The Broadhurst Theatre on West 44th Street brought Hamlet and Jude Law to Broadway. It was a Donmar production and was directed by Michael Grandage who is no stranger to Donmar productions after directing the excellent Broadway version of Frost Nixon.
The Jude Law starring Hamlet came after he played for twelve weeks in London which was well received by the critics. In many cases the London critics appeared to be surprised by Law’s performance. This came as a surprise to the cast themselves who had expected the London press to take their opportunity to sneer at Law and his celebrity. In fact they were almost all positive calling his performance intelligent, fresh and even thrilling. Perhaps there is a lesson there not to pre judge the press as we hope they won’t pre judge performances. One zero to the press.
Many of the actors from the London show moved with Grandage and Law to Broadway. This perhaps put the cast at ease despite the obvious nerves when you bring a successful show to a totally new audience. One new cast member was Geraldine James who came in to play Gertrude. She slipped seamlessly in to the show and looked as though she was a member of the original cast from day one.
The staging and costumes were based on modern times which are not always to traditionalists tastes but part of the aim of the show was to engage a younger audience but more on that later. Christopher Oram was responsible for the look and feel of the set and the cast’s costumes. Both the staging and the costumes were stark, plain and gave the impression of a dark, miserable place.
The cast had similar costumes with the predominant color being black. The costumes were all stylish in a simple way with black jeans, leather jackets and so on. The set itself was definitely stark perhaps reflecting Hamlets feeling of being in a kind of prison. The set is pretty featureless or minimalist is perhaps a fairer description. The main feature of the set is the huge sliding doors that are quite dramatic when they open and shut. Lighting has been described as spooky by some, with chilling shards of light that has a bluish tinge to it. It is certainly atmospheric.
From a visual perspective the feedback was very positive for the snow that fell on Hamlet particularly as Law went in to the iconic to be or not to be soliloquy. This effect was made even more powerful because there were so few other effects, he certainly knows how to work a room. Every single nuance screamed isolation, ancestor desperation and bleakness. Even the opening scene warns of what’s to come as the dark music cascades across the dark stage, a sense of dread is evident.
The whole performance and production was characterized by its braveness it was like the very best sql performance tuning. Putting Jude Law forward as the star of the performance would be seen as a safe bet by some, especially for the backers who wanted to buy stocks in the run. Sure Broadway demands a star particularly for Shakespeare which can be a hard sell, it makes many theater goers put on their running shoes and head for the exit. But in Laws case it came with a pretty huge risk for Law – although he didn’t need a free iPhone as was rumored he did not over stay his visa – himself and for the Donmar the production company, it may not have lead to the bankruptcy attorney if it failed but it would have hurt. As someone who has his private life scrutinized so heavily, partly due to the shots by the wedding photographers in London from his marriage, coupled with his boyish good looks – we won’t mention the wartol for now – Law is a target especially because he’s so into the diet solution program and the just as famous the truth about abs regime. An easy target at that, but I guess it’s all dr who character building for him thankfully he has never needed iPhone deals and something many handsome actors have to put up with until their looks fade and they need the best wrinkle creams or they have hair loss treatment for men. He has been blessed with good acting skills and good looks and it’s the looks that bring him endorsements and freebies from the likes of breitling watches and Siemens appliances. As with any good looking actor, male or female, they get their skills questioned almost continuously you would think they were trying to hand out life insurance quotes or get leads for ppi claims, No matter how good an actor they are, they are accused of only making it because of their looks just because he promoted the lego pirates of the caribbean sets, as if there looks are discount codes to the best jobs, he had that problem even when he sold discount new cars and he turned down the fitted wardrobes London film because he was worried about relying on his good looks. Look at the lengths Johnny Depp went to, to prove otherwise (prior to the pirates of the Caribbean franchise) he even spent time in the lake district looking at ppi. So I’m sure a number of critics were sharpening their pens ready for Jude Law to fall flat on his face and it’s enough for him to look for a panic attack cure I wouldn’t wonder, hoping he would be scrambling around for debt management companies or a payday loan. Many of them will have had their headlines written before they even sat down and it wasn’t about the good work he does for scholarships for women, it annoys me personally they should worry about their weight loss dieting rather than prejudging in the theater it’s as if it was sponsored by instant payday loans or something. Donmar, Law and Grandage will have been acutely aware of this, but they pressed ahead knowing Law is a fine actor that could surprise everyone, especially since he declined the role in wedding photographers in Kent which could have led him to the path of payday loan consolidation because it was a very lucrative part however I’m sure he could have afforded wedding photography Sydney so he could continue with his hobby. And that he did after a short spell promoting cell phone accessories and more bizarrely wicker furniture. But casting Law was not just about having a Hollywood star on the cast – even