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February 13, 2004
Section:
Edition: Final
Page: A2

Shakespeare as an aphrodisiac? Not so fast. Even if you hate "Hamlet" and/or its title character, you'll love this tight little two-act modern comedy set in - where else? - it's just gotta be New York. 

Played in a nicely-appointed single set - an upscale New York apartment - Appleseed Productions' "I Hate Hamlet," by Paul Rudnick, was viewed in final dress rehearsal, but it might as well have been opening night in that the well-balanced ensemble pulled out the stops for close to two hours, delivering some taut, amusing and intelligently written dialogue. It hardly seemed like two hours. 

The story is rather routine and somewhat predictable, but that's OK because the laughs are worth it. A halfway successful television and commercial actor is lured back to the Big Apple to find love and "the real acting" - stage - jobs.

On a whim, he auditions for a part in a Joseph Papp Shakespeare-in-the-Park production and to his surprise, he's cast as the melancholic Dane, Hamlet, the most prized, most coveted role in Western dramatic literature. And he's absolutely scared out of his tights! Plus he hates Hamlet, anyway. How's he going to be able to pull this one off, especially after making scads of snack commercials in sunny California?

Holding a mirror up to Shakespeare, as it were, enter the ghost of John Barrymore, perhaps one of the greatest American Hamlets, to be his acting coach as well as his adviser for wooing the uninitiated in the ways of love.

The rest is not silence but a whole lot of nicely-paced dialogue, intelligent one-liners and smart characterizations.

Sharee Lemos directs and shows a fine ear and eye in the casting department, given the considerable talents of this six-actor cast.

The reluctant Hamlet, Andrew Rally, is played by Appleseed's artistic director, Jon Wilson, who carries the situation well with facial and vocal peaks worthy of the incredulous situation of his being cast in the daunting role.

His virginal girlfriend and the subject of his lustful quest, Deirdre McDavey, is played by Melissa Zakri, who does several impressive Shakespearean turns going from Juliet-like innocence to a worldly and dazed Ophelia after she has been swept off her feet by her boyfriend's Hamlet, however inept.

Joe Pierce plays Barrymore's ghost, strutting and commanding the stage as he goes about his duties as coach romantic consultant and self aggrandizer: "I do not overact; I merely possess the acting talent of 10 men."

Turning in some dead-on caricatures are Glenda House and Pat Stone as Felicia Dantine and Lillian Troy. House's gum-snapping, bleached-blonde real estate agent has the "New Yawk" attitude and accent to match. Stone's German-born talent agent (who just by coincidence had a fling with John B. in the old days) is a dash of European worldliness that helps balance the somewhat saccharine young couple.

The role of the fast-talking, fortune seeking television agent, Gary Lefkowitz, is masterfully carried off by Tom Ciancaglini. He's slick, he's loud, and he's very funny as he tempts Andrew to take lucrative, however less artful, projects with his less-than-demure "Hey, baby, let's do lunch because you are the man" operating style.

It's good for laughs, and it has a host of interesting characters and snappy dialogue, and - oh yeah - it might even give you some fond memories of the Bard after all.

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