46 The Queens Courier • buzz • april 7, 2016 for breaking news visit www.qns.com Shakespeare, Sherlock at Queens Theatre buzz Another creative, vibrant season continues at the Queens Theatre in Flushing Meadows/ Corona Park. The Titan Theatre Company’s version of William Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” and a gender bending look at detective Sherlock Holmes are regional favorites this spring. JULIUS CAESAR “Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war!” -William Shakespeare. By compressing five acts into a crisp 90-minute production, the Titan Theatre Company has created a taut psychological thriller. Their stylized version of Shakespeare’s masterpiece, “Julius Caesar” continues to draw full houses at the studio theater. In it, the untamed masses, conniving politicians and sinister warlords wear sunglasses, white shirts and ties. They transform an ancient story into an eerily modern cautionary tale. At Friday evening’s performance, the adaptation by director Jack Young paradoxically exposes both the tension and affection between assassins Cassius (Lenny Banovez) and Brutus (John Taylor Phillips). The brutal slaying of Caesar (Jonathan Smoots) triggers powerful soliloquies including Marc Antony’s (Brendan Marshall-Rashid) “Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears!” while Caesar himself declares earlier “Cowards die many times…the valiant but once…” Producer Kevin Beebee offers strong leading actors and outstanding support from Laura Frye, Michael Thatcher, Allison Plamondon, Phillip Ray Guevara, Lindsay Tanner, Jake Russo, Braden Spear, Brandon Grantz, Ian O’Boyle and Maggie Wetzel. For info on this and future productions, call the box office at 718-760-0064 or visit www.titantheatrecompany. com. As always, save me a seat on the aisle. THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES The game’s afoot, dear readers! There’s another twist at 221B Baker Street. Yes, Sherlock’s deductions are always elementary, but the famed detective is now a woman! Continuing Queens Theatre’s main stage excellence (along with Aquila Theatre), we witness a witty retelling of three popular stories from the A. Conan Doyle canon. The humor is very British, very dry and very enjoyable. The sleuth, though, is not the usual gender. Nor are most of the supporting players. Jackie Schram, complete with deerstalker cap and cape, unravels three complex mysteries. Her powers of observation are uncanny and her abilities with impossible cases are unmistakable. Her trusted biographer Dr. Watson (Peter Groom) is part caricature, part physical comic but still a loyal, generally competent companion. The supporting cast repeatedly changes characterizations for “The Adventure of the Copper Beeches,” “The Adventure of the Yellow Face” and “A Scandal in Bohemia.” All are gleaned from the 56 short stories that have thrilled readers for a century. Beautiful Kirsten Foster makes numerous costume changes and easily matches her castmates with her humor. Hemi Yeroham is hilarious with his vocal inflections while Michael Rivers is a master of physicality. Additional bows are well deserved for director Desiree Sanchez, costume designer Clare Amos and the entire creative team. Visit www.queenstheatre. org for more quality productions. As always, save me a seat on the aisle. Photo courtesy Titan Theatre Company Julius Caesar Photo Courtesy Queens Theatre Sherlock Holmes A VIEW FROM THE CLIFF BY CLIFF KASDEN Hey! Ho! Let’s go to the Queens Museum’s Ramones exhibit! BY THE QUEENS COURIER STAFF editorial@qns.com/@QueensCourier The greatest punk rock band ever to come out of Forest Hills will be celebrated at a special Queens Museum exhibit opening this weekend. Hey! Ho! Let’s Go: Ramones and the Birth of Punk,” is a retrospective of The Ramones born of the initiative of the new museum director Laura Raicovich to introduce programming focused on Queens. It opens with a gala reception this Sunday, April 10, from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Queens Museum, located in the New York City Pavilion in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. The Ramones were formed in 1974 in Forest Hills, and are often cited as the first band to define the punk rock sound. They were best known for their hits “Blitzkrieg Bop” and “Rockaway Beach,” a tribute to Queens’ beloved summer getaway. All four founding band members attended Forest Hills High School: Tommy (Thomas Erdelyi), Dee Dee (Douglas Colvin), Johnny (John Cummings) and Joey (Jeffrey Hyman) Ramone. Tommy Ramone, the last surviving member of the band, died at his home in Ridgewood in July 2014. The retrospect will feature 350 objects from the band’s archives, as well as of Arturo Vega, who designed the band’s logo; from artists like Shepard Fairey and Yoshitomo Nara; and from Mad magazine and Punk magazine, the New York Times reported. Organized in collaboration with Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, the exhibit will run through July 31. The Ramones retrospect will run concurrently with Queens International, a biannual exhibition, held since 2001, that showcases artists who live or work in Queens, and a show devoted to the writer and activist Rebecca Solnit.
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