The Play's the Thing

Much like Hamlet , Chess and I have a long and storied history too. But you know what? Maybe stories like ours do have happy endings. Chess has one of my favorite scores of all time but I had never been fortunate enough to see a production of the show. I knew the reputation it has; the score is great but the book is awful. It'll never work commercially. But as soon as I heard The Kennedy Center was staging a concert version, I bought tickets. I didn't care, I needed to see this show. The terrific cast that was eventually announced only made it better. And yes, it was an amazing night. Those voice (Raul Esparza and Ramin Karimloo in particularly) singing those songs! It was a dream come true. Except for that book. A new book was written for this concert, and I guess, for any other productions going forward. But look, it still doesn't work. And given that a) I saw a concert version and b) I didn't go expecting a fully-realized production, the book really didn...

I have a long, storied history with Shakespeare's Hamlet . It is one of my three favorite plays of all time (along with Tony Kushner's Angels in America and Martin McDonagh's The Pillowman ), and I remember being so completely absorbed by it the first time I read it in college. I even wrote my graduate thesis on Ophelia. I've studied and explicated line after line, I've read tons of criticism about it, and I am incredibly protective of the material. It's the play I've seen the most productions of, and I have a lot of opinions on how I want my Hamlet.  I traveled down to Washington DC to see Michael Kahn's production at the Shakespeare Theatre Company this past weekend. I needed to see Michael Urie in the role. Urie and I, well, we also have a long and storied history. Bottom line is, I've come to realize he is one of the most talented actors working today, and just the idea of him as the prince of Denmark made me so so excited. For the most par...