The Simpsons Get Respectable

August 3, 2001 9:53 AM

The Simpsons Get Respectable in this play where all the characters from the show act out Hamlet? It's a one-man show in New Jersey, but I'd pay to see this. It proves Hamlet's weird universality, but seeing Apu as "the first murderer" has got to be a rush. (via TV Tattle)
posted by rev- (20 comments total)

ummmm. the article says "Macbeth", not Hamlet
posted by ColdChef at 9:55 AM on August 3, 2001

Do'oh!
posted by rev- at 9:56 AM on August 3, 2001

Okay, call me a geek, but I'd like to see this show. It sounds really, really funny.
posted by ColdChef at 9:58 AM on August 3, 2001

ummmm. the article says "Toronto", not New Jersey
posted by transient at 10:02 AM on August 3, 2001

This is actually a touring production, as I believe it was in Orange County, California recently.

And I think this points more to The Simpsons' weird universality. I mean, given the quantity and variety of the characters on the show, I would imagine you could recast almost any play, movie, or novel with Simpsons characters.

By the way, does anyone else think Hamlet is a really weird name?
posted by EatenByAGrue at 10:03 AM on August 3, 2001

This is obviously the greatest piece of Art ever created in the history of man.

(Ralph! Ralph! Ralph!)
posted by Skot at 10:03 AM on August 3, 2001

Here's the show's site.
posted by transient at 10:06 AM on August 3, 2001

I think Eaten is right about the Universality of the Simpsons. The review doesn't say that you need a thorough understanding of Simpsonsalia, but I would imagine you would need it to get most of the jokes.

Also, in a perfect world, someone rewrites MacBeth as the Kurt and Courtney story and it becomes a cult classic.
posted by rev- at 10:06 AM on August 3, 2001

It's playing down at UC Irvine later this month. That's almost worth a trip down.
posted by mathowie at 10:10 AM on August 3, 2001

Thanks mathowie! I missed it the last time it was here. I live five minutes from UCI. Woohoo!
posted by EatenByAGrue at 10:32 AM on August 3, 2001

Grue: Hamlet a weird name? Ask the Danes. Originally Amled or Amlethus (he was a real person, the Prince of Jylland/Jutland), it means, pretty much, simpleton.

Note that MacHomer has its own site, on which you can see every conceivable Simpsons-Shakespeare cliché played out in headline form by its various reviews.
posted by dhartung at 11:15 AM on August 3, 2001

I like Apu as Jules myself.
posted by Jeremy at 11:35 AM on August 3, 2001

From the reviews section.

"IS THIS A DOUGHNUT I SEE BEFORE ME?" - Uptown

"IS THIS A PIZZA I SEE BEFORE ME?" - The London Herald

"IS THIS A D'OH-GER I SEE BEFORE ME?" - The Scottish Sun

"D'OH, IS THAT A HIT SHOW I SEE BEFORE ME?" - Edinburgh Metro

Hahahahahaha!!!!
posted by rschram at 11:39 AM on August 3, 2001

Wow, he's been doing this show for a long, long time — I saw it at least five years ago at a fringe festival. Fantastic. The funniest live comedy I have ever seen.
posted by sylloge at 12:01 PM on August 3, 2001

Shakespeare named his own son Hamnet, which is an even weirder name than Hamlet.
posted by kindall at 12:13 PM on August 3, 2001

MacHomer has been going around fringe festivals in Canada for years. It's a good show, well worth seeing.
posted by DiplomaticImmunity at 1:29 PM on August 3, 2001

This sounds ripe for a future engagement at the NYC Fringe Festival, which opens in NYC in a few days.
posted by ParisParamus at 1:34 PM on August 3, 2001

Sweeeet.....I am SO going to the Irvine show...
posted by Optamystic at 2:01 PM on August 3, 2001

dhartung, thanks for the info. I still think Hamlet (or Amled) is a weird name coming from my parochial background, but at least it was a real name and not made up by the Bard.
posted by EatenByAGrue at 2:02 PM on August 3, 2001

jeremy-
wouldn't willy be a more natural choice? why with the anger and ability to kill a bear with his bare hands and the facial structure.

rev--
courtney love isn't that evil, really. i really loved hating her, and she might not have been 'a rock' like james brolin to barbara streisand, but she's really no lady macbeth.
posted by elle at 2:35 AM on August 4, 2001