What have we got going on here, you ask? It's Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing updated to London 1964 and involves a boy band that very closely (*wink wink*) resembles the Beatles. The Quartos - which in my opinion should be the name of the play - are cute, rebellious, young and horny. (what boy bands aren't?). Music by Billie Joe Armstrong and orchestrations by Tom Kitt are sure to please.
Don't get me wrong - it's super-smart - although I will admit I have never read Much Ado About Nothing - so much of it was lost on me. Meanwhile the music has an all-too-familiar sound to it and kept the toes-a-tapping'. The uber adorable and sexy boys of The Quartos - Ben (Justin Kirk), Claude (Bryan Fenkart), Balth (Lucas Papaelias), and Pedro (James Barry) - croon the night away and take you back a few decades to a more innocent time.
Sub plots develop around the love and revenge story - one might say a few too many however. Scotland Yard detectives investigating "What is wrong with the youth of our Country" provide some entertaining interludes following the boys - including the incredibly adorable multi-character actor Christopher Geary. The women who are the object of affection and scorn include Bea (Nicole Parker), Higgie (Arianna Venturi), and Ulcie (Keira Naughton).
Yes, I believe the characters have similar names to the play by the Bard and it's all wrapped in a hip backbeat that will make you smile despite the unnecessarily long tun time (please trim this up, Rolin Jones). A two hour runtime will likely be the sweetest spot you can find.
