Notice! I Hate Hamlet auditions June 3 & 4
Auditions for I Hate Hamlet, written by Paul Rudnick and directed by Cindi East, will be held Monday and Tuesday, June 3 and 4, at 7:00 PM. They will consist of cold readings from the script. The theater is located at 1810 Barton Road in Redlands.
A rehearsal schedule will be available at the audition. Please bring your calendar to check for conflicts. Some conflicts may be acceptable. If cast, whatever conflicts you list at the audition will be considered final. There is no pay.
I Hate Hamlet is set in John Barrymore’s old apartment in New York City – at the time, the author’s real-life home – the play follows successful television actor Andrew Rally as he struggles with taking on the dream role of Hamlet, dealing with a girlfriend who is keeping a firm grip on her chastity, and playing host to the ghost of John Barrymore, who, clothed as Hamlet, has come back to earth for the sole purpose of convincing Rally to play the part. Real estate agent Felicia Dantine convinces Rally to stay in the apartment and hold a seance. This is a comedy, so bring your funny bone.
Character Breakdown:
Andrew Rally, Male, Lead, 30 something. Andrew is an up-and-coming actor whose star has risen on the basis of two parts which have proven to be somewhat embarrassing for the actor: a surgeon in a recently canceled bad TV show called “L.A. Medical” and a commercial for Trailbuster Nuggets breakfast cereal. The play begins on the day he moves into his new home back in New York: a cavernous old brownstone where the man once known as America’s Greatest Living Tragedian briefly lived. Just as John Barrymore made his reputation playing Hamlet, so is Andrew about to test the limits of his own acting talent by playing the most famous role in drama. But is he up to the task?
John Barrymore, Male, Lead, 40-60. A ghost. A séance designed to contact the spirit of Barrymore is deemed a failure when no contact is made. Unknown to everyone but Andrew, however, the séance was successful. Only he can see Barrymore’s ghost who informs Andrew that he is following a long tradition among stage actors. The older ones routinely come back to help promising young talent fulfill their potential.
Dierdre McDavey, Female, Supporting, 30 something. Andrew’s sweet, but serious and free-spirited, but virginal young girlfriend. Although Andrew is wracked by doubt and insecurities over moving form jingle-based commercials and bad TV to Shakespeare on the stage, Deirdre can barely contain her excitement. When the opening night performance does not go well, she is so devastated that she is moved to take Ophelian measures to end her disappointment. Only the unexpectedly carnal intervention of what seems to her to be just a strange dream pulls her back from the edge of tragedy on rooftop and picks the lock of her seductive willingness for Andrew.
Lillian Troy, Female, Supporting, 50-60. Lillian is Andrew’s much older and experienced agent who is able to personally confirm the story that Barrymore actually did once live in the brownstone because she was having an affair with him at the time. That affair led to her scandalous divorce from her husband. For most of the play, only Andrew is capable of seeing Barrymore, but just before he take the stage as Hamlet on opening night, Lillian reveals that she is also capable of interacting with him and they enjoy a brief reminiscence of their time together before enjoying one last dance before Barrymore must depart back to the afterlife.
Felicia Dantine, Female, Supporting, 40-60. Felicia is the real estate agent who specifically urged Andrew to pick the old brownstone because of its connection to Barrymore. A true believer in the potential of psychic power, Felicia’s announcement that she has contacted the spirit of her dead mother leads to the attempted séance to contact Barrymore.
Gary Peter Lefkowitz, Male, Supporting, 50 something. Gary is a superficial Hollywood type quick to extol the number of hyphens in his job description who has come to New York to bring Andrew back to Hollywood and television. The change he witnesses in Andrew as a result of preparing to play Hamlet offers him a brief moment of introspective fantasy about chucking his affluent lifestyle and trying his own hand at becoming serious. When Andrew turns down his three million dollar offer to star in his show about an inner city teacher with secret superpowers, he returns to L.A. instead with a fellow partner-in-commerce: real estate maven Felicia Dantine.