Brian Nemiroff was excited when he heard the New York State Theater Institute was going to perform Romeo and Juliet.
`What young boy doesn’t want to take a crack at Romeo?` asked Nemiroff, whose resume includes numerous theaterical productions, as well as several appearances on ABC’S `One Life to Live.`
Nemiroff will get his chance to play perhaps Shakespeare’s most famous leading man when `Romeo and Juliet` debuts at NYSTI on Saturday, March 13, at 8 p.m. But this version of the story has a distinctly modern flair; director Ron Holgate set it in present-day Iraq.
`It’s just to kind of make it contemporary,` Nemiroff said. `It is still very much Shakespeare’s script. It really still centers on the story.`
That story is a classic tale of forbidden love. Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet fall in love despite being from feuding families. Juliet’s parents, however, have promised her in marriage to someone else. She decides to stage her death so she can be with Romeo, but he does not know she is really still alive and winds up taking his own life. Distraught, Juliet then takes her life, too.
Nemiroff said Romeo’s actions in the play are `very childish, almost.` And while Nemiroff thinks he’d probably approach the situation differently himself, he strives to portray Romeo with the right blend of youth and immaturity.
`The emotional investment is the most challenging,` Nemiroff said. `He’s very sensitive, very emotional. A lot of actors can be uncomfortable being so vulnerable on stage. While it’s challenging, it’s rewarding.`
Starring opposite Nemiroff as Juliet is Kate Hettesheimer. A former NYSTI intern from Albany High School, Hettesheimer studied Shakespeare in college while attending school in London, and like Nemiroff, she was thrilled for the chance to perform `Romeo and Juliet` with NYSTI.
`It’s a dream role,` she said. `It’s a role all girls dream of, let alone actresses.`
To land that role, Hettesheimer spent several months rehearsing, not only immersing herself in Juliet’s emotions but in the lyrical way Shakespeare wrote. `I was learning the meter, the logistical side,` she said.
Holgate’s script preserves Shakespeare’s language; other than editing and exchanging some `wouldsts` and `thous` for more modern words, he kept the words the same.
`It’s definitely the same story at its heart,` Hettesheimer said, calling the Iraq setting `really kind of a backdrop.`
`I would say it makes it a little more accessible,` she said.
That was welcome news for guest artist Anthony CeFala, who plays Julia’s cousin Tybault. CeFala admitted he was never a huge fan of Shakespeare’s works.
`I don’t think it’s exciting enough,` he said. `I think ours hopefully won’t be lame like that.`
In fact, CeFala was surprised at just how active his role was. Describing Tybault as a `troublemaker,` CeFala said he gets in three fights before dying at the the end of the first act.
`It’s really kind of physical,` he said. `I’m glad, because I’m a dancer.`
He’d put his dancing skills to use as a cast member with the national tour of `Mamma Mia` for the last eight years. CeFala decided to leave the show in February to return to his home in New York City.
`It was time to sleep in my own bed,` he said.
But there’s something funny about living in the city, he said. `It’s great in theory,` he said, but he found himself looking for a break from the hustle and bustle.
That break came from NYSTI, where CeFala, like Hettesheimer, served as an intern while attending Mohonasen High School.
`I owe it all to NYSTI,` he said. `It’s the reason where I am today.`
He added that he hates to think of the theater losing its funding, as has been proposed in state budget negotiations. Hettesheimer echoed that sentiment.
`NYSTI gave me the means to explore all aspects of theater,` she said. `They’re a theater I love working for.`
While Nemeroff doesn’t have quite the history with NYSTI that Hettesheimer and CeFala do, he has high praise for the work being done on `Romeo and Juliet.`
`I’d run this play for months on end,` he said. `It’s never enough for me.`
Audiences, Nemeroff expects, will enjoy the show, too.
`This story is one of the greatest stories ever written,` he said. `It’s that simple. It’s a sad story, but it’s not like a terrible downer. It’s vibrant. It’s so passionate and energetic. Even if you’ve seen it before, you’ll leave there feeling something.`
`Romeo and Juliet` will be performed at the Schacht Fine Arts Center at Russell Sage College in Troy on the following dates:
Saturday, March 13, 8 p.m.
Sunday, March 14, 2 p.m.
Friday, March 19, 8 p.m.
Saturday, March 20, 8 p.m.
Sunday, March 21, 2 p.m.
Weekdays: March 12, 16, 17, 18, 19, 23, 24 at 10 a.m.
Ticket prices are adults $20, senior citizens and students, $16; and children to age 12, $10.“