Shakespeare in the Park announces season...

Summer is just around the bend! Well not really, but we do have a lot to look forward to with the new Shakespeare in the Park season being announced yesterday! The Public Theatre's 2010 season will feature the Merchant of Venice and A Winter's Tale and will run from June 9 to August 1st. The shows will run in rep which hasn't happened since 1991. It will be exciting to see the same cast perform two different shows on alternating nights! The headliner of the season is Al Pacino (age, 69) who will only appear in Merchant of Venice as Shylock. The other cast members will appear in both productions. They include: Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Jesse L. Martin, Lily Rabe, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, and Max Wright. The shows will be directed by: Daniel Sullivan (Merchant) and Michael Greif (Winter's).

Of course if you want a sneak peek at Al Pacino as Shylock, all you have to do is Netflix the film 2004 film version of Merchant of Venice co-starring Jeremy Irons. It's entertaining enough... but it will be much better to see it live on stage...