"Hamlet, Cha-Cha-Cha!" (Part I)

I came across this title when I saw that a local company was performing it.  Before seeing the production, I decided to do a bit of research first, as I had never heard of this one.  (Warning:  Spoilers follow.)

Hamlet, Cha-Cha-Cha! is a musically comedic take on Hamlet written by Monk Ferris.  Satire, farce--call it what you will.  The location and time period remain the same as the original.  Most of the characters from the original play are here as well.  There is one notable change:  Hamlet's Wittenberg chums are now Rosie Krantz and Gilda Stern.  In addition, there is a chorus, to back up the numerous musical numbers.

The curtain rises at the wedding feast with Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, Ophelia, his softich "main squeeze," and Horatio, "an amiable sponge" on stage.  In what becomes a running gag, Horatio and Ophelia spend an inordinate amount of time looking for the buffet table or filling themselves from it.  Otherwise, the situation is familiar:  an untimely death, an o'erhasty marriage, a spectral appearance.  The action, though, is interrupted with (and accentuated with) song.  For example, Hamlet and the ghost of his father perform a duet on "That's the Spirit!"

The play continues with soliloquies, a "play within a play," song, dance, food and humor galore.  Poor Polonius meets his end.  Rosie and Gilda head to England with Hamlet, but in a twist they manage to outsmart the English authorities.  Ophelia goes for a swim and is rescued by "some group called Save The Whales."  Her reappearance provides a prelude to a duel, a poisoned goblet, plenty of dead bodies...and one final musical number, of course.

This is a wonderfully humorous variation on Hamlet.  It manages to take itself seriously while lampooning its precursor.  The musical numbers add a new twisted dimension to the action.  If you have the chance to see this done live, take advantage.  I did...but more on that another time.