O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou, Private Romeo?

From a World War II Macbeth in an Alan Ladd trench coat to a drug-dealing Shylock in an all-black Merchant of Venice set in Harlem, Shakespeare has been boldly “opened up” before. (A rock ’n’ roll Hamlet, anyone?) But a gay Romeo and Juliet, both played by military school cadets on their way to West Point, is a new one on me. It’s Private Romeo, a brave, controversial, not always successful, but hugely adventurous and highly liberated movie that offers a fresh take on the Bard in the age of same-sex marriage. Like it or not, you will not go away yawning.

When most of the students at the McKinley Military Academy go away for four days on a supervised land navigation exercise, the eight cadets who remain behind with no officers or faculty on campus are ordered to follow their usual classwork, homework and physical fitness routines. But as the English lit class studying Romeo and Juliet falls under the spell of the most romantic love story ever written, the two classmates reading the leads begin to take the Bard too seriously and live their roles as star-crossed lovers for real. Utilizing the actual text in a scaled-down version of the play’s tumult, writer-director Alan Brown embellishes old-world romance with modern concepts like YouTube videos and indie-rock tunes to broaden a young audience’s exposure to Shakespeare and provide fans of all ages with a fresh new way of looking at an old classic.

Instead of Verona, you get the gym, mess hall and dorm rooms of a military campus. Instead of class wars and family feuds, young plebes worry about demerits and falling in love. Between reveille and taps, they shower and drill and horse around, giggling at the flowery dialogue while nervously trying to ignore the impact it is having on their lives. The poetic exchange between Mercutio and Romeo, touching and groping each other in their tight shorts—“‘You are a lover. Borrow Cupid’s wings and soar with them …’ / ‘I am too sore piercèd with his shaft / To soar … / Under love’s heavy burden do I sink’”—becomes a new homoerotic double entendre. Spotting another lonely cadet in gym shorts sipping a beer, Romeo swoons: “Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night!” It’s the cry of a boy on the verge of risking his popularity to come out of the closet. The director takes the same words Shakespeare wrote to convey a different kind of love story between men. Mercutio is now a jealous lover scorned. The death of Tybalt has been moved to a basketball court. Romeo’s lusty “What light through yonder window breaks?” is now addressed to the beam of a flashlight that lures him to Juliet’s dorm room after curfew. “Parting is such sweet sorrow” becomes a plaintive sigh between two horny guys whose kisses are interrupted by an impatient upperclassman before their passion is consummated. Every “prick” and “pump” has a hidden emphasis, as it did in Shakespeare’s day, when men played all of the women on stage.

If this is beginning to sound like a desperate overreach for the sake of shock value, I hasten to add that it is all performed with great taste and respect for the text. The big sex scene is a model of discretion. There was more nudity in the glossy Franco Zeffirelli version. But the acting, by a uniformly polished cast of terrific New York actors destined for huge things, is sincere enough to convince the most cynical skeptic. Seth Numrich, the marvelous young actor from the Lincoln Center production of War Horse, is a galvanizing Private Sam Singleton (a.k.a. Private Romeo), and Matt Doyle, as cadet Glenn Mangan, the hopelessly smitten lover who follows him to the altar, makes for a perfect pink-nippled, gooey-eyed Juliet. What Mr. Doyle does not do is sing with the same charm and precision that is on view in his acting. I am appalled the director ends it all with Juliet singing an out-of-tune pop-rock version of “You Made Me Love You” that reduces the final touching moments to unnecessary camp when none had gone before.

The entire supporting cast is flawless, especially Hale Appleman as a majestically duplicitous Mercutio (a.k.a. Private Josh Neff). The meticulous locations (SUNY Maritime College in the Bronx, a high school in Mineola and Sarah Lawrence College) lend an authenticity no soundstages could suggest. And I respect the way the cadets guide us into a world of tenderness without a trace of homophobia, opening the grace of Shakespeare’s poetry to other interpretations beyond the traditional one. Here, love is blind, as it is today among the young. Reshaping the narrative into a 90-minute narrative, the Capulet-Montague feud is no longer clear. Mercutio lives, and so do the lovers. Love is all, as it is in As You Like It and other Shakespearean plays that erode the barriers of gender identity. No contemporary film that promotes love instead of war should be overlooked. Private Romeo will undoubtedly be regarded by some as a curio, but it’s a sweet, sympathetic and surprising one, highly recommended to the adventurous spirit in an enlightened and changing world.

rreed@observer.com

PRIVATE ROMEO

Running Time 98 minutes

Written and Directed by Alan Brown

Starring Hale Appleman, Seth Numrich and Matt Doyle

3/4

In a statement released by the Human Rights Campaign, Clinton said:

Our nation's permanent mission is to form a ‘more perfect union’ - deepening the meaning of freedom, broadening the reach of opportunity, strengthening the bonds of community. That mission has inspired and empowered us to extend rights to people previously denied them. Every time we have done that, it has strengthened our nation. Now we should do it again, in New York, with marriage equality. For more than a century, our Statue of Liberty has welcomed all kinds of people from all over the world yearning to be free. In the 21st century, I believe New York's welcome must include marriage equality.

