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American Shakespeare Center Troupe to Perform Romeo and Juliet at Embry-Riddle

Romeo and Juliet Daytona Beach, Feb. 1, 2010 -- Thanks to the generous sponsorship of the Office of Embry-Riddle President John P. Johnson, the University’s Spring 2010 Arts & Letters Series will be expanded by one event, a performance of Romeo and Juliet by the American Shakespeare Center (ASC).

Shakespeare’s classic tale of star-crossed lovers will be presented Wednesday, Feb. 17, at 7 p.m. in the Willie Miller Instructional Center auditorium on Embry-Riddle’s Daytona Beach campus, 600 S. Clyde Morris Blvd. Early arrivers can enjoy a catered reception in the building’s atrium from 6-7 p.m.

Tickets are available only in advance. The general public may purchase $5 tickets, cash only, at Embry-Riddle Cashier’s Office, Canaveral Hall, Room 104. Embry-Riddle ID cardholders can obtain free advance tickets from Embry-Riddle Humanities professors.

Despite the fatal swordplay, banishment, potions, and poisons for which Romeo and Juliet is known, the play also showcases dance, athleticism, and bawdy wit.

“The first half of Romeo and Juliet is probably the funniest first half of any play in Shakespeare’s canon,” says Jim Warren, ASC artistic director. “I believe this humor allows the somber second half of the play to resonate on a deeper level. As I often say about Shakespeare’s plays: it’s a drama, it’s a comedy, just like life.”

Since its founding in 1988, ASC (originally named Shenandoah Shakespeare Express) and its productions have received many accolades. The Boston Globe has stated, “This Shakespeare moves … we feel the inexorable sweep of the action, but the poetry has a chance to breathe, too. And how wonderful to hear actors speak Shakespeare naturally. It is poetry come alive.” The Wall Street Journal has praised “… the high quality of the ASC’s fast-moving productions, which are authentic (no sets, no scene breaks) but not antiquarian.”

For more information on Embry-Riddle’s Arts & Letters Series, call (386) 226-6668 or visit www.erau.edu/db/events/artsletters.html.

The American Shakespeare Center, located in Staunton, Va., recovers the joys and accessibility of Shakespeare’s theater, language, and humanity by exploring the English Renaissance stage and its practices through performance and education. The ASC’s Blackfriars Playhouse, the world’s only re-creation of Shakespeare’s indoor theater, is open year-round for productions. For more information, visit http://americanshakespearecenter.com.

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the world’s largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace, offers more than 30 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in its colleges of Arts and Sciences, Aviation, Business, and Engineering. Embry-Riddle educates students at residential campuses in Daytona Beach, Fla., and Prescott, Ariz., through the Worldwide Campus at more than 150 campus centers in the United States, Europe, Canada, and the Middle East, and through online learning. For more information, visit www.embryriddle.edu.