Pair bring Shakespeare to subway

NEW YORK, July 24 (UPI) -- A pair of University of Southern California students said they are spending their summer performing a scene from "Romeo and Juliet" on a New York subway train.

Drama students Peter Vack, 21, and Troian Bellisario, 22, said they board the No. 1 train outside of Vack's apartment on the Upper West Side of the city and ride the rail performing the famous balcony scene from William Shakespeare's masterpiece, the New York Post reported Thursday.

Vack said the subway train makes the perfect performance location because "you have a different captive audience every 30 seconds."

"We try to figure out what factors affect tips," Vack said, "but it's really random. Sometimes we've had cars burst into applause, but give you no money. Sometimes you'll get $10 on a silent car."

Tom Crouse, an acting teacher at New York's Lee Strasberg Theater and Film Institute, said he caught a performance while riding the train to the West Village with visiting relatives.

"Shakespeare would love this," Crouse speculated. "He created for the masses."