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For Shakespeare's 450th Birthday, Here's An Unusual Tempest

An image from The Smith Center's production of Shakespeare's <em>The Tempest </em>in Las Vegas.
Geri Kodey
/
The Smith Center
An image from The Smith Center's production of Shakespeare's The Tempest in Las Vegas.

Shakespeare is 450 today! And after all these years, The Tempest is still so magical it can make Teller talk.

A new Las Vegas production of Shakespeare's final fantasy has a creative team as splendid as the show itself. It's co-directed by master magician Teller (the silent half of Penn and Teller) and playwright Aaron Posner (My Name is Asher Lev) with music by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan and movement by Pilobolus.

The production at the Smith Center for the Performing Arts follows the 2008 Macbeth Teller and Posner directed in Red Bank, N.J. and Washington — a production that, according to The New York Times, "oozes, drips and squirts forth a river of crimson horror."

This Tempest closes April 27 and then plays May 11-June 15 at the Smith Center's producing partner, the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Mass.

"You will not want to miss this piece of history past and present," wrote Robin Leach — yes, that Robin Leach — in the Las Vegas Sun. And if you need a refresher course on Teller's particular genius, check out this mesmerizing 2012 Esquire profile.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Mark Mobley

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.