Corona Cold Reads: The Merchant of Venice

These are crazy times and we’ve all taken on a bunch of new projects as we socially isolate in order to help stop the spread of Covid-19.   We’re donating where we can, we’re cleaning the pantry, we’re organizing the 2300+ title dvd library. We’re still working on the Nominee Interview Series even though the live event for our yearly Critics’ Pick Awards had to be cancelled (we’ve still got winners to announce and, eventually, trophies to give out). We started the Corona Movie Club to help curb our boredom and constant need to talk about movies with other human beings. I’m even watching network procedurals and actually writing about them.   But what we all really need is comfort. We need our favourite things and our favourite people and right now those are hard to come by so we have to do everything we can to bring them together whenever possible. For me, there’s nothing quite so comforting and joyful as Shakespeare. Luckily, I know a lot of people who also love Shakespeare- a few old friends from my alma mater’s Shakespeare Society and a few of my favourite Toronto theatre artists, all of whom just so happen to be talented and generous and responsibly socially isolated enough to want to join a nearly 3-hour 19-person Zoom call for the purposes of livestreaming Shakespeare on YouTube.   Check out The Merchant of Venice in audio form below (or on iTunes) then tune into our YouTube page on Saturday and Tuesday nights at 7pm EST to catch our live readings.   A huge thank you to the cast of Merchant: Shylock- Michael Ross Albert Portia- Cass Van Wyck Antonio- Hilary Wirachowsky Salarino- Melissa Wright Salanio- Mark Kreder Bassanio- Timothy Ng Lorenzo- Laura Anne Harris Gratiano- Shalyn McFaul Nerissa- Laura Darby Servant/Singer/Balthazar/Stephano- Laura Hubbard Prince of Morocco- Mo Kamaly Launcelot- Christopher Prentice Old Gobbo- Torey Urquhart Leonardo- Stephanie Schnabel Clerk- Sam Chappell Jessica- Rebbekah Vega-Romero Prince of Arragon- Lauren Horejda Tubal/Salerio- Miriam B Duke- Anne van Leeuwen   CLICK HERE to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes so you don’t miss an episode.  The post Corona Cold Reads: <em>The Merchant of Venice</em> appeared first on My Entertainment World.