Decided to drive over from Reno and see "Two Gentlemen of Verona".
Driving directions given by the website were difficult. Â The staff was not helpful or attentive and just watched us try to locate the box office instead of offering assistance.
The theater setting in Tahoe was incredible. Â You can hear the water crashing on the shore and smell the fresh air. Â The seats are well place for good viewing of the stage.
The actors in this particular show have a bit more growing to do in relation to delivery of good shakespeare prose.
I don't remember Two Gentlemen of Verona being a musical but they sang through the transitions and one of the ladies voices was horrible. Â This alone almost made me want to leave despite the great atmosphere.
Overall this was a great experience and I look forward to a different play with players that are a bit more experienced.
We had been annual attendees of the Shakespeare Festival at Sand Harbor for many years up until our last visit to Lake Tahoe four years ago. Â While the beauty of the venue cannot be surpassed, the performance was not only terrible our last visit, but unbearable. For the first time ever, we left at intermission.
When we planned our trip to Tahoe this summer, we decided to give the festival another try as we had guests coming up and we wanted to share with them the beauty of Sand Harbor and the unique setting of the event. We hoped it would make for a pleasant and unique evening for us all. We were initially disappointed NOT to see the minstrel pre-show that we had always enjoyed in years past, and had we known that the vocalists (I struggle to use that term) at the beginning were actually performers in the rest of the show, we would have left before the show started. Â I cannot believe that the casting director heard them "'sing" and hired them anyway - are they related to a large donor? Â They were loud, consistently off-key and sang with no musicality whatsoever. Â Pitifully painful to listen to!! Â We would have left at intermission once again, but my son liked the dog! Â I was also disappointed in the modern interpretation of the play - while I understand the festival's philosophy of making Shakespeare fit the times, I find it distasteful to listen to Shakespearean words spoken like they're being read from a cookbook. Â I think the "modernizing" has gone to such an extreme as to reduce the charm of Shakespeare, particularly his comedy, to a mediocre and boring presentation that removes all context from his work.
I am so sorry to have shared the suffering of this event with my four guests and even more regrettable it was to have paid over $200 for tickets. Â NEVER AGAIN! Â In the future, I will enjoy Sand Harbor from the Cove with the same food and ambiance, minus the torturous attempt at entertainment. Â GHASTLY! Your patrons should expect more! Shame on them if they didn't notice the difference!
I would ask for my money back, but the box office (at best) would likely offer me tickets to another show - don't think so. Â Zero stars for this experience; in fact, I'd like to take stars away from someone else's review.
PS Â The set blocked too much of the Lake view! Â At the very least, isn't that what we were there to enjoy?
The show was really cute! Â Of course the location is nothing short of spectacular. Â It's such a wonderful way to spend your evening in an otherwise sleepy town. Â I loved that they interspersed some singing with the traditional dialogue to keep things lively. Â Although as some others stated the quality of the singing could have been improved. Â
It gets CHILLY at night, be sure to wear pants and a warm sweater.
This is an AWESOME place to bring a picnic. Â They have tons of picnic tables set up, so it's super easy to bring your cooler and enjoy a pre show munch. Â Alternatively they did have some nice (if slightly overpriced) food options to buy there. Â I got a veggie plate with hummus and it was HUGE for about $10-$12. Â
The best seats are of course the ones closest to the stage. Â I think you can see them in the picture i posted. Â They are waaaaaay nicer then the other seats. Â They are wide, they recline, and they have comfy cushions as well as a drink holder. Â My advice would be to pack your own food in, and with the money you save, splurge on the better seats. Â
For the short people out there.... I'm 5'2" and I could see ok. Â I had to do a little bit of neck craning as the seats weren't staggered, but i could see fine with someone directly seated in front of me.
Picture this: packing a picnic and your own wine and sitting lakefront as the sun sets, watching a live Shakespeare performance with the lake glistening in the background. This is the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival and it's definitely worth visiting during your summer trip to Tahoe.
