It is probably the greatest love story ever told. The classic Shakespeare tale of the Capulets and Montagues comes to life as The Atlanta Opera premieres Gounod's ROMÉO ET JULIETTE on Thursday, February 8 at 8 p.m., Saturday, February 10 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, February 11 at 3 p.m., setting the stage for the perfect Valentine's Day event.

If "all the world's a stage," as William Shakespeare put it in As You Like It, then it had better be well designed. The National Building Museum's newest exhibition, Reinventing the Globe: A Shakespearean Theater for the 21st Century, traces the longstanding fascination with the Globe theater, in which many of Shakespeare's plays premiered, and the numerous efforts to evoke the spirit of that structure in subsequent theater designs.

Shakespeare has been inspiring art and literature for more than 400 years and now the National Gallery of Art is presenting some of the sources that inspired him in a special installation of rare 16th- and early 17th-century books. Sources for Shakespeare's Plays: Selections from the National Gallery of Art Library, part of the citywide festival "Shakespeare in Washington," is on public view in the Gallery's Library, East Building, through April 17, 2007.

On Saturday, January 27 at 8:00 p.m. at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, acclaimed conductor Carlos Kalmar leads the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in an evening of music inspired by the great playwright William Shakespeare. This celebration of the Bard's work features Nicolai's spirited Overture to The Merry Wives of Windsor and Tchaikovsky's dramatic and deftly woven Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy.

The Shakespeare Theatre Company continues its Capital Weekend with the Classics hotel packages during the citywide Shakespeare In Washington festival conceived by Kennedy Center President Michael Kaiser and curated by Shakespeare Theatre Company Artistic Director Michael Kahn.

If "all the world's a stage," as William Shakespeare put it in As You Like It, then it had better be well designed. The National Building Museum's newest exhibition, Reinventing the Globe: A Shakespearean Theater for the 21st Century, traces the longstanding fascination with the Globe theater, in which many of Shakespeare's plays premiered, and the numerous efforts to evoke the spirit of that structure in subsequent theater designs.

Propeller, the country's only all-male Shakespeare company, return to Liverpool with an exciting new production of The Taming of The Shrew. Previously performed at the RSC as part of The Complete Works Festival, The Taming of The Shrew arrives at the Playhouse as part of an international tour.

Artistic director Mark Thomson leads the company into the new season with Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice - a controversial and politically charged drama that is surely as resonant for audiences today as was in the 16th century.

The Shakespeare Theatre Company continues its 2006-2007 season with William Shakespeare's Richard III. Directed by Shakespeare Theatre Company Artistic Director Michael Kahn, the production runs from January 16 to March 18, 2007. With Richard III, Shakespeare created a ruthless Machiavellian who seduces and slaughters his enemies and relatives as he struggles for the crown. For the production, Kahn directs Geraint Wyn Davies in the title role.

The ShakesPEERS Core Company performs a free, 60-minute version of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew for family, friends and neighbors at the Martin Luther King Memorial Library in Northwest D.C.

The Shakespeare Theatre Company introduces neos, a program for Washington-area undergraduates that will act as a platform for building new audiences through the implementation of student-friendly ticket offers and special events. Undergraduate students at all Washington-area colleges are invited to join the neos community. Neos will be notified about Student Preview Week offers, deeply discounted tickets and invitations to priority events via e-newsletters and on-campus postings.

The Shakespeare Theatre Company continues its 2006-2007 season with the world premiere of Thornton Wilder and Ken Ludwig 's adaptation of George Farquhar's The Beaux' Stratagem. Directed by Shakespeare Theatre Company Artistic Director Michael Kahn, the production runs from November 7 to December 31, 2006. The Beaux' Stratagem follows two recently impoverished gentlemen as they scheme to woo two women of status and fortune.