Any hubbub over the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival certainly can be considered much ado about something. With an impressive lineup of Shakespearean drama and veteran actors, it is no wonder many Reno residents make the pilgrimage to Tahoe each summer to revel in the evening splendor of Shakespeare on the lake. Held at Sand Harbor State Park in Incline Village, the almost-30-year-old festival runs this summer from July 14 through Aug. 21.

The lineup includes the suspense thriller Macbeth and The Comedy of Errors, Shakespeare’s shortest play, which also was his breakout hit. The festivities also include the D.G. Menchetti Young Shakespeare Performances, where the Tempest will be performed as an educational outreach at locations throughout Reno, Sparks, and Lake Tahoe. There also will be a Shakespeare acting camp for kids and teens held during the day at Sand Harbor.

One prodigy who got his big break at last year’s acting camp is 9-year-old Truckee resident Calvin Brady.

“I do want to be an actor,” Calvin says. “I like it ‘cause it’s really fun to act — and I like to sing.”

It is obvious that he takes his summer “job” seriously. At press time, with practice not starting for another month, Calvin had already memorized his lines.

This youth is the only local to grace the main stage this summer — the other actors come from far and wide to bring their talents to Tahoe. Here is a look at some of the main players and why they love coming to Tahoe in the summer.

• Scott Gilbert is the new artistic director of Foothill Theatre, the Nevada City, Calif., -based company that has been bringing Shakespeare to Tahoe for the last nine years. Besides acting, building sets, and directing actors in the group’s year-round schedule, this Oregonian’s specialty is choreographing fight scenes.

“I am part of the Society of American Fight Directors,” he says. “We try to promote safe and good stage combat.”

Still, the occasional slip-up does occur.

“I’ve seen a couple of bad accidents,” he shares. “I had a blunted steel dagger go under my lip into my gum once.”

“It moves from the sublime to the ridiculous,” she says. “There will be no problem keeping those characters straight.”

The Santa Monica resident originally is from Australia, where she acted on a TV series. Being part of the festival for the last five years (she directed last year’s As You Like It), Dines relishes her time in Tahoe.

“The very first year I was up there I laid eyes on the lake and said ‘wow,’ and I keep just saying ‘wow’ every year I come back,” she says. “We all love to play and frolic on the lake, exploring the beaches and places to swim.”

• Actor Gary Wright is a Foothill Theatre company member, acting year-round at productions in Nevada City. He also is the literary manager for the group, soliciting and reading scripts from playwrights all over the country during the year. In the summer, he enjoys coming to Tahoe because the hard-working actors also get some time to play.

“The rehearsal period is pretty intense, but once we open, the actors often go parasailing, waterskiing, or fishing,” he says. “It’s a pretty pleasant gig.”

• Allie Gilbert was practicing with her onboard GPS system for her drive to Tahoe from Louisiana while being interviewed for this article. The wardrobe crew veteran has worked on costumes for the festival for three summers, traveling nearly 5,000 miles each time to do so.

“I love the lake because it’s much milder than south Louisiana — there, it’s like we’re in a steam bath all summer long,” she says.

• A former freelance actor out of Sacramento, Karyn Casl today is a full-time actor and casting director with the Foothill Theatre group.

With a hectic schedule of performing and coordinating all the company’s auditions, she says the Shakespeare Festival feels like a vacation to her.

“I have been up there every summer since 1999 and it’s kind of my most favorite thing right now,” she says. “I am pretty outdoorsy, so I am always bugging people to go waterskiing and rent a boat. We are working hard, but it’s kind of like a paid vacation.”

In addition, she says, work just feels like play when you love what you do — and you get to do it in an incredible place.

“I love performing at the space,” she says. “There is something so amazing about performing outside at Lake Tahoe.”

For details about the festival, visit laketahoeshakespeare.com or call (800) 74-SHOWS for tickets.

Fun for the whole family.

The Shakespeare drama at Lake Tahoe isn’t devoted to the stage; participants create their own adventure, with picnic snacks, games of sport, and romantic plots.