I’ve really enjoyed working on Hamlet for the past two weeks. I love that we are taking a more modern twist on the tale and incorporating modern dress to aid in this. I got to act with Ryan (as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern) and make the character of Osric a super-fan of Hamlet. Creating different takes on a character is always fun, and with such an old, well-known work like Shakespeare’s Hamlet, it makes it that much more fun.
I also have loved working with the children involved in Hamlet. There are four casts of three young actors that rotate for each show. Similar to A Christmas Carol, we work with a new set of young people each day. They play, funnily enough, the “players” in Hamlet, which re-enact a pantomime as a sort-of “play-within-a-play” that other characters in Hamlet watch. I helped John to choreograph and rehearse this pantomime with the children. During the rehearsal process and tech, the kids mostly rehearsed with themselves and not the professional actors. And, because there were four casts of children and four tech days to run the show, each cast only got to do a full run of the show with costumes once. And to the children’s credit, they have been amazing! They are all so hard-working, ready to learn, and talented.
Today I spoke with a young actress, one of the players in Hamlet, who is planning on majoring in Musical Theatre in college. She has another year of high school, but is starting her research on different schools in which she might have an interest. I had such an enjoyable time passing on some of my knowledge of the college audition process, school programs in theatre and musical theatre, and choosing the right material. In the fall, I want to start a coaching/audition/college audition prep class for young people interested in pursuing theatre and musical theatre in college. I realized just how much I love working and teaching children so much. It is such a passion of mine. I love passing on things I’ve learned to them, and watching them grow. These young actors are the future of theatre as young people in general are the future of our world. I think that is so special, and such an important thing to remember.
