Who's Hamlet

On average, I see a play a week, sometimes as many as three plays in a single weekend. So it’s no wonder that I sometimes confuse one play with another or can't remember and actor's name. All of us 70-something guys have Swiss cheese memories.

So I’m like what was that play we saw Friday night? Was it the one at Harlequin of the one at TLT? Oh yeah, it was that murder mystery. You know, the one with what’s her name in it. Remember? She was in that other play with that other actor, the guy from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.

Can you believe I write theater reviews for reputable publications? Three of them currently. It helps that I write my reviews the next day, even if it’s a week or two in advance. And I always take home a program so I can check on actors’ and crew members’ names, and I can find reminders of plot points online, and as a last resort I can email the director for clarification. And still I get reminders of mistakes after my reviews have been published. And then a month or a year later I'll be at a party and somebody will ask me something about a play I reviewed and the only thing I can remember is whether I liked it or not and maybe how sexy such-and-such actor looked.

Now I’ve been asked to co-host a podcast on local theater. Me. Mister What Did I Have for Breakfast and What Happened to my Gloves. Thank God my co-host will be Christian Carvajal. Carv is like J.K. Simmons in the State Farm commercials. He knows a thing or two because he’s seen a thing or two. And he remembers them. We’ll be like the Abbott and Costello of podcasts. Instead of Who’s on First it will be Who’s Hamlet. I can hardly wait.

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