THE IDES OF MARCH - JULIUS CAESAR OF TOOBSTAGE

"How many ages hence
Shall this our lofty scene be acted o’er,
In states unborn and accents yet unknown!"
Cassius
"JULIUS CAESAR"

CHARLES GRAY

"JULIUS CAESAR"

Today is March 15th, known as the Ides of March, the date on which Roman Emperor Julius Caesar was assassinated. 

Julius Caesar has been portrayed many times on television, going all the way back to 1938!  And with so many recastaways of Caesar, there are enough to go around the many alternate dimensions of Toobworld.  (Enough to keep this theme going in March 15 posts for years to come!  That's if I live long enough to complete them!)

For this year, I thought I'd focus on an alternate TV dimension which doesn't get enough attention from Toobworld Central: "ToobStage".

("ToobStage" may be a clumsily coined word, but it sounds like "Tube Steak" and that makes me giggle.)

ToobStage is the TV dimension in which theatrical plays are dramatized - over and over again.  It is a static universe unlike the other Toobworlds in that the characters do not have lives beyond what is seen on the screen.  Instead, their lives are replayed over and over again with the only changes being in the appearance of the characters (due to recasting) and the "look of the land" (due to changes in scenery design).

With the characters being recastaways, ToobStage resembles Skitlandia in that respect.  (And speaking of today's featured character, Julius Caesar has gone through several facial changes in Skitlandia as well, from Tommy Cooper to Larry Storch.)  At one point, Julius Caesar was even a woman!

There are times when the life of Julius Caesar in ToobStage is influenced by neighboring Toobworld, those which have seen their Earths dominated by different nations like Germany or Italy.  There was even a production of Shakespeare's play which could be considered part of Black Toobworld as well since it took place in Africa.

Then there are times, especially in the case of Julius Caesar, where it appears that Sweet the Musical Demon has come a-calling.  This is due to the TV productions of Shakespeare's play which have been turned into operas.  (One of these productions has that "Julia Caesar" mentioned earlier.  And I use "Julia Caesar" as a joke.  Although played by a woman, the role was played as a male.)

These could be spun off into individual Borderlands, but I think it best to keep all the theatrical productions in ToobStage since it's expected that each rerun of any particular period in that dimension's history would  be totally remade for the next incarnation.

For Julius Caesar, there were three periods in ToobStage history which are replayed over and over again.  These are thanks to three different plays:

• "Androcles And The Lion" by Shaw
• "Caesar And Cleopatra" by George Bernard Shaw
• "Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare

I've put them in that order as I think that's how they would play out in Caesar's life.  (Some of them were heavily edited down to fit the anthology TV series time-slots.  Those series will be mentioned.)

Here are the made for TV productions of those plays:

"ANDROCLES AND THE LION"

NOEL COWARD

• Played by Michael Martin Harvey (from 1938!)
• Played by Ernest Thesiger
• Played by Raymond Lovell
• Played by Noel Coward (Musical)

"CAESAR AND CLEOPATRA"

SIR ALEC GUINNESS

• "Producers' Showcase" Played by Cedric Hardwicke
• "General Electric Theater" Played by Maurice Evans
• Played by Paul Verhoeven (German)
• Played by O.E. Hasse (German)
• Played by Alec Guinness 
• Played by Jeffrey Gall (Opera)
• Played by Flavio Oliver (Opera)
• Played by David Daniels (Opera)

"JULIUS CAESAR"

JEFFREY KISSOOM

THEODORE BIKEL

JANET BAKER

• Played by Ernest Milton (1938!)
• Played by George Bliss
• "BBC Sunday-Night Theatre" Played by Walter Hudd
• "Studio One in Hollywood" Played by William Post Jr. (twice in 1949) & Theodore Bikel (1955)
• Played by Budd Knapp
• "BBC Play of the Month" Played by Maurice Denham
• Played by Erich Schellow (German)
• Played by Charles Gray 
• Played by Janet Baker (Opera)
• Played by Andreas Scholl (Opera)
• Played by Jeffery Kissoon (Might also be found in Black Toobworld)

As I stated earlier, there are plenty of other Toobworlds in which Julius Caesar appears but I'll save each of them for future postings.....

Hail Caesar!