After seeing St. Louis Shakespeare Festival’s Romeo & Zooliet at the Saint Louis Zoo, I knew I had to get the word out about how fantastic it is, and encourage all of you to go see it. Regardless of whether you’re 6 or anywhere north of that, you’ll find a lot to love.
I met with Shakespeare Festival’s Producing Artistic Director Tom Ridgely, above, at Pass the Past Coffee on a very hot July morning to learn how this fantastic production came to be.
photo of Romeo & Juliet courtesy of Theo R. Weiling
The idea blossomed about 4 1/2 years ago when the Shakespeare Festival staff was planning renovations to Shakespeare Glen in Forest Park. During the process, they realized that if they went ahead with the renovations, the annual Shakespeare Festival could not take place in that location for a season.
Festival Producer Colin O’Brien suggested that “it be great if we had some little partnerships with park institutions so we could perform a week at the zoo, a week at the Art Museum, a week at the Science Center, etc. They approached all of them, and the zoo, under the leadership of Director Michael Macek, was the most enthusiastic. “No one’s ever done a full play at the zoo, ” Ridgely explained, “ten-minute kid shows yes, but not an original production.” Though plans for renovations to Shakespeare Glen were put on hold, the prospect of a collaboration was a real possibility.
The original plan was to stage The Lion King Jr., which the Zoo administration was excited about, but Ridgely learned that the rights were too restrictive. He was afraid that was the end of it, but the Zoo asked if there wasn’t another idea.
“That cracked the whole thing open,” Ridgely said. “I googled ‘Shakespeare Zoo’ and discovered Ian Lendler’s graphic novel The Stratford Zoo Midnight Review Presents Romeo & Juliet, illustrated by Zach Giallongo. When the novel arrived, Ridgley found it so cute and funny. “It’s such a smart adaptation that I knew kids would love it, and adults would love how smart it is.”
Playwright Jennifer Joan Thompson (Ridgely’s multi-talented wife) wrote the script, adapting the graphic novel and reincorporating many of the events and language from Shakespeare’s play. In the Zooliet version, the tension between the families is rather amusing, one family is omnivore, the other herbivore, and spoiler alert…no one dies.
photo courtesy of Theo R. Weiling
“When it came to costuming, we realized we couldn’t just put the actors in floppy ears. So we reached out to The Lion King’s Michael Curry Design. Curry was super excited about the prospect of doing original work again, since most of what he creates now is connected to movies—dinosaurs, Transformers, or to Las Vegas shows.”
Board Member Henry Warshaw said he’d like to help—he wanted the production to be as good as it could be, and he wanted Michael Curry to create the puppets. Warshaw, originally from New York, graduated from WashU, and like so many alumni remained in St. Louis. According to Ridgely, Warshaw had invested in Broadway shows and saw Romeo & Zooliet as having real commercial potential, traveling to other zoos and theaters around the country. “Without Warshaw’s investment, we would not have had these stunning puppets.”
Ridgely continued: “We’ve signed a contract with the Saint Louis Zoo for two years, so we’re envisioning a world where we could do this play again next July, another city in May and also in August, etc. We’ve already had interest expressed by other zoos and theaters, so it’s all very exciting.” 
photo courtesy of Phillip Hamer
What is about puppets that makes them so appealing? Ridgely explained: “Everyone has played with dolls, action figures, or hand puppets, and we used our imaginations to animate them. When we’re watching puppets on stage our minds instinctively fill in the gaps. The puppet is half-alive because it’s being manipulated by a human, but because of its shape and the way it moves, it has life-like qualities to it. It’s your imagination that basically engages your mind in a way that a human actor doesn’t. It’s almost a physical reaction.”
photo courtesy of Theo R. Weiling
After the puppets were completed in April, they were placed in 6 dozen shipping containers at Curry headquarters in Portland, Oregon and sent by truck to Shakespeare Festival’s offices in Midtown. Two of Curry’s people also came to St. Louis for a couple of days to work with the actors, making fitting adjustments and showing them how to operate the puppets. Ridgely said the actors, who are not experienced puppeteers, got familiar with using them right away, as Curry engineers them so they are very intuitive.
Initially, Ridgely, who is also the director, had the actors rehearse without the puppets, so they would have a chance to find their characters without having to focus on the technical parts of puppeteering. They worked with and without them over the 4 weeks of rehearsals and 1 week of previews and by July 9, they were ready for opening night.
photo courtesy of Theo R. Weiling
Auditions for Romeo & Zooliet took place last fall. Most of the cast are local actors, including Rikki Franklin (Juliet), above, who has performed in other St. Louis Shakespeare Festival productions. 
photo courtesy of Theo R. Weiling
The roles of Puff and Penny, above, are played by middle schoolers, Genevieve Mazzoni, Rian Amirikal Page and Sophia Stogsdill, above.
photo courtesy of Theo R. Weiling
Ryan Omar Stack (Paris), is originally from southern Illinois, performed Shakespeare in Denver, and is now back in the St. Louis area. Ridgely said that Paris was difficult to cast, as the crocodile is a bad guy, but appealing at the same time. “Stack is perfect.”
photo courtesy of Theo R. Weiling
Nisi Sturgis (Lady Capulet), is an Associate Professor of Acting at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champagne.
photo courtesy of Phillip Hamer
Ridgely said the audience response has been amazing. “It’s the grownups more than the kids laughing so hard, having a ball.”
Romeo & Zooliet at Saint Louis Zoo runs from Weds. through Suns. 7:30 until 8:45 p.m. through August 17. For tickets, visit the website.
P.S. The walk to the stage is up a little hill past the seal arena. If necessary, there are electric convenience vehicles that can be rented near the south entrance.
Following Romeo & Zooliet’s run at the Zoo, the 25th Anniversary of the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival continues with performances of A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream from Aug. 19 to Sept. 14 in public parks in Missouri and Illinois. Find the schedule here.
And Shakespeare in the Streets is scheduled for Sept. 26-28 at the House of Miles in East St. Louis, the boyhood home of Miles Davis. More info here.
At the end of our interview I asked Tom how he and Jennifer felt about living in the CWE—“It’s one of the great neighborhoods on earth! There are restaurants, coffee bars, shops, and we love running into people we know. We’re in Forest Park with our daughters at the Science Center, Art Museum, and right now, especially, the Saint Louis Zoo. It would be heaven if we could stay here forever.”
Coming soon: An interview with Romeo & Zooliet’s Olivia Scicolone, who plays the Nurse.