Thursday, March 11, 2010

I Hate Hamlet- Zany Farce Back for One Final Weekend


When your real estate agent, your girlfriend and your talent agent all demand to hold a seance to contact the legendary actor John Barrymore - then a seance will be held. Poor Andrew, the one-time TV star now facing a chance to play Hamlet in Central Park, has little say in the matter in the opening scenes from "I Hate Hamlet" which has only 3 performances left at Rose Center in Morristown this weekend.

While ghosts and glory and all the other challenges of the characters of Shakespeare are a part of this newest production, the first of the the current 76th season of the Morristown Theatre Guild, the show is first and last a comedy of epic proportions.

An expert ensemble cast brings much talent and much laughter to the show -- which pokes fun at live theater itself, at television, at fame, at the 'slings and arrows' of romance, at sword fights, at what happens when male actors have to perform without wearing pants, and so much more. And "I Hate Hamlet" is not just 'in-jokes' for actors - zany farce may be the best description for the show -- a show I have reluctantly dubbed "The Best Show You Never Saw!!"

Only three shows are left - Friday and Saturday at 8 and Sunday at 2pm at Rose Center in Morristown. Tickets are available at the door or you can order them online at LakewayTickets.com

Don't miss your last chance to see the funniest live production of 2010 here in Morristown. Drive any distance, bring many friends, and be prepared to laugh from start to finish -- yes, even the curtain call is a once-in-a-lifetime event you'll never see anywhere else.

As director for the show, I prefer to stay in the background often, but I'm breaking a basic rule for this post -- some images from the show taken by photographer Roger Fleenor include a shot of me (Number 234 in the list), your humble narrator, and so here I am, putting my own image online. (it's a shot of me thinking or something during rehearsal)

I'm proud beyond description of this show. Drama is easy, dear readers, while doing comedy is the toughest work of all and which must never appear for one moment to be like work at all.

Many more photos of the cast and show, all taken by Roger Fleenor, can been seen online
http://Luxworkphoto.zenfolio.com/hamlet

So turn off the TV, come to Prater Hall at Rose Center, leave the dull world of reality behind and enjoy a world without bailouts or recessions or scandals (well, there are a few scandalous moments here) and just revel in the comedy and the laughter.

And I must offer my tremendous thanks to the board of the Morristown Theatre Guild, to the tireless work of Rose Center and to all the volunteers both on-stage and off who have worked so hard to make magic happen at "I Hate Hamlet."