I HATE HAMLET at Dressing Room Theatre

The ghost of John Barrymore, a 29 year-old virgin and an actor who admits hating Shakespeare's Hamlet, are just three of the characters who make I Hate Hamlet a fun night of theatre at Curtain Call's Dressing Room Theatre. Beginning May 2, this marks the first time Paul Rudnick's witty comedy has played Curtain Call.Rudnicks 2007 essay in The New Yorker magazine, aptly titled I Hit Hamlet, describes how he came to rent a medieval duplex, once the home of legendary actor John Barrymore. Rudnick researched the connection of Barrymore to this apartment and soon became inspired to write I Hate Hamlet. Barrymore, best known today as the grandfather of actress Drew Barrymore, played the Danish prince for 101 performances on Broadway in 1922. From there, he went on to a lucrative Hollywood film career in motion pictures. But now hes a ghost, played by Stamfords Brian Bianco, Curtain Calls education director.I Hate Hamlet is about a young and successful television actor Andrew Rally - who relocates to New York. With his television career in limbo, the actor is offered the opportunity to play Hamlet onstage in New Yorks Shakespeare in the Park, but there's one problem: he hates Hamlet. His dilemma deepens with the entrance of John Barrymore's ghost, who arrives intoxicated and in full costume to the apartment that once was his. Barrymore eventually helps Andrew deal with the rest of his zany life: a slightly off-kilter girlfriend an aggressive real estate broker, his elderly agent and a pushy LA friend.The cast of six, under the direction of Debra Lee Failla, includes Chris Balestriere, Brian Bianco, Kendall Callaghan, Dana DiCerto, Parke Stevenson and Gail Yudain. Production design is by Peter Barbieri, Jr., costumes by Terry Hanson and stage management by Jan Ursone with Seth Barkan and Martha Dombroski.I Hate Hamlet is one of those shows Ive seen many times and have wanted to work on for a while, said Lou Ursone, Curtain Calls executive director and producer for the show. Its very witty and lots of fun for theatre folks, but its also incredibly enjoyable for all who see itespecially those who dont have an affinity for The Bard, Ursone added.Failla said, My directing projects over the last eight years have been made up of musicals and dramas, so its wonderful for Lou to give me the opportunity to get back to a genre I adore, comedy. She added, In casting our production, I needed six actors who could not only nail their characters but work as a strong ensemble, and that is what I got and more. Theyre all thinking actors who bring ideas and questions to rehearsals. Its been a fabulous collaborative process. Performances will be held Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00PM and Sunday afternoons at 2:00PM, beginning May 2 and continuing through May 19. (there is no performance Saturday, May 18.)The Dressing Room Theatre is located at The Sterling Farms Theatre Complex, 1349 Newfield Avenue, Stamford, CT. Seating is cabaret-style with a BYOEverything format. Doors open one hour before show time. Tickets are $35 for adults, $25 for senior citizens and $17.5 for children. Thrifty Thursday tickets are $27.50.

Authors

• Paul Rudnick