As with the videos from HRC, the message is positive, points no fingers at those who are opposing it, and paints the issue as an expansion of freedom.

Update: Chelsea Clinton will join activists at a phone bank inside 1199 SEIU headquarters, around 7 p.m. tonight, pushing for the cause. Tonight kicks off bi-weekly calling sessions, notes Liz Benjamin.

And as if all this weren't scary enough for homophobes, President Obama cited a letter from a special operations soldier who told Pentagon interviewers of a "gay guy" in his unit: "He's big, he's mean, he kills lots of bad guys." Kind of butch!

Here's the video:

The duo spoke as Gaga was headed up to Maine for a rally intended to push Maine's two undecided senators, Republicans Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, on the issue. The military policy is expected to come up for a vote tomorrow. Gillibrand has been lobbying hard for the issue since she was named to replace Hillary Clinton in early 2009.

According to Gillibrand's office, the senator thanked Gaga for advocating for the repeal of DADT and for leading an effort to get others to join the fight. The singer meanwhile told Gillibrand that she had signed her petition at www.repealdadt.com, and would encourage others to do the same.

And Gillibrand was on Good Day New York this morning talking about the issue.

[LAT]

"I see this as an extension, the next step of the civil rights movement," Mr. Lieberman told the Daily News.

That's good news for Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who has made her aggressive push for the repeal of D.A.D.T. a cornerstone of her commitment to gay rights groups--and one for which they've been quite appreciative.

"I commend Senator Lieberman for helping lead the charge to repeal a policy that weakens our nation both morally and militarily," Ms. Gillibrand said through a spokesperson. "There is tremendous momentum behind our cause. Opponents are on the wrong side of history. I will continue working with him and all my colleagues to pursue a legislative strategy to successfully repeal 'Don't ask, don't tell' as soon as possible."

How many votes will it take to repeal?

"We have to get 60 votes to repeal 'Don't ask, don't tell' or else it will remain in effect," Mr. Lieberman said earlier this month--in what might be a sign of the times.

But Senate Armed Services Chair Carl Levin wasn't having it. "Unless there is a provision inside the Defense Authorization bill, that goes to the floor, which would then require an amendment to strike it from the bill. In which case, the 60-vote rule would be turning the other way," Mr. Levin explained--meaning, in short, it would just take a simple majority.

"It is with great appreciation that I accept the higher wisdom of the chairman of the committee," Mr. Lieberman said.

Senators Chuck Schumer, who introduced McHugh, and Carl Levin, who chairs the committee, both said they look forward to a "swift" confirmation by the full Senate. It is entirely possible, sources in Washington say, for the confirmation vote to occur before the Senate adjourns on Aug. 7.

Once that happens, and McHugh officially resigns from Congress, David Paterson can call a special election to replace him.

It's unclear whether Paterson will opt to do so (I asked his press aides about it this morning but they haven't replied) or just wait until a general election. (Under election law, if a vacancy occurs before Sept. 20, it goes onto the general ballot on Nov. 3.) Either way, party chairs of the involved counties decide the candidates according to their own bylaws, since the period for circulating petitions has passed. There's also a weird scenario where the "normal" process can be followed, but David Paterson can call a special election anyway.

The hearing went smoothly for McHugh. At one point, he was asked by Senator Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat, for his thoughts on the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy. He didn't really take a position. Here's what he said:

It's a serious issue, and it's an issue that has not been before me as a member of Congress since 1993. The reality is, the president has made very clear—and I have not had a chance, I have not talked to he president directly, but I have talked to high officials in the administration—that I have no doubt that the president is going to press forward with his intent to change that policy. To whatever degree remains to be seen; I think he'd like a full repeal. It's also without question that Secretary Gates has begun the process of what he describes as softening that policy; whatever that may mean remains to be seen. My view as secretary of the Army, if confirmed, would be to do the most effective job I could garnering the military input and information that I think any secretary, and any president, would like as they go forward in finalizing a determination. That is what I described my envisioned role to the administration. They seemed content with that. But having said that, two other factors: Whatever the decision of the president and the secretary of defense it would be my responsibility, if confirmed, or any service secretary's responsibility, to do the best job he or she could to come before this committee, HASC [House Armed Services Committee], whichever other relevant committees may be afoot, to best describe and most effectively describe the reason, the rationale and the justification for whatever policy evolves. That's the responsibility of a service secretary as I see it under Title X, and at the end of the day, I think it's worth noting that this is a policy embedded in the law, and there will be no overturning of it without the agreement of the Congress—the House and Senate—and of course the president.

• The New York Times