Guest director Victor Pisauro has completed casting for the swashbuckling Broadway comedy “I Hate Hamlet,” the next production by Aloha Performing Arts Co. Playing the central role of young television actor Andrew Rally will be Steven Orton in his first
Guest director Victor Pisauro has completed casting for the swashbuckling Broadway comedy “I Hate Hamlet,” the next production by Aloha Performing Arts Co. Playing the central role of young television actor Andrew Rally will be Steven Orton in his first lead role. Audiences may recall him from several recent APAC musicals, including “Oklahoma!,” “A Chorus Line,” “The Rocky Horror Show” and “The Wizard of Oz.”
Rally has come to New York from Los Angeles, and has been offered the role of Hamlet in a “Shakespeare in the Park” production. His girlfriend, Deirdre, who loves Shakespeare, bayberry scented candles and her chastity, will be played by Roxanne Fox, last seen on the Aloha stage as Diana Morales in “A Chorus Line.”
Tracey Fosso, also an alumnus of “A Chorus Line,” portrays Felicia Dantine, a real estate agent and would-be psychic who has found an apartment for Andrew in which John Barrymore once lived. Kerry Matsumoto will appear as Lillian Troy, Andrew’s agent, who claims to have had an affair with Barrymore in the apartment.
Robert Haber plays Gary Peter Lefkowitz, a Hollywood wheeler dealer who offers Andrew a new TV series if he will forgo Hamlet and come back to L.A. Matsumoto and Haber appeared together last season in APAC’s “The Diary of Anne Frank.”
The cast is completed by William LeBus, who plays the ghost of John Barrymore, who rises from the dead to help Andrew with other-worldly advice on acting and love. LeBus will also choreograph the sword-fighting scenes, and is the designer and lead builder of the set. Other designers include Felicity Johnson and Paula Cornwell, props and costumes; Tim Bates, lighting; and Ariana Bassett, sound.
“I Hate Hamlet” will be performed at the Aloha Theatre in Kainaliu April 12-28, with Friday and Saturday performances at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday matinees at 2:30 p.m. This comedy was written in 1991 by Paul Rudnick and enjoyed a long, successful run at the Walter Kerr Theatre in New York, with Nicol Williamson as Barrymore.
APAC’s production is directed by California resident Pisauro, who also guest-directed “Knock Knock” by Jules Pfeiffer at the Aloha in 1997. Producers are Robert Haber and Jerry Tracy, stage manager is Joel Michaelson, house manager is Alisha Nazara, and assistant director is Tiffany Kutsunai. Tickets are $20, general admission, $17 for seniors and young adults, and $10 for those under age 18, and are available by phone weekdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., online at AlohaTheatre.com, or at the theater box office beginning one hour prior to performance time. For tickets or more information, call 322-9924.