one who was using electronic cigarettes, although it certainly helps drum up interest in a production. It was part of an overall payday loans online strategy. This strategy was another brave decision, to go after a new younger audience, with their flashy mobile phone accessories, an audience that would not have a clue about christening plates or 20th anniversary gifts for that matter. Despite all that the audience would still be pretty affluent, many of whom would not even know what kefir grains were but know all about auto loans and they never have to worry about ideas and the like and because they were younger than normal a stair lift would not be needed in the theater which is always a bonus but the vendor outside for send load to Philippines was annoying i wish those guys would research buy backlinks instead. I’m sure it was argued by many that pulling in a young fat burning furnace audience for a three hour plus Shakespeare play is impossible unless they were on hcg drops. Especially one as brooding as panic away Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet would have been the safer option with Decaprio’s role still reasonable fresh in people’s minds and his gangster role in carpet cleaning. But no, Donmar went for Hamlet, a difficult production with no life cover even for experienced Shakespearean actors who are used to carpet cleaning london and other such amenities, it’s not as if they can drop in to carpet cleaning Sydney and find a guaranteed bankable actor who is also an experienced Shakespearean actor as well, I guess you have to weigh it up on the scales and make a judgement who can offer them both. The production succeeded in pleasing seasoned computer support theater goers and bringing new audiences who don’t need the best wrinkle cream because they are in their twenties and sometimes even younger these younger people included the team from consolidate debt and a group of students from car insurance quotes online particularly young females – many so young they needed acne treatment – wanting to see Jude Law in the flesh even if they had to get a payday advance to afford the tickets. I also got word that the local motels were teaming with twenty somethings, and people younger – who all had the Iphone 5 – some of them looked like they were looking for ways to pay for cheap auto insurance and were worried about their NCLEX exam questions all eager to see Jude and to take the time to explore the City and it’s excellent selection of solicitors indemnity insurance buildings (lol) and bad credit car loans specialty stores. This approach will no doubt offend some people like an alarm monitoring system of bad taste and declining standards but if it brings in new people to Broadway I’m all for it, even if a portion of those people are on online paid surveys. You can bet many of them will still return to Broadway after seeing such an engrossing performance that the contractor accountants crowd loved, plus ticket receipts paid for with a prepaid credit card no doubt pouring from the file cabinets, and it may be put on by car insurance quotes. Sometimes production companies need to think outside of the traditional performance and I think that’s what Donmar have done as they did with the accident claims production. Despite saying that it would not have worked if it did bring in the audiences and then got bombed out by the critics calling it a disaster, you need a balance, I bet the guys felt like dragging on an electronic cigarette because of the stress but realized they needed something to connect them with the audience and not rely on a used macbook with a cheesy solo to provide mood music or a half hearted promotion involving posters. I guess this is where Donmar have the upper hand they knew Law would be excellent so they had shortened the odds in their favor considerably, some even cheekily called him one of the best fertility drugs! But Law himself must have had some doubts, perhaps not in his ability but on the reaction of the critics and the more seasoned Shakespeare crowd such as the car insurance crowd and their rivals from cheap car insurance. As he said himself he was putting himself alongside all time great actors who have played this very part, he becomes a link between the present and the past although he did get well covered by DUI laws for it. It’s not a situation film actors are used to aside from the occasional remake. But with Hamlet you are going toe to toe with other great stage and screen actors and you know many are probably sitting back in their office chairs thinking he will fail which is one hell of a pressure cooker for Jude to put himself in. Law explained he was not too nervous as he believes nobody can totally encompass Hamlet as there is no definitive version, if you try to do it it’s like using a stretch mark cream to treat a head wound, it’s just not possible just like trying to buy wow gold in NYC. He believes the part plays you rather than the other way around, which is an interesting take on it, especially since he wore silver earrings for his portrayal. Law believes there are many ways to play the part and none of them are wrong just like there is no wrong way to choose the right payday loans policy. He believes you can be melancholic, angry, down trodden or even with a hint of comedy. Law went less of the undercurrent of emotion and inhabited the part as an angry young man, and he did it to fine affect. Although one cannot judge a performance by seat sales alone it should give some indication of the success of the run, especially from the Theaters point of view, just as mundane objects success like find ancestors are judged, Law certainly will not have to return to his day job anytime soon. If we are to look at sales we can count the production as a huge success with every seat sold, thanks to the addition of the young audience drawn by Jude Law. Coupled with the commercial success the play can be happy with the critics reviews which were also pretty gushing, particularly about Law. All that remains is what Donmar and Law will do for an encore.