Well, he's no tiny plastic Ninja figure, but he was pretty darn good in Cabaret. Now actor Denis O'Hare is playing the title role in Shakespeare's brief, bloody tragedy, Macbeth. The production, directed by Hartford Stage artistic director Michael Wilson, began previews Oct. 5, opened at that Connecticut venue Oct. 11, and ends its scheduled run Nov. 10. Very limited tickets are available for remaining performances, with the final Friday SRO (according to a box office spokesperson).

The Scottish play received two high-profile and very different productions in Manhattan this past summer. The first bowed on Broadway and starred Kelsey Grammar. The candle lighting that mounting was brief indeed. The second production, a hit at the New York International Fringe Festival, was performed by miniature, dime-store Ninja figure. The Tiny Ninja Theatre presentation fared better than Grammer's and is currently playing an extended run at the Present Company Theatorium in downtown Manhattan.

Stephanie Roth Haberle is O'Hare’s Lady Macbeth. She appeared at the Public Theatre in Andrei Serban's Cymbeline. O'Hare played the "nice" Nazi sympathizer Ernst Ludwig in the Broadway revival of Cabaret. Other New York credits include Racing Demon, Lonely Planet and Hauptmann. The latter, a play about the accused killer of the Lindbergh baby, first brought O'Hare to New York.

Also in the cast are Glenn Fleshler as Macduff, Nafe Katter as Duncan and Helmar August Cooper as Banquo.

Tickets are $20-$55. For more information, call (860) 527-5151. --By Robert Simonson