Even if you aren't a Shakespeare fan, the atmosphere makes this festival worth the visit. It's an outdoor amphitheater with a stage sitting against the backdrop of Lake Tahoe. As you watch the performance, you can look through the stage out onto the beautiful lake. You are allowed to either bring your own picnic with wine (no glass allowed) or you can purchase items at the concession area equipped with twinkle lights and picnic tables. When it cools down, cozy up in the blanket you brought and sip on hot chocolate from the concession stand. It's a perfect night of culture in the outdoors.
The Shakespeare Festival has done a wonderful job with the venue and they have real seats so you don't have to worry about sitting on sand or the grass. Seat prices range in price from $80 for the orchestra seating, $40 for second level (which is a great area) and $25 for general, first come first serve seating. I suggest the $25 seats if you can get there when gates open or $40 seating if you want a designated seat.
When I went, I saw Two Gentlemen of Verona. It's modern Shakespeare so the actor are wearing modern clothing and there's a modern twist. They also had music incorporated into the show which was a nice twist.
Note: bring a jacket and blanket. The performance will start while it's still light out and warmer but as the night goes on, it definitely cools down quickly.
This was our 3rd visit to the event. Â The changes to the venue made for an uncomfortable experience. Â They changed to cheap plastic lawn chairs that were bunched together on top of the fact that you had to do some earth work to get them close to level. Â I understand the economic reason (more chairs, more tix sold).
In addition, Shakespeare should not be musicals! Â My wife joked that it turned into a bad episode of GLEE. Â If you're going to hire singers, make sure they can at least harmonize!
Last comment...NO INFANTS!! Â If you can't afford a baby sitter, stay home (not to mention the breast feeding right in front of us...it would be amusing if it wasn't so pathetic!).
It's so relaxing watching Shakespeare by the lake with the sand in your toes and the nice scenery in the back. I think this is a great summer activity which everyone should try sometime. Performance was great! One thing which was not so good was the food. It was really too expensive. I got the cobb salad which was adequately priced but I would recommend eating before you come. I also wish this place wasn't so deep into the mountains because it scares me a little when I have to drive back in pitch darkness but I guess the state park is really the only place to have something like this.
I think I would want to come back again for this. It's a great experience being able to watch something in the outdoors.
I have seen quite a few different shows here over the years. Â I LOVE the venue. Â The scenery is fantastic. Â Just saw "Two Gentlmen.." the other night and it was great. Â THe staff is great and the set up now is pretty cool and you don't have to try and squeeze your blanket in next to everyone else.
Review Source:Opening Night 07/14/2012
There is no place in the world like this. Â Add a CLASS performance and caring staff. Â There is not enough good to say. Â The only negative is the bad bad public restroom facilities. Â I've attended several times in the last two years and it seems it just gets better and better. Â I know that there was a low point a couple years ago, but the knew artistic director has staged world class performances the last two years. Â This is not even mentioning the GREAT food and drink available at the venue. Â Just awesome. Â Take your friends.
Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival has resumed offering Shakespeare plays for its 2011 season...bought tickets for "Twelfth Night."
Update: The best acting I have seen at the festival to date, and the most polished and professional. Shakespeare came alive and the actors nailed their roles. The actors were all memorable and slowly ennunciated their dialogue making 17th century English clear and natural.
It was entertaining and paced well..
The actor who plays "Malvolio" stole the show, and that among a superb cast.
Don't miss this performance!
I absolutely and totally disagree with the three humorless reviewers who panned the LTHF production of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged). I went there tonight and saw the show and it was excellent. It was hilarious, the actors were excellent and the setting for the show up at the lake was top notch. I could not be more pleased with my experience and will definitely return. On a Sunday night, the place was nearly packed--just a few empty seats--and the audience was rolling with laughter all night long. And gave the performers numerous ovations as each segment concluded and a big and sustained round of applause at the end of their excellent performance. Definitely a great experience.
