England for Spring Break? Tomorrow's the Deadline to Go with Eureka College Theatre

There's still time to sign up for Eureka College's spring break theatre trip to England, but you'd better act quickly! You'll need to reserve a spot by tomorrow, October 31, and make a $250 deposit to take advantage of this travel opportunity. And if three more people get in before the deadline, the price for everybody drops significantly!

Yep -- they only need THREE more people to get a really nice group price.

Eureka students will visit London and Stratford-upon-Avon from March 8 to 14, 2014, and they're including lots of goodies in the tour package, including tickets to four shows, including London’s West End, Stratford, and fringe theatres; private workshops at the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Globe Theatre; behind-the-scenes tours at the National Theatre, Globe, Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford and the Victoria and Albert Museum; private tours of London’s historical theaters and sights in Stratford; roundtrip airfare from Peoria, six nights of hotel (including six mornings of breakfast), two group dinners, hop on/off tour tickets and London tube and bus passes.

You can find all the details here, including the price with and without the extra three people. You need a passport, a check for $250 to the Eureka College business office sometime tomorrow, and a desire to see some really wonderful sights. You can reach the business office by phone at 309-467-6305 if you want to talk about how to get that deposit in on time. And check out the Eureka College Theatre page on Facebook to see if they get to the magic number!

Happy Shakespeare's Birthday!

No, no one is sure which day exactly William Shakespeare was born. But April 23rd is the day that scholars have decided is the most likely, and celebrations happen around the world in honor of the playwright. And so today we mark the 448th anniversary of the birth of Shakespeare.

They've already done the parade and luncheon in Stratford-upon-Avon, and today the World Shakespeare Festival begins. Here's how they're describing the festivities:

"Produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company, in an unprecedented collaboration with leading UK and international arts organisations, and with Globe to Globe, a major international programme produced by Shakespeare’s Globe, it’s the biggest celebration of Shakespeare ever staged.

"Almost 60 partners are coming together to bring the Festival alive. Thousands of artists from around the world will take part in almost 70 productions, plus supporting events and exhibitions, right across the UK, including London, Stratford-upon-Avon, Newcastle/Gateshead, Birmingham, Wales and Scotland and online."

 

Closer to home, it's "Talk Like Shakespeare" Day in Chicago, with a proclamation from Mayor Rahm Emmanuel. You should totally click on that last link, if only to see the video of Chicago and Illinois-related folks like George Wendt, Dick Durbin, Renee Fleming, Ora Jones and Harry Groener talk like Shakespeare. There's also audio from the Q Brothers to teach you how to talk like Shakespeare with a hip hop twist.

Performances of lauded British actor Simon Callow's one-man Shakespeare show continue (in conjunction with Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, but performed at the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place) through April 29, plus Ian McDiarmid opens tomorrow in "Timon of Athens" back at the Courtyard Theatre at Chicago Shakes.

Our very own Illinois Shakespeare Festival is open for ticket sales, if you'd like to celebrate Shakespeare by getting your season tied down or making a donation now. They'll be performing "As You Like It," "Othello" and Sheridan's "The Rivals" this summer, opening with a preview of "Othello" on June 26. Ticket information is here.

If you'd like to celebrate Shakespeare in the cozy confines of your own home, I recommend popping in the "Shakespeare in Love" DVD, trying the Zeffirelli "Romeo and Juliet," the 1999 "Midsummer Night's Dream" with Kevin Kline as the most engaging Bottom ever, or the Kenneth Branagh "Much Ado About Nothing," with a luminous performance from Emma Thompson as Beatrice.

One last choice: Paul Collins' "The Book of William,"which follows the path of the First Folios, those much-coveted collections of 36 Shakespeare plays printed in 1624, after they began to be disseminated into the world. Collins tells a lively and compelling story of printers, collectors, museums, shipwrecks and thieves. Fascinating.