Musical Settings For Shakespeare: Shakespeare for Drinking

Musical Settings For Shakespeare: Shakespeare for Drinking

Free Admission but please support the venue by purchasing a drink or two.

Monday, January 5, 2026
9:00 pm - midnight

White Squirrel Bar
974 West Seventh St.
Saint Paul, MN 55102

Music played a crucial role in the original productions of Shakespeare’s plays. We know this because there are over 70 texts that are supposed to be sung. Unfortunately, most of the original music has been lost, but that also provides a chance for current composers to reset the text in a variety of styles, and that’s what we did.

Styles include the Great American Songbook, period correct (i.e., circa 1600), Western swing, glam rock, Scots-Irish folk music, parodies of radio ads from the 1940s, European art song, early 1950s R&B, New Orleans piano ballads, and several other genres, in other words, a little something for everyone.

We don’t know whether to describe this as cabaret on steroids or as something else. It’s not quite a variety show because we don’t have an act with the spinning plates, but you get the idea. Just the right music to accompany a night of drinking at the White Squirrel Bar.

Performers include:
Sarah Callahan
Sophie Caplin
Laura Lentz Landstad
Sarah Zuber
Ken Takata

(A lot) more details and examples can be found at https://kentakata.com.