Look, I can understand that some folks might be put off if they went in expecting an actual Shakespeare play, which is not what this is. Its a spoof really, and the script (it is a real play--just not one by Shakespeare) allows for a great deal of improv and conversation with the audience. But what irks me is that it should have been obvious to anyone with a clue that this was NOT going to be an actual Shakespeare production and 5 seconds of internet research--typing in the title on google--would tell you what the play was and should allow folks to figure out if its their cup of tea. But instead, we have lazy folks who roll in and then complain about the play that was a perfect take on what this play was supposed to be! Ridiculous.
As for the venue itself, its outstanding. Your basically right on the water (contrary to what one reviewer said you can see the lake from your seats depending on where you sit) and its just amazingly tranquil and serene. Food prices weren't terrible for a theater production up at Lake Tahoe although cocktail prices were a tad stiff. Wine and beer prices not so much. But, you can bring your own stuff if you want, so that's a plus. Seats are super comfortable for an outdoor ampitheater, especially if you're in the VIP section where we were.
Overall  a five star experience. I can't wait to go back.
After attending this Shakespeare festival for many, many years as a group of three generations of ages ranging from 18 to 79, we all much expected this summer's performance to be as wonderful as the past. What an abysmal, ill-fated voyage this was!
We were intrigued, but ever hopeful of the upcoming abridged version of Shakespeare's 37 plays in a two hour time slot. The performance opened with a passable comedic partial rendition of Romeo and Juliet. The humor was light and the actors showed the true script of the play but the performance soon deteriorated into little boy fourth grade potty humor including not one (that would have been more than we needed) but numerous trips into the audience by the actors feigning vomiting into unsuspecting viewers' laps). It was all downhill from there! Some of the tragedies were played out in pathetic attempts at recreations of Saturday Night Live sketches (ala a Julia Child cooking episode) and others were rushed through or with numerous pauses to discuss in front of the audience how the particular script should be played out. Incredibly boring.
The COMEDIES: ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE! All 16 (or so they said) comedies were played out in a SINGLE story line and was very difficult to follow. As all of us are avid Shakespeare followers it was extremely disappointing to witness. Â Shakespeare's comedies are funny, these were not. Â At times, it was almost as if they were trying to bring this along the lines of Beach Blanket Babylon with their forays into the current political and screen satire, but failed miserably in this attempt. Â
At the end of the first half of the play they made a show of having gone through 36 of the 37 plays and suggested we could all gone home early. Oh, if only we had!  At that point, we were all ready to leave; but in loyalty to the Festival based on so many years of attendence, we stayed on.  Upon their continuation the rendition of Hamlet was so unbelievably off track that it was a complete mockery of his work; unfortunately, not a funny one, as was their purpose.  My family and I will admit that some of the mentions of other movies and non-Shakespearean scripts were funny at times, but the three actors took it so far that half the time, we lost track of what was supposed to be happening. Since Hamlet was the last of the 37 plays to be performed, and we had paid for a 2 hour show, the actors were doing anything to buy time, it seemed. These attempts included involuntary involvement by unsuspecting members of the audience, random chanting, and activities that would be much seen at a baseball game. (We have to give it to Dana, the audience member dragged up to play Ophelia; her screaming talent far surpassed any talent shown by the three buffoons on stage.) By the end, we were all so fed up with the  performance that two of our group members left early.
The new director must have thought he was saving the festival with his new budget and new approach, but it was completely abysmal. We were very very disappointed and would not have spent the time and money if we knew it would be like this. If you love Shakespeare you will HATE this.
We have come up with some Shakespearean names to describe our experience; granted we are not creative writers, just fans, so bear with us:
Much Ado About Less Than Nothing
A Really Bad Midsummer's Nightmare
Nothing for Something ($35 to be exact)
Three Idiots from Wherever they came from, please send them back
This Comedy Was an Error
As You Detest It
The Taming (no, we tried) of the Imbeciles
Alls Not Well That Ends Badly
Dumb for Dumber
Comedy's Labor Sunk in Sand Harbor
The Longest Night
The Summer's Flop
A Sand Harbor's Tragedy
Okay, we told you we weren't very creative, but that's our take on it!
