Matthew Nathan

Ellen Anthony

Shakespeare Sem. 2 Final Paper

15 Dec 2020

Broadway’s All Shook Up VS Shakespeare

Does the story of a newcomer to a town, a woman dressing like a man, and relationships

that initallity don’t work but do in the end sound familiar to you? Maybe you are thinking of one

of the many Shakespeare plays that include these plots; or perhaps you are thinking of the 2005

musical All Shook Up. Although it is one of my personal favorites, All Shook Up did not take the

world by storm the way it was expected. Using the King of Pop, Elvis Presley’s, music mixed

with stunning arrangements, the cast album is absolutely gorgeous; however, the show was not

very successful on Broadway. Opening on March 24, 2005, the Joe DiPietro musical only ran

until September 25th of that same year; allowing it only 213 performances. I do have a hunch

that some audiences left the show fifteen years ago wondering “haven’t I seen this before? I

know it’s not the music, it’s the plot. I think I’ve seen this before!” That may be because the

musical is based on a few of the great William Shakespeare’s plays. The topsy turvy plot is very

reminiscent of Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It, and Much Ado

About Nothing. However, I will be mostly focusing on Twelfth Night, as these are where most of

the similarities lie. Much like many of Shakespeare's plays, this musical challenges gender

norms, individuality, and relationships. These three aspects fall hand in hand with the plays

mentioned above as well making them the perfect pieces to compare.

Around the same time I was in the show, my English class read Much Ado About Nothing. While

reading it I kept finding myself thinking about how much this reminds me of All Shook Up, and

after a little research, I found I was very much correct. It could be argued that love and

relationships are the largest points of both the musical, Much Ado About Nothing, and Twelfth

Night. If the plot of these shows all had to be summed up into the same word- I would define it

as chaos. The musical is about all these characters who are in love with one person, but tend to

be destined for another. Chad, the male lead, even sings a song titled “I Don’t Want To” with

lyrics like “I don’t trust the way you thrill me when I touch you” and “I don’t want to get tied

down to someone like you, I don’t want to love you, but I do.” That last line ties into Much Ado

very nicely. Think about Benedick and Beatrice; they are destined for each other but don’t see it

until their friends make them. That song is reminiscent of the line “A miracle! Here’s our own

hands against our hearts. Come, I will have thee, but, by this light, I take thee for pity.” in act

five. This is Benedick finally claiming love, even calling it a miracle. This is exactly what Chad

does to Ed (who is Natalie dressed like a man) toward the end of the show. Chad isn’t just

similar to Benedick though, Orsino in Twelfth Night struggles with himself because of his love

for Cesario. In this era, having relations with men was looked at as much worse than it is today.

The theme of using homosexuality as comedy is very common in Shakespeare plays and very

common in theatre still to this day. The musical we are looking at takes place in the 1950s. This

was a time full of hatred and prejudice against almost everyone who isn’t looked at as society’s

version of normal. Chad is afraid to mention his feelings because he doesn’t want to be laughed

at, meanwhile there is a whole subplot that discusses the idea of racism. This just shows the

ignorance of the main characters (both Chad and Orsino) who are afraid to act upon their
feelings because they don’t want to be looked at as anything other than normal. Meanwhile

characters Dean and Lorraine in this Elvis musical are being forbidden to be together because

they are different races. Other-ism is a theme that appears quite often in Shakespeare’s work.

Although this musical is not directly based on Othello or Titus Andronicus, there are even

similarities in them. Othello and Aaron are constantly mistreated for being black. It is looked at

as so wrong, that Aaron even goes to the extremes of murdering the nurse so no one is aware that

his child is Tamora’s. While Dean and Lorraine don’t commit any act like this, Dean is the

mayor’s son. This comes with having an image to portray, meaning he is not allowed to be with

anyone who is of color; a very normal thought in the 1950’s and in the Elizabethan Era. When

discussing the character Sandra in the musical, she is the sexy, sultry town woman. She is very

obviously supposed to be Olivia in Twelfth Night. She is in love with Ed just as Olivia is in love

with Cesario. Olivia is looked at as not having very deep emotions. She just loves anyone she

meets and isn’t very invested in these feelings. This is a stereotype that translates to the modern

day blonde, Sandra for example. Even though she reads- in fact she loves Shakespeare in the

show -because she is confident, sexy, and blonde she is looked with a negative connotation by

some people in the town. The musical does a nice job of translating that stereotype to a modern

era. It truly is so fascinating to compare characters to the ones they are based on because it is

shocking how much similarity they share.

