm looking forward to working with some great actors when rehearsals begin."

Though not as grand as last year's "Hamlet" stage, the stage will be split into three sections connected by bridges representing those used by the Romans to link countries and territories.

"They're playing with the idea that the grandness (this year) will be the talent," Steele said. "We have certainly demonstrated that this community appreciates the arts and likes the opportunity to participate in these events. That gives the company room to do a little experimentation."

With the box office success of the movie "Gladiator," it was an easy decision to present "Antony and Cleopatra" in the time period Shakespeare intended.

"We were trying to pick a show that we were comfortable leaving in the time it was set," Lamb said. "It seemed like a great bet in getting audiences."