Our experience at this festival in 2009 was extraordinary. Â We saw a world-class production of Much Ado About Nothing.
When we saw the whole 2010 season would be devoted to a send-up of Shakespeare, I thought it could be great! Â it would take care and creativity, but after '09, i thought this troupe could bring it off.
If you're thinking along these lines, save your time and money. Â This production could have been conceived, written, directed, and acted by a group of average to dim 8th graders. Â Clever juxtaposition of Shakespeare's lines? Â None. Â Instead, you get the most blatant forms of bathroom and sexual humor. Â Shakespeare was no prude, but these are not illuminations of his bawdiness. Â These are contemporary 8th grade. Â An appreciation of the comedies from a different angle? Â Forget it. Â All 16 are reduced to a single title, on the dubious grounds that they all have the same plot. Â And that's all you get.
The Tahoe Festival has a new artistic director this year, and the turmoil surrounding that must have been tremendous for them to risk their reputation on something this ill-conceived and odious. Â If the new man advocated this, he should be fired. Â Now. Â Not at the end of the season. Â It might be better to cancel the rest of the performances and reduce the risk of further damage to the company's reputation, than continue just in the hope of staving off the financial disaster. Â That might happen, anyway. Â This deserves no stars.
I have been going to the Shakespeare festival on and off for years, and I have to say this year was the FUNNIEST EVER! Â Plus, my boyfriend (for my birthday) treated me to the front row seats, and that was THE BEST! Â The chairs were so comfy and we had our own waitstaff! Â The mango mohito was so good, and the ribeye sandwich was THE BEST. Â We even got to hang out in a cabana, complete with overstuffed pillows. Â Seriously - the three new guys in the Festival are a complete riot!!!! Â We couldn't stop laughing!!!! Â We even walked away with a newfound appreciation of Shakespeare. Â Bravo!!!!!
Review Source:I came here twice last season, and sorry to say the show itself sucked. The acting and sets were like a highschool play and I guess what bugged me some was how they took a classical Shakespear play and "modernized" it to present day settings and contemporary locations in say Los Angeles on the beach. But that's just my opinion on that. The prices ain't cheap either. I will say the location is super nice and makes for a romantic date, so the play may not be the foremost on your mind. We were able to bring our own food in and pillows and blankets. Guy's, if you arrange this as a date for a girl, you will score major points and she'll think you are so romantic and sensitive. Bring some tasty things to eat...no KFC! Wine and cheese works. But if you are past the having to score points stage, save your money and go out to eat....the play is not worth it. Heck, park at one of the lookout points on the Lake and have the wine and cheese, hell, I even like KFC on occasion.
Review Source:AMAZING. This is a must do if you are remotely interested in Shakespeare. Take a look at some pictures on their website and you'll immediately understand that the setting is absolutely gorgeous. Being on the east shore of Lake Tahoe, you'll have a beautiful view of the sun setting as your play or music event unfolds.
I suggest taking a seat in the lower gallery, as it's pretty cheap and you'll have a more than decent view of the stage. Definitely take advantage of their BYOB policy; we brought a full cooler of dinner, snacks, and wine, and no one batted an eyelash. You'll pay a pretty penny for the food and libations here, so make sure to bring your own.
As for the quality of the play, I had no complaints. It didn't matter so much to me either, as I was more there to take in the unforgettable atmosphere and enjoy a picnic amidst Shakespearean banter. The cast did an entertaining pre-show skit with the crowd, and got everyone to sing happy birthday to some folks. Much Ado About Nothing is always pleasantly comical anyhow, so overall it was a great time.
Keep in mind that this is at State Harbor State Park off the 28, and NOT in Incline Village. Incline Village is where the community center is, and you'll find no stage there. And get there early if you want to grab a decent lawn seat in the lower or upper gallery.
Check it out, you shouldn't regret it. And if you have doubts, just bring a boatload of wine with you.
