Andy Orin, Margaret Wood
Mari Suzuki, Nikki Saucedo
IHUM 51: Transformations
3 December 2003
Origins of Romeo & Juliet
 First published in 1597
 Arthur Brooke first brought the story of Romeus
and Juliet to English (1562)
 Many plot points directly from Brooke
 Pyramus and Thisbe (Greek Mythology)
Transformations of Romeo & Juliet:
Music
Tchaikovsky’s
Romeo and Juliet
fantasy-overture
Source: inkpot.com/classical/people/ tchaikovsky.jpg
Tchaikovsky’s of Romeo & Juliet:
Introduction
 depicts Friar Lawrence
 Quiet chorale with
clarinets and bassoons
 Slow and calm
 Minor chords forebode
trouble
Audio CD
Windows Media Player
MusicMatch
Tchaikovsky’s of Romeo & Juliet:
The “Fight”
Feud between
Capulets and
Montagues
Represents clashing
swords
broken up, fast-moving
notes
Sharp accents
Source: www.celebhost.net/tonyrusso/pic4.jpg
Tchaikovsky’s of Romeo & Juliet:
Love Theme
 English horn and
violas commence
 Woodwinds and
strings in near unison
 Passionate, dark
color (D-flat major)
Source: www.theatrehistory.com/british/ romeoandjuliet.jpg
Tchaikovsky’s of Romeo & Juliet:
Finale
 Funeral march
 Recapitulation
 dissonance
 Prominent low notes
 Sharp finalizing notes
Source: www.augustaballet.org/Pages/ Photo%20History.html
Transformations of Romeo & Juliet:
Ballet
1811-Denmark, Romeo og Giulietta
1940-Russia, choreography by Lavrovsky
and music by Sergei Prokofiev
1979-Bolshoi, choreography by Yuri
Grigorovich and music by Sergei Prokofiev
Ballet as an artistic medium
use of pantomime and dance
enhancement of emotion -LOVE
choreographic motives
specific scenes
--introduction of Juliet
--balcony sequence
--death sequence
Transformations of Romeo & Juliet:
Film
 First released on
November 1, 1996
 Produced by Baz
Luhrmann
 Retains Shakespeare’s
original plot
 Some text has been cut,
but nothing has been
added (1/3 of the dialogue)
Luhrmann’s Version
 Is no longer a 15th century drama
 Transposed to modern day Verona Beach
 Downtown LA-style cityscape, a run-down, half-derelict
urban setting
 Maintains the divisions of Montague and Capulet (families
become corporations)
 Dialogue remains faithful to the text in many respects
(Elizabethan dialogue)
 Doublets and hoses now become retro-seventies costumes
(Romeo’s Hawaiian shirts, Tybalt’s leather pants, etc.)
 Instead of swords, characters, carry 9mm automatics
emblazoned with brand names such as “sword” or “rapier”
Luhrmann’s Version
 Montagues and Capulets ride around in low-rider gang cars
(gang-like appeal)
 Television used as major mode of communication
(Newscasters=Chorus)
 Giant skyscrapers
 Utilizes items that may have been rather risque for original
setting (Mercutio in drag)
 Drugs are a technicality (ecstasy pill)
 Clear distinction of race (Mercutio is black, Montagues are
Hispanic, Capulets are Caucasian
Luhrmann’s Version
 Rap music
 Religion plays an important role (Juliet’s statues,
Christ status in Verona Beach, Montague and
Capulet’s guns)
 May resemble an actual performance of a
Shakespeare play (camera angles)
 Modern day setting dilutes the tragedy
Transformations of Romeo & Juliet:
Painting
 Frederic Lord Leighton,1853-55
Sources
Tchaikovsky inkpot.com/classical/people/ tchaikovsky.jpg
“Parry” www.celebhost.net/tonyrusso/pic4.jpg
www.augustaballet.org/Pages/ Photo%20History.html
www.pittsburghsymphony.org/education/supplements/suppmaterials
www.andrews.edu/~mack/pnotes/oct1301.html
www.billingssymphony.org/notes/sept.html
www.barbwired.com/barbweb/programs/tchaikovsky_romeo.html
www.grantparkmusicfestival.com/program_03-06-18.html
www.cso.org/pye_program_notes_2004_week6.taf
www.theatrehistory.com/british/ romeoandjuliet.jpg
Bolshoi at the Bolshoi: Romeo and Juliet. Music by Sergei Prokofiev. Revised choreography by Yuri
Grigorovich. Featuring Irek Mukhamedov and Natalya Bessmertnova. Spectacor, 1989.
Center Stage. Written by Carol Heikkinen. Produced by Laurence Mark. Directed by Nicholas Hynter.
Columbia Pictures, 2000.
Howard, Camille Cole. The Staging of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet as a Ballet. San Francisco:
Mellen Research University Press, 1992.
Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1993.