Yesterday, Sheila (my beloved wife and stage manager) explained to her class that a show needs three things to succeed: talent, a unifying concept, and a gimmick. This was a formula I’d never heard before, and naturally I asked her if Hamlet had all three of those things. She said yes (what else could she…
After yesterday’s school matinee (the only one we had, and with a disappointingly small contingent of high school students), we’re officially halfway through our run. Here are some more lovely moments in a play chock full of Hamlet-y goodness: Urgent Soliloquies: Even by Shakespearean standards, Hamlet has a lot of soliloquies. So it was a…
Thursday night’s premiere of Hamlet went very well, give or take a tech glitch or two. Friday night’s sophomore show was cancelled because of a big blizzard. So that brings us to tonight: Show Two, which was supposed to have been Show Three. I’m optimistic; I know lots of great folks who are planning to…
Although rehearsals don’t resume for another six days, the Hamletmachine switched into high gear today. It feels like the team accomplished more in 12 hours today than we did in a whole week’s worth of pre-January Hamlet-time. If that’s the case, we are on a good path to make some momentous strides between now and…
This weekend, another run-through — the lights stayed on for us this time, and our Hamlet was present. It was our last rehearsal before the holiday break. Hamlet holds its breath until January 10th, and when we come back, it’s a break-neck ride to opening night. I told the cast to make their theme for…
This week, with the conclusion of the university term, I actually find myself with some time to take stock. And what a lot of stock there is to take! Recently, we hit a number of milestones worth celebrating: first, we reached the halfway mark in the rehearsal process, with two months down and two months…
Today was a big, big day in #cbuhamlet history: the first table read. Nearly all of our Danes were in attendance — only a handful who had other commitments couldn’t make the read-through. It was a bit intimidating to see the long line of tables pushed together, and the towering stack of scripts waiting for…
Lots to talk about, but I’m going in circles with a lot of different production issues right now. I’m about two months away from the next phase of rehearsals — full cast, regular schedule, no more dabbling and philosophizing, down to business — and it feels as if I should start prioritizing. When I teach…
