By Massoud Saidpour Director, Performing Arts, Music, and Film From time to time, I’d like to draw your attention to something that I think is quite unique and special. I am talking about the U.S. premiere of the Romeo and Julia Koren (or Romeo and Juliet Choir). The company is in residence at the Royal Dramatic Theatre of Stockholm, Sweden — one of the world's truly great theatres. The legendary film and stage director Ingmar Bergman was the artistic director of this venerable theatre for many years and greatly praised the Romeo and Julia Koren for its theatrical productions. He even is said to have compared the company’s
Macbeth to his own, which is high praise. What I have found to be so unique about this company is its multi-talented performers who are trained singers, actors, and dancers. In gorgeous period costumes, the ensemble gives expression to a wide range of courtly and burlesque songs, reviving a European cultural tradition that offers audiences a fresh and exhilarating musical and theatrical experience. Their performance at the official opening of the 2009 Nobel Prize ceremony is a beautifully choreographed and masterly executed event that was gorgeously captured by Swedish television. You can view an excerpt below. If you are free on Wednesday, April 21, at 7:30 p.m., I hope you'll accept my invitation to bring a friend and join us for a great evening of theatrical revelry!
The performance is supported, in part, by a grant from the American-Scandinavian Foundation.