All the World’s a Makeup Stage

Delivers in such apt and gracious words

That aged ears play truant at his tales,

And younger hearings are quite ravished;

So sweet and voluble is his discourse.

--Shakespeare’s “Love’s Labour’s Lost”

It’s hard to say exactly when The Bard became cool again. Was it when Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes heated up the screen in “Romeo & Juliet?” in 1996, or when Gwyneth Paltrow’s “Shakespeare in Love” became last year’s sleeper hit? Either way, Shakespeare’s timeless tales continue to excite young moviegoers.

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” which opens May 14, even has a makeup line to go with it. Created by movie makeup artist Ronnie Specter, the Max Factor collection is inspired by the look of the character Titania (played by Michelle Pfeiffer). The shimmery shades reflect the palette of the magical woods, and some are even named after fairies, such as Pease Blossom, Mustard Seed and Cob Web.

This is not the first Hollywood promotion for Max Factor, which recently launched its Diva Collection inspired by Marilyn Monroe, Marlene Dietrich and Eva Gardner. A “Titanic”-themed group of colors landed in stores the same time the film went to video.

Max Factor says it will continue to participate in movie and video tie-ins in an effort to reclaim the 90-year-old company’s place in Hollywood history.