Love this. This is a must do if you are in the Lake Tahoe area. This was my second visit to the Lake Tahoe Shakespear Festival at Sand Harbor. You can order tickets online and have them waiting for you at will call. The surrounding area is absolutely beautiful an d breathtaking. Bring your own food and drink and sit back and relax. I love being able to sit there in comfortable chairs drinking a bottle of wine and watching the sunset. It gets a bit chilly at night, so bring a sweater. The performance does have a intermission. It gets really dark by the time the show has ended, so getting back and locating your car in the parking lot can be a bit tricky. Have patience when leaving the parking lot too as it gets congested. The staff members are really nice and willing to answer any questions you might have. I look forward to seeing more performances at Sand Harbor in the years to come.
Review Source:Not a huge Shakespeare fan, but I absolutely adore this festival.
A stage right on the beach with gorgeous Lake Tahoe as the backdrop and a lively fun performance. Â A truly memorable experience. Â
Some delicious food vendors, but you're welcome to bring your own food and drink as well (no hard coolers allowed though). Â Staff are all wonderful and seem to truly enjoy their jobs. Â
I look forward to this every year.
I feel sad to disagree with the other two reviewers, but I've seen better high school productions than the two I attended here.
The setting is Magnifico -- but that's a given because it's right on the lake. You don't actually see the lake once you're sitting within the outdoor ampitheater, but hearing the waves crashing against the shore in the background will make any play seem better than it is.
Even with that advantage, these productions suck.
They are expensive to attend at $70 a ticket for the lower balcony (best seats nearest the stage), and often must be booked far in advance if you want good seating.
Two years ago I saw an abysmal production of Romeo and Juliet. It was performed mainly by what seemed to be college summer stock rejects. With the exception of one actor, they were singularly terrible. The production was poorly staged, badly paced, and horribly directed compared to my small town high school production. And the actors were difficult to hear. The costumes looked like they were made by a junior high sewing class and I think the entire show had about 2 or 3 props. They didn't change the set on stage either. This added up to an extremely boring play.
Last year I went to see a Cuban-American original play that was put on in partnership with UNR. I had high hopes for this and it was better than R&J.....
However, the stage is so small, the acoustics are very bad, and a lot of the dialog was in Spanish making it difficult to follow. I liked most of the music, but the choregraphy was the definition of amateur.
Here's my plan. I'm going to wait a couple of years to see whether they get their act together. Until then, I'd rather go to the $15 productions at Reno's Baruka theater.
Sorry, but this festival is an extreme rip-off.
Try Ashland, Oregon's festival if you want to see Shakespeare and the contemporary classics done right.
Happens every Summer for a few months.
Went to a performance for Midsummer Night's Dream last August- how amazing!
The stage is set in a beach park, overlooking Lake Tahoe.
(Tahoe as the backdrop)
Audience sit on chairs dug into the sand; elevated "theater" style seating.
Food + Drinks (alcoholic too) Â available; but the variety isn't huge (bring your own food).
The performance starts at 6p and it's beautiful as the sun is setting
Gorgeous views, fun cast...it was almost magical
Will definitely go back; this is one of those things you have to do before you pop.
Had a great time again this year at a Midsummer Night's Dream.
All of the changes to this year's festival (new artistic director, new in-house team, new LTSF actors) have gotten a fair amount of press, relatively speaking. The new artistic director even made a comment here at the start of the season encouraging people to come back and see all the improvements (looks like her comment has been deleted).
Honestly, I didn't see that many changes, other than we didn't have to bring or rent our own chairs for Lower Gallery seating this year and the pre-show jugglers were gone. Not that I'm complaining -- the show was great this year, as it has been in the past.
The actors were all excellent, particularly those who played Titania, Hermia, Lysander, Helena and Demetrius. Although the set looked a little bare before the play, it's a wise choice to use the spectacular setting as a backdrop.
I'm not sure about the choice to represent the fairies as Native American ... it was conceived as a nod to the area's Washoe, but I don't know if making them supernatural fairies is a great way to do that. [Minor spoiler coming up] On a minor note, the smoke at the end was pretty intense in the audience (maybe because it was such a still night) -- not all that enjoyable for those of us who've had more than enough wildfire smoke this year and last. Â
Overall though, I highly recommend the LTSF; it is a uniquely wonderful experience.
