Gonzo Vid Clip: U2 Goes Shakespeare

But seriously, folks: Fleetwood Macbeth? Much ADoobie Brothers About Nothing?!?

By Fred Mills

It's a dubious proposition, at best: the music of U2 incorporated into the works of Shakespeare. But hey, pompous bluster is timeless, nobody does pompous OR bluster better than Bono and Ol' Bill, right?

Ergo, As U2 Like It, which as you probably have heard hit the U.S. last week at the Falcoln Theatre in L.A. (Burbank, technically). Put on by the Troubadour Theater Company and directed by Matt Walker, the two-act, two-hour play started August 13 and runs through October 12. And it's not that novel an idea, to shoehorn U2 songs into As You Like It; the TTC has previously combined Shakespeare with popular music, with productions like  Fleetwood Macbeth and Much ADoobie Brothers About Nothing.

Whew - that smell? Pure cheese!

At any rate, Variety reviewed the production a few days ago favorably, saying it continues the TTC's "artistic winning streak, succeeding in conveying the gist of the Shakespeare source material amid a constant flurry of songs, quips and physical comedy in a highly entertaining show."

You can judge for yourself in this video clip from the play. Just hearing "Vertigo" in this kind of setting makes me feel all tingly, and... woops, that's my skin crawling. Okay, everybody shout out loud: "This is not a rebel sonnet! This is Hamlet Bloody Hamlet!"