Shylock (musical)

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Shylock is a musical based on Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice , adapted and composed by Ed Dixon debuted at the York Theatre in 1987 with Dixon in the title role. The performance garnered him a Drama Desk nomination for Best Actor in a Musical. The cast included Lisa Vroman, Charles Pistone, Dennis Parlato, Ann Brown and Joel Fredricks. Kathline Rubbico was musical director with sets and costumes by James Morgan and lighting by Marcia Madeira. Lloyd Battista was the director. According to Dixon, Shylock was an attempt to sympathetically explain the motivations of the eponymous character. [1]

<i>The Merchant of Venice</i> play by Shakespeare

The Merchant of Venice is a 16th-century play written by William Shakespeare in which a merchant in Venice (Antonio) must default on a large loan provided by a Jewish moneylender, Shylock. It is believed to have been written between 1596 and 1599. Though classified as a comedy in the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, the play is most remembered for its dramatic scenes, and it is best known for Shylock and the famous "Hath not a Jew eyes?" speech on humanity. Also notable is Portia's speech about "the quality of mercy". Critic Harold Bloom listed it among Shakespeare's great comedies.

Ed Dixon is an American character actor, playwright and composer.

York Theatre is an Off-Broadway theatre company based in East Midtown Manhattan, New York City. In its 48th year, York Theatre is dedicated to the production of new musicals and concert productions of forgotten musicals from the past. Each season consists of three or four mainstage productions, six or more concert presentations and dozens of developmental readings. It has had several transfers of its work to larger off-Broadway theatres and to Broadway. The company was awarded a special Drama Desk Award in 1996 to its artistic director Janet Hayes Walker and in 2006 for its "vital contributions to theater by developing and presenting new musicals".

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Antonio (<i>The Merchant of Venice</i>) character in The Merchant of Venice

Antonio is the title character in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. An influential, powerful and wealthy nobleman of Venice, he is a middle-aged man and a merchant by trade who has his financial interests tied up in overseas shipments when the play begins. He is kind, generous, honest and confident, and is loved and revered by all the Christians who know him. His willingness to die for Bassanio is a manifestation of his character. Antonio manifests anti-semitism by cursing and spitting at Shylock. He is a structural centre of the play.

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Shylock is an award-winning monologue in one 80-minute act written by Canadian playwright Mark Leiren-Young. It premiered at Bard on the Beach on August 5, 1996, where it was directed by John Juliani and starred popular Canadian radio host, David Berner. Its American debut was in 1998 at Philadelphia’s Walnut Street Theatre where it was directed by Deborah Block, starred William Leach and was “Barrymore Recommended.” It has since been produced at theatres, Shakespeare Festivals and Fringes throughout Canada and the US, was translated for a production in Denmark and has been staged twice by the original actor, Berner, in Venice.

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Shylock character in The Merchant of Venice

Shylock is a character in William Shakespeare's play The Merchant of Venice. A Venetian Jewish moneylender, Shylock is the play's principal antagonist. His defeat and conversion to Christianity form the climax of the story.

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<i>Shylock</i> (film) 1941 Indian Tamil-language film directed by Kinema Ramu and Serukalathur Sama

Shylock is a 1940 Indian Tamil-language film directed by Kinema Ramu and Serukalathur Sama and produced by Bharat Pictures. It is based on William Shakespeare's play The Merchant of Venice. The film stars Sama as the title character, T. V. Janakam as Portia, S. G. Kasi Iyer as Antonio, P. S. Sivaramalingam as the Duke and T. S. Santhanam as Bassanio. The film was a commercial failure, and no print of it has survived, making it a lost film.

Shylock is the principal antagonist of William Shakespeare's play The Merchant of Venice.

Jessica (<i>The Merchant of Venice</i>) character in The Merchant of Venice

Jessica is the daughter of Shylock, a Jewish moneylender, in William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. In the play, she elopes with Lorenzo, a pennyless Christian, and a chest of her father's money, eventually ending up in Portia and Bassanio's household. In the play's dramatic structure, Jessica is a minor but pivotal role. Her actions motivate Shylock's vengeful insistence on his "pound of flesh" from Antonio; her relationships with Lorenzo and Shylock serves as a mirror and contrast to Portia's with Bassanio and with her father; her conversion to Christianity is the end of Shylock's line's adherence to the Jewish faith.

References

  1. Rozett, Martha Tuck (1994). Talking back to Shakespeare. Newark: Univ. of Delaware Press [u.a.] p. 53. ISBN   0-87413-529-X.