Word: poloniuses
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...Maybe Polonius' advice holds for singers: to thine own self be true. Nilsson feels that "there almost has to be another you, standing at your side, in full control." To Pavarotti, long success depends on "remaining a student all your life. Remember the first lesson you ever took and believe it." Oh, and a couple of other things. Freni recommends pasta on performance days. Rysanek warns against after-performance partying. And Nilsson decrees, at all cost, wear comfortable shoes...
Mulford's staging innovations are initially quite arresting. The farewell scene between Polonius (James Marino) and Laertes is especially humorous. As he utters the immortal words, "To thine own self be true," Marino writes a check for his son. Freed spends much of the scene grasping for the paper, evidently more interested in acquiring his father's money than his advice...
Marino provided outstanding comic relief as the doddering Polonius, and Sheila MacDonald shines as the troubled Gertrude. Saddly, Steven Lucado's Claudius never reaches any kind of emotional intensity. In the final scenes he appears bland--the evil man who killed his brother in order to possess his kingdom and his wife never emerges in Lucando's performance...
Mitchell reworks the scenes drawn from Hamlet to give them an appropriately comedic twist. It's rare to praise a part overplayed, but Kevin Kain merits this designation for his hysterical performance as Polonius...
...rough-and-tumble art of farce, an athletic, physical approach to his craft that he has since used in more cerebral roles. Cronyn has also picked up his share of honors, including an Academy Award nomination for The Seventh Cross in 1944 and a Tony for playing Polonius in the 1964 production of Richard Burton's Hamlet...