The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 60, No. 9, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 19, 1972 Page: 7 of 10
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Third time around for Wiess legend "Hello, Hamlet!"
by DOUG KILLGORE
In the spring of 1967 the
Rice Players, in producing
Hamlet, added to their cast, in
the role of Fortinbras, a man of
vision and unique perception,
George Greanias by name.
Through the weeks of rehearsal
the true meaning of this trag-
edy of tragedies unfolded be-
fore young Greanias (then a
lowly freshman) and he began
to see potentialities in the Bard's
play that had remained dormant
until then. Egged on iby friends
and confidantes such as Bill
Blanton and Ben T e a g u e,
George left for summer vaca-
tion vowing to create a musical
masterpiece from the ancient
script . . .
Freshman week of 1968 wit-
nessed the return of a budd-
ing playwright to the campus.
Greanias had in tow a manu-
script into which he and a col-
laborator, one . James Christ-
man, had poured buckets of
genius during the month of
August. In presenting a few
readings to groups of friends
Greanias infected a nucleus of
latent hams with a virus, the
effect of which can still be felt
on the campus today (especial-
ly this week and next).
The concept of the play was
simple—the fabric of Hamlet
is loosely (and I use the term
loosely) draped over songs
stolen from evfcry Broadway
musical imaginable. Jokes run-
ning from inspired to stomach-
rending are sewn in between,
and the denoument is so in-
tricately and insanely buttoned
up, the audience should be left
in stitches.
A Wiess Tabletop theatre!
production of the play, aptly
dubbed Hello, Hamlet!, was
quickly basted together, em-
ploying such memorables as
Bill Blanton (ghost), Mike
Pewitt (Claudius), Carol Jones
(Gertrude), Linda Todd (Oph-
elia), Tom Bible (lLaertes),
Doug Killgore (Polonius), and
George Greanias himself play-
ing Hamlet, as well as direct-
ing. Rehearsal was zipped
through in two weeks, and an
inspired three night run treaded
hard upon its heels. Response
was amazingly favorable and
a Legend was born.
The following fall Greanias
went to Cambridge, England
for a year of study abroad. His
homecoming as president
(elected in abstensia) of Wiess
College in September of 1969
was celebrated by the second
bi-annual production of Hello,
Hamlet! New songs were added
(as new musicals such as Oliv-
er! had emerged), a new pro-
duction design concept was em-
ployed, and new actors such as
Becky Bonar (Gertrude) and
Ben Teague (Claudius were ad-
ded. The play reopened after a
headlong week and a half of
rehearsal. The Legend was en-
hanced as its fame began to
spread.
It has now been three yars
since the last Rice perform-
ance of Hello, Hamlet!, George
is at Harvard, having directed
at least one production in the
north and assisted in another,
and Doug Killgore (Polonius
twice) has just returned from
serving his country at sea.
Becky Bonar is still around and
has teamed up ,with Killgore
to direct a third and reported-
ly even more spectacular pro-
duction of Hello, Hamlet! More
songs have been written (don't
tell George), a cast, including
Brian Domning in the title role,
has been picked, and the world
awaits the revival of the Leg-
end as Will Shakespeare turns
over once more . . .
The following cast has been
selected for Hello, Hamlet!
Claudius Greg Reinhart
Gertrude Becky Bonar
Hamlet Brian Domning
Ophelia Yvonne Senturia
Polonius Doug Killgore
Laertes Duane Mellar
Horatio Jay Shilstone
Marcellua Chuck Collins
The Ghost Rick Cord ray
The Witches Tim Barry
Steve Garfinkel
I. J. Aarons
Rosencrantz Bob Anderson
Guildenstern Scott Martin
Fortinbras Keith Austin
The Messenger .. .. Caid l^paeley
Funeral Director .... Jack Dean
Shawn Phillips is versatile talent
by DON SHEWEY
Shawn Phillips is more than
a man who sings songs—he is
a performer. He demonstrated
his talents Saturday, October
14, in concert at the Music Hall.
With only his supporting gui-
tarist Tony Wormsley, Phillips
played for three hours with one
ten-minute intermission.
That a "single musician could
sustain such a lengthy stage
act in itself is impressive. No
doubt an influencing factor was
the Houston audience, surefy
one of the most appreciative
Shawn Phillips has encountered
across the country; the concert
was sold out, probably partly
because last time he was in
Houston he amazed the audi-
ence by playing for six hours.
How can he do it? Sheer ver-
satility describes Shawn Phil-
lips—he possesses the strength
and vigor of Cat Stevens and
the ear for melody of David
Crosby with the talents of both
combined and doubled. In con-
cert he played acoustic guitar,
acoustic 12-string guitar, sitar,
and double-necked electric gui-
tar (one six-stringed, one 12-
stringed). He started out with
"Lovely Lady" and continued
with songs like "Not Quite
Nonsense," "Moonshine,"
"Planned Obsolescence," and
other material from his three
A & M records, Contribution,
Second Contribution, and Col-
laboration, tossing in shreds of
new music, often tying sev.eral
songs together to form 20-min-
ute medleys.
Rapport with Audience
While he's singing, Shawn
Phillips looks and sounds like
a homeless, timeless poet. When
he relaxes between songs, he be-
comes good ol' Shawn, friendly
native Texan.
Not the least of Shawn Phil-
lips'. amazing talents are his
startling vocal qualities of style
and range. Often breaking into
scat singing and experimenta-
tion on melodic themes, Phillips
can build in intensity from a
whisper to a shout in seconds,
usually crashing to a dramatic
halt and then resuming in a
whisper again, overwhelming
his audience with his command
of Both his guitar antl his voice.
While the best music Shawn
Phillips plays employs acoustic
guitar (that is, gentle, happy
melodic songs), when he plugs
in his electric guitar, he pro-
duces some of the loudest and
most competent guitar licks
possible. Even on electric guitar,
Phillips displays extraordinary
ability, managing two necks
and two pedals at the sime
time. He never loses control
of the sound, even when he's
laying down chord progressions
on one neck while the other
howls and screeches while he
pumps one pedal after the oth-
er.
„ Needless to say, Shawn Phil-
lips provided in concert exactly
what can be expected of the
best performers—a good, tight
show of music.
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Ballet Master I. J. Aarons
Soothsayer Steve Garfinkel
Dr. Sigmund Shrink
Steve Garfinkel
The Minstrel Keith Austin
The Minstress Ellen Horr
The Lady of the Night
Ellen Horr
"Hello, Hamlet!" will be per-
formed in Weiss Commons Oc-
tober 24-27 at 8pm and October
29 at 3pm.
MOVIES at MIDNIGHT
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the rice thresher, october 19, 1972—page 7
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Jackson, Steve. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 60, No. 9, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 19, 1972, newspaper, October 19, 1972; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245143/m1/7/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.