Lauren Ambrose

Let me begin at the end.

Place: Central Park. Time: almost 11:45 p.m. Play: Hamlet. Spirits: low.

Fortinbras and his army have entered Denmark at last, signaling the end. Hamlet has just died—poisoned in the duel scene—and is probably glad to be out of it. The king, the queen, Laertes, Ophelia, Polonius, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern—all now dead. Only decent Horatio survives—someone, according to W. H. Auden, who’s “not too bright, though he has read a lot and can repeat it.”

Oskar Eustis’ disappointingly literal production had been an uphill slog, and I mistakenly assumed the director would end in the conventional way: At Fortinbras’ command, four captains bear the body of Hamlet away like a soldier.  read more »

Lauren Ambrose will return to the Delacorte this summer as Ophelia in the Public Theater's production of Hamlet. The fiery redhead was the leading lady in last year's Romeo and Juliet at Shakespeare in the Park and will replace Crimes of the Heart's Lily Rabe, who had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts.  read more »

The writers’ strike might be over, but we can still feel the afttershocks—just look at what’s gonna be on the tube this spring (i.e., not much). Sure, Lost (ABC, Thursday, 9 p.m.) returned a few weeks back, but it’s still a truncated season (13 episodes instead of 16, boo!). And How I Met Your Mother, the best underwatched sitcom on television (don’t you need more Neil Patrick Harris in your life?), returns on Monday, March 17 (CBS, 8:30). But as for new offerings. Well … you decide.  read more »

A year without a new play by Sir David Hare can’t be all bad—and so it happily proved.

Top of my list is the stunning, imaginative achievement of Gregory Burke’s Black Watch—the first docudrama about war I’ve seen to successfully turn reportage into art, and the first play about the Iraq war to tell its story from the point of view of the soldiers. It was a political play that—praise be!—didn’t preach to the choir. To the contrary, it frequently wrong-footed us. It took us all as close to the experience of war as any of us is ever likely to get, thank God. Its ensemble of unknown Scottish actors was superb. And it left us in tears.

Many theatergoers had to be turned away during its sold-out run at St. Ann’s Warehouse. It would be a smashing gift to New York if Black Watch returned in the New Year.  read more »

Lauren Ambrose was recognized by the Actors' Equity Foundation for her superb performance in the Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park production of Romeo and Juliet this summer. She, along with Is He Dead?'s Byron Jennings, have been selected to receive the 2007 Joe A. Callaway Award. The award — which includes an engraved plaque and a $1,000 check — honors "the best performances in a professional production of a classic play (one written prior to 1920) in the New York metropolitan area," according to press notes. The award was established by Mr.  read more »

It's hasn't been a good couple of months for Michelle Williams. First, she breaks up with Heath Ledger. Now, Spike Jonze is kicking her off of Where the Wild Things Are for Lauren Ambrose, the redhead who recently received rave reviews for her turn as Juliet in the Shakespeare in the Park production of Romeo and Juliet.

Reuters reports:

Ambrose is replacing the previously cast Michelle Williams. According to a production source, the filmmakers enjoyed working with Williams, but her voice didn't match their original vision of how the Wild Thing should sound.

Jonze and Dave Eggers wrote the screenplay adaptation of the book. The film, set for release in fall 2008, will use real actors, computer animation and live-action puppeteering.

And Frank Langella ain’t bad either, in this talky, murky film about an aging author.  read more »

Bad news for folks desperately awaiting the arrival of The Return of Jezebel James, the midseason Fox comedy from Gilmore Girls creator (and genius) Amy Sherman-Palladino starring Wuz Girl Parker Posey and Lauren Ambrose. Late last week, the network reduced the order from 13 episodes to just 7, according to Variety.

Fox claims an overstuffed midseason lineup, with 24 and American Idol returning. But it’s hard not to suspect the show might be on the rocks. No one loved the Gilmore Girls more than us, but clips we saw of the pilot during the spring Up Fronts was only so-so funny.

Still, we’re crossing our fingers that this dream team will get it together for a full season pickup next year.