{"id":18098,"date":"2025-07-27T11:25:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-27T18:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbccviking.com\/?p=18098"},"modified":"2025-09-09T15:06:40","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T22:06:40","slug":"opening-night-of-lbccs-much-ado-about-nothing-receives-enthusiastic-reactions-from-the-crowd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbccviking.com\/?p=18098","title":{"rendered":"Opening night of LBCC\u2019s \u201cMuch Ado About Nothing\u201d receives enthusiastic reactions from the crowd"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Quirky characters and overstated physical expressions in LBCC\u2019s production of Shakespeare\u2019s play \u201cMuch Ado About Nothing\u201d had the audience laughing out loud throughout the two-hour play on Thursday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was really wonderful to have an audience listening to the show tonight and reacting and responding and laughing. I think it gives the cast a lot of energy and it makes the whole evening a lot more fun. It\u2019s not complete until the audience arrives so it\u2019s great to have them here,\u201d said director Aubrey Saverino.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A unique aspect of LBCC\u2019s rendition of the play was its 1940s setting, which was most apparent through the female  characters\u2019 knee-length dresses, skirts and matching vintage pumps. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
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Actor Malaysia Springer, who plays the character Connie, wears 1940s-inspired apparel in LBCC’s production of the play “Much Ado About Nothing” at the dress rehearsal on July 22. The production debuted on July 24. (Paloma Maciel)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Actor Nancy Tran, who plays the character Beatrice, wears 1940s-inspired apparel in LBCC’s production of the play “Much Ado About Nothing” at the dress rehearsal on July 22. The production debuted on July 24. (Paloma Maciel)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Saverino was able to choose the 1940s time period because Shakespeare\u2019s script doesn\u2019t specify a time period for the play, only that it occurs after a war, which allowed  this rendition to take place after World War II.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The play began with the main male protagonists Benedick and Claudio arriving in their hometown after having fought in World War II.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The plot then split between the formation of two couples, one of them being Beatrice and Benedick. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their love story is complicated and unexpected as they don\u2019t like each other at first, and are both initially disillusioned towards love. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hero and Claudio on the other hand, instantly catch each other’s attention and rush to get married. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, everything takes a turn when the villains in the story, Don John and Borachio, orchestrate a plan to make it seem like Hero was unfaithful to Claudio before their wedding. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the most intense moments in the play was during the wedding when Claudio confronts Hero about her alleged infidelity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He expressed feeling betrayed by screaming at her, calling her impure, and even throwing her to the ground.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
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Actor Nancy Tran, left, playing the character Beatrice, holds onto actor Luna Navarro, right, who plays the character Hero in LBCC’s production of “Much Ado About Nothing” to protect her from Claudio, who rushes to scream at her during a dress rehearsal on July 22. In this scene, Claudio is infuriated at Hero during their wedding because Don John falsified that Hero had cheated on him the night before. (Paloma Maciel)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Actor Luna Navarro, who plays the character Hero in LBCC’s production of the play “Much Ado About Nothing”, is upset after Claudio accuses her of having cheated on him before their wedding during a dress rehearsal on July 22. The production debuted on July 24, and takes a 1940s approach to Shakespeare’s play. (Paloma Maciel)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hero, played by Luna Navarro, is confused and in complete distress, as her father and Claudio both don\u2019t believe in her innocence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alongside the comedy and dramatic elements, a choreographed dance scene towards the beginning of the play added energy to the performance as the cast suddenly broke out into a dance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In one moment, the cast gathered around in a circle and performed synchronized choreography.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Partnered flips and lifts, as well as upbeat jazzy music also enhanced the cheerful, spontaneous mood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout the performance, Benedick, played by Christopher Johnson, was a standout performance, adding humor to the play with his passionate, rambling monologues and silly poses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Actor Christopher Johnson, plays the character Benedick in LBCC’s production of “Much Ado About Nothing” and makes a silly pose during a dress rehearsal on July 22. The production debuted on July 24 and takes a 1940s approach to Shakespeare’s play. (Paloma Maciel)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI thought it was a really thoughtful and hilarious presentation of a great play. The acting was good, the whole concept of putting it in the 40s was cool,\u201d said Mark Levinstein, an audience member on opening night.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Actor Nicholas Rout-Vazquez, who played Claudio in the play, expressed how he felt about performing the play for the first time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Actor Nicholas Rout-Vazquez plays the character Claudio in LBCC’s production of “Much Ado About Nothing”, and falls to his knees during a dress rehearsal on July 22. The production debuted on July 24 and takes a 1940’s approach to Shakespeare’s play. (Paloma Maciel)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt felt really like a big weight off my chest I feel like, because it\u2019s a comedy and so you kind of are relying on the audience to laugh at certain points. This audience was great, they laughed at a bunch of stuff, and so I think it was relieving when I heard a laugh,\u201d said Rout-Vazquez. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last chance to watch LBCC\u2019s rendition of \u201cMuch Ado About Nothing\u201d is on July 27 at 2 p.m.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The performance will take place at the Bob and Barbara Ellis Auditorium, located in the J Building on the LAC Campus.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u200b\u200bTickets can be purchased online at www.lbcc.edu\/performingarts<\/a> under the section \u201cPurchase Tickets,\u201d or at the box office before each performance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

General Admission is $15, while student, senior, and staff tickets are $10. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students with current ASB stickers are free, but these tickets are only available in person at the box office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Quirky characters and overstated physical expressions in LBCC\u2019s production of Shakespeare\u2019s play \u201cMuch Ado About Nothing\u201d had the audience laughing out loud throughout the two-hour play on Thursday.  \u201cIt was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":172,"featured_media":18090,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6229],"tags":[1457,36,4553,74,29,1263,142,68,5818,5817,5820,1912,4470,150],"class_list":["post-18098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lifestyle","tag-comedy","tag-dance","tag-drama","tag-lac","tag-lbcc","tag-lifestyle","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-city-college","tag-maciel","tag-paloma","tag-paloma-maciel","tag-performance","tag-play","tag-shakespeare"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3Skgy-4HU","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lbccviking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Lifestyle_20250723_ShakespearePlay_PMaciel_3596.jpg?fit=2400%2C1472&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbccviking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbccviking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbccviking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbccviking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/172"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbccviking.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18098"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lbccviking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18098\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18146,"href":"https:\/\/lbccviking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18098\/revisions\/18146"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbccviking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbccviking.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbccviking.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbccviking.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}