Word: portias
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...bounded off the dark stage by an enraged mob shouting "Kill the Jew." The lights go up to reveal an exquisite set, half of which is an elaborate nightclub (owned by Shylock, the program says), complete with bar and black-and-white checkered dance floor. The other half is Portia's plush, art-deco apartment. When the Keezers-clad cast breezes in, singing a hearty rendition of "Happy Days are Here Again," we are firmly placed in the '20s, when, we are to assume, everybody wore tuxedos...
...most consistently entertaining parts of the play are the gossipy girl-talk scenes between Portia (Diane Paulus) and her, uh "nurse." Nerissa (Rebecca Clark)--their pouty cutdowns of Portia's suitors are hilarious, and Paulus' rendition of "My Heart Belongs to Daddy," is a cute touch within the context of the play. Paulus gives the most consistently impressive performance in the play even though she has a broken arm, in cast and sling...
...PLAY TRULY loses its '20s flavor and focus, however, when it comes time for Portia's suitors to compete for her hand in marriage: as the them song from. "The Dating Game" plays in the background, an emcee in a glittery silver suit and wide pink tie (David Angel) pulls a curtain to reveal three coffins, and welcomes a mob of cheering cast members to "Choose that Casket." Nerissa holds up an "Applause" sign. Here, the cast "deviates" from Shakespeare's script. After the emcee announces that the first contestant is the Prince of Morocco (Nestor Figueroa), he asks." Tell...
OTHER DETAILS are handled in equally open-eyed fashion. Carter Reardon as Cassius, the driving force behind the conspiracy to kill Caesar, looks properly "lean and hungry." More than in many productions of Shakespeare, thought is given to differentiating the subordinate female characters; Brutus's wife Portia (Crystal Miller) is tiny, delicate-looking, with a voice of steel, while the more ineffectual Calpurnia (Melinda McCrary) has a habit of turning back and forth to the various characters on stage, as if entreating them to listen to her. And when Caesar's ghost walks across the stage to warn Brutus...
...calculating power of an IBM Personal Computer. This provides the robot with an enormous potential for processing information, storing it in its memory and performing preprogrammed tasks. Some observers think Bushnell's entrepreneurial instincts are on target again. "Personal robots are the next hot thing in technology," predicts Portia Isaacson, president of the Texas-based research firm Future Computing. "By 1990 the market could reach $2 billion a year...