Only brought out to be polished once every four years, the Rice University hidden gem that is “Hello Hamlet!” returns to Wiess Tabletop Theatre April 12-14 at 7:30 p.m. This theatrical extravaganza, which made its debut at Rice in the 1960s, is a concoction of wit, music and irreverence that defies conventional categorization. With each iteration, this student-run production undergoes metamorphosis, embracing new interpretations, modern flair and inclusivity, making it a truly unique spectacle.
“It’s a parody musical rendition of ‘Hamlet’ with show tunes from all over the Broadway canon and some movie musicals,” said junior Zev Malina, who is serving as the production’s music director.
At its core, “Hello Hamlet!” is a jukebox musical, cleverly weaving together familiar melodies with altered lyrics to create a comedic ode to the world of theater.
“I feel like I've heard about ‘Hello Hamlet!’ since the moment I started theater at Rice,” said junior Alayne Ziglin, who’s directing this year’s show. “It's been this sort of looming force in the background.”
Each incarnation of “Hello Hamlet!” evolves from the previous version, embracing contemporary themes and pushing boundaries.
“This year, I think the really big difference is the director and the writing team did a bunch of collaborations to make the play and just Shakespeare in general more inclusive of people who don’t fit into the gender binary,” said senior Drew Castleberry, the show’s executive senior producer and an actor. “This is the first rewrite, to my knowledge, that has included nonbinary characters. We also did complete race-blind and gender-blind casting.”
Castleberry and senior McKenna Tanner are two of the few Rice students who will be able to say they participated in the once-every-four-year event twice. What was initially supposed to be the Spring 2020 production got delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic until fall 2020. That’s when Castleberry and Tanner came to Rice as freshmen.
“It was so weird,” said Tanner, who is serving as head writer and acting in the 2024 show. “We had green screens rigged up in our rooms, and we were adjusting our cameras (during the show). It was a whole thing.”
What the 2020 “Hello Hamlet!” cast and crew were able to pull off was impressive, added Tanner, but she’s looking forward to doing the show live in person.
“In the script, you’ve got a joke from 1967 hanging out right next to something we wrote this last fall,” Tanner said, explaining that songs from an older musical such as “The Sound of Music” can be butted up to something new from “Mean Girls” in “Hello Hamlet!” “It's really cool to be part of something so collaborative and to be building on the work of so many different writers over the years.”
The sheer magnitude of “Hello Hamlet!” is staggering, junior co-choreographer Taylor Stowers said.
“Everybody’s really putting in the work and the time,” Stowers said, adding that roughly 50 students are involved. “Rehearsals have been long and frequent just to make it happen.”
“How many people are willing to volunteer countless hours and put in a lot of work towards something that is completely volunteer?” said senior Soren Lorentzen, who’s conducting the pit orchestra. “We’re all giving our best for music, acting and art to come together.”
And it will begin on opening night April 12.
“I think there’s a little bit for everyone,” said senior co-choreographer Sophia Devereux. “There’s a live orchestra if you like music. There’s funny jokes. There’s good dancing of all different kinds. It’s just a fun night.”
The free show runs for three nights in the Wiess Commons before disappearing until 2028.
“It’s one of Rice’s oldest traditions,” Castleberry said. “It almost dates back to Beer Bike. It’s that old. It’s a very celebrated tradition that so many generations of Rice alums and Wiessmen have been a part of. If you didn’t have the opportunity to be in it, you could at least give yourself the honor of watching it.”