I Hate Hamlet by Paul Rudnick, Georgetown Palace Theatre, January 13 - February 5

by Michael Meigs

You don't have to hate Shakespeare's Hamlet in order to enjoy this lighthearted romp, but it does help to have an appreciation for ghosts. We're not talking about the grim visaged former king of Shakespeare's imagined Denmark, but about the much friendlier shade of the great tragedian John Barrymore. Once he appears after the obligatory set-up scenes of the television actor and his girlfriend moving into an ancient and remarkable old apartment in New York City, Kyle Evans gives us a Barrymore as agreeable as Caspar the Friendly Ghost and a good deal more willing to provide thespian advice while swigging directly from a bottle of champagne.

Playwright Rudnick is quoted in the program relating that he once answered an classified ad in the New York Times real estate section advertising a "medieval duplex," quarters that turned out to have been renovated and inhabited by John Barrymore in 1917. Wikipedia asserts perhaps erroneously that the playwright was living there when he wrote this piece in 1991. As usual, the designers and builders at the Palace do a fine job of creating the setting, a towering set drab and draped in sheets for the first act, revealed after the intermission to have been artfully recreated as Barrymore's "Alchemist's Corner."

Ismael Soto III plays Andrew Rally, a newly unemployed celebrity television actor who has returned from Hollywood to New York in search of serious work. The folks down at Shakespeare in the Park were delighted to offer him the role of the melancholy Dane, but Andrew doesn't rally to the idea. There's too much on his mind just now. For the past five months he has been steadily dating this adamantly chaste girlfriend, Deirdre; his agent the ageing Teutonic former artiste has gotten him nothing but this gig in Central Park, where they approved the assignment without even paying attention to his audition piece; his bouncing buddy the Hollywood writer-promoter is shopping around a ridiculous new concept for a television series that promises big bucks; and then there's this medieval duplex he accepted, sight unseen, from the cheerfully garrulous woman real estate agent.

Life is a bit too much for Andrew. And then add to that this alarmingly healthy dead guy who insists that he can't get out of the apartment until Andrew establishes himself as the inheritor of the Hamlet tradition.

Click to read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Upcoming: I Hate Hamlet by Paul Rudnick, Georgetown Palace Theatre, January 13 - February 5

Found on-line:

I Hate Hamlet

by Paul Rudnick

directed by David Sray

Jan. 13 - Feb. 5 - Fri. & Sat. at 7:30 p.m. and Sun. at 2:00 p.m.

Georgetown Palace Theatre, 810 S. Austin Street, Georgetown (click for map)

Prices: General: $24; Senior(55+): $22; Student(13-22)/Active Duty Military (with ID): $14; Children(12 or younger): $10
Click to choose seats and purchase tickets on-line

This hilarious romp takes us into the life of hot, young TV star Andrew Rally who has been asked to play Hamlet in Central Park. But Andrew has two problems: he hates Hamlet, and he’s being haunted by the drunken ghost of actor John Barrymore who used to live in his apartment.

Ongoing: The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, City Theatre, June 10 - July 4

UPDATE: Review by Bastion Carboni at austinist.com, June 16
UPDATE: Review by Ryan E. Johnson at examiner.com, June 16

UPDATE: Review by Katherine Kloc for the Daily Texan, June 16

Received directly:

June 10 – July 4

Thursdays – Saturdays 8 p.m., Sundays, 5:30 p.m.

The City Theatre. 3823 Airport Blvd. – east corner of Airport Blvd. and 38 ½ Street.

Reservations 512-524-2870 or info@citytheatreaustin.org

Tickets $15 - $20. Guaranteed Front/2^nd Row Reserved $25. Students $12. Group discounts are available. Thursday all seats $10. Visit our website www.citytheatreaustin.org

The City Theatre presents The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, Paul Rudnick’s Broadway smash hit about the hilarious retelling of The Old Testament by the original couple – Adam and Steve, as well as their friends Jane and Mabel.

In the beginning, God created the heavens, the Earth and the overture to “Gypsy.”

This is the Old Testament according to Paul – playwright Paul Rudnick that is - who has brought considerable wit and gleeful gay sensibility to a deliriously funny take on the Book of Genesis. The play is Rudnick’s response to the claim “God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.” So, led by an all-knowing stage manager, the play follows the first couple, who not only have to worry about being expelled from the Garden but their abs as well. We also meet Jane and Mabel and together, the quartet survives the centuries – from the Creation to the first brunch. They endure the Flood, visit Pharaoh’s Egypt, and experience the wonders and pains of modern - day relationships. Reminiscent of medieval Passion plays where popular characters were inserted into Bible stories to entertain while teaching, the lessons here are tolerance and understanding, taught with loads of laughter and fun.

Rudnick, writer of I Hate Hamlet, Jeffrey, In and Out, and Addams Family Values, moves us to consider life and relationships from new perspectives. The New York Times wrote: "Line by line, Mr. Rudnick may be the funniest writer for the stage in the United States today...One-liners, epigrams, withering put-downs and flashing repartee: these are the candles that Mr. Rudnick lights instead of cursing the darkness, although he does a lot of cursing, too ... a testament to the virtues of laughing ... and in laughter, there is something like the memory of Eden." Variety wrote: "Funny it is…consistently, rapaciously, deliriously…easily the funniest play in town." And the NY Daily News: "…there is no one writing for the stage today who is capable of more acid quips or hilarious rejoinders than Rudnick…Even if there's a part of you that will be chagrined by this play's uncertain attitude toward religious beliefs, you will find yourself laughing uncontrollably throughout the evening."

With a young, talented cast led by some surprise Austin veterans and directed by Daniel LeFave (CTC’s Christmas Belles), the show is a delightful mélange of hilarious one-liners, philosophical introspection, and a celebration of the very fabulousness of gay culture (and otherwise) throughout the ages. The production is recommended for mature audiences with strong language, brief nudity and adult content. Talk backs follow each Sunday show, led by local arts and gay and lesbian organizations. Check the website for the talk back schedule.

LA Progressive on Campaign against City Theatre's Staging of Most Fabulous Story

Found on-line:

I Will Defend My Mother’s Purity!

by Carl Matthes posted on Wednesday, 19 May 2010
(Pholo: Michael Mahoney, Hat Head Studios)

The letter headlined “I Will Defend My Mother’s Purity!” in large, all-red caps arrived the day after Mother’s Day. Inside, was a fundraising letter from America Needs Fatima (ANF). Their appeal? Send some money to save the reputation of Mary, Mother of God, from a “terrible attack!” (For Catholics, Our Lady of Fatima is a title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary.)

It turns out that the good folks at ANF have drawn battle lines around The City Theatre (TCT) in Austin, Texas (seating capacity 80). Why the battle? TCT is mounting a production of Paul Rudnick’s 1999 play “ The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told!,” a long-running Broadway hit. “Fabulous,” by openly gay playwright Rudnick, contains updated Biblical stories where “…instead of Adam and Eve, our lead characters are Adam and Steve, and Jane and Mabel, a lesbian couple with whom they decide to start civilization.” And, even more upsetting for Robert E. Reich, Executive Director of ANF, is Rudnick’s own description of his play, “I wanted the Garden of Eden in Central Park, and Mary as a lesbian mother, which would certainly help me comprehend immaculate conception.”

Mr. Reich’s appeal also discloses that the play shows Adam and Steve in “full frontal nudity!” (Perhaps Mr. Reich is unaware that some refer to Austin as being the San Francisco of Texas!)

Read more at the LA Progressive on-line. . . .