From the way their website made this look, I was expecting a Shakespeare performance on the level of the Ashland, OR venue. Â This was not that.
This was more like my local university performing with its best theatre students. Â It was good, mind you, just not top-notch quality. Â
As other reviews have said, the backdrop of Tahoe is beautiful and that alone made this a great experience. Â Unfortunately, the lake is the ONLY scenery. Â The producers took absolutely no effort to create a set. Â Really, there isn't one. Â Just a platform with some steps at different levels.
The acting was quite good, but not excellent. Â The sound was good except one performer's mic was out for half the play. Â The venue was nice, although members of the audience and consession staff were always coming and going which was very distracting.
I paid about $80 for two tickets, and didn't quite get the value that I was expecting. Â I really can't see how the folks in the front row paid upwards of $100 a ticket.
Still, it was a fun evening and I would probably do it again just because it's a unique experience.
Just saw opening night of " A Midsummer Night's Dream" on Saturday July 12, 2008. We really enjoyed the show.  The play was well done, the venue is beautiful with Lake Tahoe as the backdrop.  We sat in the Lower Gallery which is beach chairs on a sand dune.  There is a 'shovel guy' who will even out the sand for your chair so you don't slide down the hill.  Luckily I brought my own guy  (my hubby)  to level out the sand for us and we were quite comfy.  I might  splurge for the Reserved seating next time. There are adirondack chairs on a level surface closest to the stage and the tickets include waitstaff for meals and drinks, nice!
We brought our own icechest w/food and wine but there is a nice variety of food in "Shakespeare's Kitchen" for reasonable prices. Â Also beverages like wine, beer, coffee and mixed drinks are available at the bar.
My biggest complaint...
Like most places-Not enough bathrooms! Â The intermission wasn't long enough to accomodate the ladies bathroom lines! Â Plus one toilet overflowed and flooded the floor--ick!
I also must mention the woman sitting behind us who had too much to drink. The last 30 minutes of the show involved her sleeping on the ground, Â vomiting and then passing out and snoring loudly! Â This isn't the fault of the venue but maybe this woman could have been escorted out as her "midsummer nights dream" was very distracting to the people around her.
The one star is for the setting - on the beach at Sand Harbor. Â Amazing.
But the show gets zero stars. Â That's right - zero. Â They take kitsch to a new (and very unpleasing) level. Â The first few times they set the car alarm on the horse, it was funny. Â The next twenty times they did it, it was annoying. Â The last hundred times they did it, you wish you had brought a rifle. Â And that's how this sorry show rolls. Â They keep pounding a not-so-funny horse until it's long dead and bloodied. Â Then they disembowel it and throw the innards to the audience.
Oh, and the show is a little homophobic too. Â Someone needs to go to acting school if they think you can make a character gay by making him sound like a shrieking southern woman and snapping his fingers every few seconds. Â C'mmon, are you playing to homophobes or idiots?
A great experience that breaks far away from the norm. Â The Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival runs through the summer and plays -- appropriately -- several works of Shakespeare in a beautiful outdoor amphitheater with the Lake as the backdrop. Â Tickets are expensive, on the weekends they run from $27 for "upper gallery" seating to somewhere in the $70's for "reserved seating". Â Reserved seating will snag you a seat in a chair, while the other sections require you to bring your own beach chairs and blankets. Â I personally enjoyed sitting in the Upper Gallery! Â Coolers and outside alcohol is welcome, so bring a cheese plate and a couple of bottles of wine, bundle up, sit back, and enjoy the play! Â Food is also available on site...crepes, sushi, tacos, a full bar and an espresso bar. Â The downsides are that there are LOTS of antsy people watching...people are constantly getting up and blocking your view, which is obnoxious. Â If you cant sit still for 2 hours at a time then DON'T COME!
Review Source:
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