Okay, it is clear that there is an elephant in the room that must be addressed: gender

identity. What even is considered gender? Why do Natalie and Viola turn to dressing up like a

man to fit into a new environment? Can it be considered progressive to have these characters

dress like men in order to “fit in,” or is it the opposite? Merriam-Webster defines gender as “the

behavioral, cultural, or psychological traits typically associated with one sex.” This definition
gives the implication that there are not just “two genders.” It brings up ones sex, which is not just

defined as the reproductive organs. It is defined by the traits that make you you. So why do men

get so much power in the world? It has always been so difficult for women to be seen as equal.

They didn’t even get the right to vote until 1920, much after the Elizabethan era and not that

much before the 1950s. Women have always had a tough time when being around men. This is

why they take on the identity of a man. They are seen much differently in their male counterparts

as opposed to just Viola or Natalie. So is this progressive or not? In some ways, no, because it

would have been very progressive to have them appear as themselves and command attention the

same way they do when dressed like a man. However in other ways, yes, it is progressive

because these women have taken the power into their own hands and are using intelligent tactics

to break that societal norm. I truly believe that the latter is more progressive. It shows women in

a different light and displays them as intelligent. Viola changed her gender to get a job and

Natalie changed her gender to impress the roustabout, Chad, and get his attention. These are very

witty tactics that not your everyday, run of the mill character would think to do. It displays a

strong mindset in these women, and I believe that is just what Shakespeare and DiPietro wanted

to showcase.

Act two scene seven of All Shook Up is quintessential Shakespeare. A confrontation

scene where all the twists, turns, and confusion finally play out. Each character is so specific to

who they are and run on to face their problems like a bull charging a crowd. The scene has

characters finally confessing their love to each other and this is where we find out that Ed is

really Natalie in disguise. Dennis and Sandra even fall in love over Shakespeare’s eighteenth

sonnet; a nice nod to The Bard that wrote the original piece. The events in this scene are chaotic

with characters constantly interrupting each other. Right before Natalie claims she is Ed, Dennis
runs on, then Dennis tries to tell Natalie he loves her, but Jim (a side character) runs on, and this

just continues until each character is more and more confused. Eventually everything blows up

and everyone is aware of everything. This scene is very similar to the climax of Twelfth Night,

act five scene one. An exchange between Orsino and Viola states: “Orsino: If this be so, as yet

the glass seems true, I shall have share in this most happy wrack. Boy, thou hast said to me a

thousand times thou never shouldst love a woman like to me. Viola: And all those

sayings will I overswear, and all those swearings keep as true in soul as doth that orbèd continent

the fire that severs day from night. Orsino: Give me thy hand, and let me see thee in thy

woman’s weeds.” This important exchange is the mirror scene in that of the musical. The two

characters confess their love for each other and can finally be happy. An interesting note, Orsino

calls Viola “boy” even though he knows her true identity. He then continues on to call her

Cesario later in the play. This is an interesting fact that maybe makes me think Orsino is in love

with him as opposed to Viola. While yes, they are the same person, they aren’t to Orsino as he

knows them as two separate people now. Could Orsino potentially be bi-sexual? In addition to

that, in the climax scene of the musical, Chad exclaims to the crowd “gosh, all of this love is

making me feel so warm and good and- and I just have to say that the person I am in love with is

Ed!” Then he learns it’s Natalie, and the first thing he says is “but I really liked Ed.” Could this

determine that Chad is bi-sexual too? There are a myriad of parallels that just continue to grow

more and more as both plays progress. The more I read each script, the more identical they seem.

These shows truly could be twins, just like Sebastian and Viola.

It is very clear that All Shook Up was based on a few Shakespeare plays; most

importantly Twelfth Night. Seeing all the similarities and how it compares to a new era makes me

wonder how other adaptations of this play compare. Is gender looked at the same way? Is bi-
sexuality subtly hinted at in the same way? Gender is something that is so discussed and

important in 2020, so seeing a character be able to play off that in a play from the Elizabeth Era

and in a musical that takes place in the 1950s is very special and very progressive. It only makes

me wonder what other theatre will be created and how progressive that will be. What is being

made today that is looked at as strange and will have a totally different light in many years? The

many relationships, the gender identity, and individuality really bring both shows to life, and

being able to compare them really opened my eyes to many new thoughts and I am excited to do

this with other Shakespeare plays.

Works Cited

Jones, Kenneth. “All Shook Up, the Musical, Gets Its Inspiration from Shakespeare and

Elvis.” Playbill, 6 Dec. 2004, www.playbill.com/article/all-shook-up-the-musical-gets-its-

inspiration-from-shakespeare-and-elvis-com-122910.

Shakespeare, William. Twelfth Night. Edited by Mowat, Barbra and Werstine, Paul. Print.

Dipietro, Joe. Presley, Elvis. All Shook Up. 2005.