By Harry Haun
07 Oct 2009

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Victor Garber, who has had his brushes with Shakespeare ("Lysander and Florizel in my early days, the Scottish king at the Old Globe outside") and is about to start rehearsing Present Laughter for a Roundabout run after the first of the year, contended that you learn something from every Hamlet that you see.

"First of all, tonight, I learned what an unbelievably demanding role that is," Garber remarked, "and I just thought that Jude was exemplary in it. It was really a great performance. It really blew me away. I loved it. Loved it. He was fantastic."

"Fantastic" was also the adjective tossed off by the Donmar's former top-dog, Sam Mendes, but then "we're co-producers — just a small part of it, but I hope people really enjoy it and come see it because Jude's truly amazing."

The Bridge Project, which he started up last year, just finished its two-play world tour and is now readying for a second round: "We're doing The Tempest and As You Like It with Stephen Dillane, who last was here nine years ago, doing The Real Thing and winning the Tony for it. He hasn't been here since. They'll open in January and run till March at BAM, then go around the world. Last year it was Paris, Amsterdam, Germany, Singapore, Hong Kong and The Old Vic. 'Join the plays and see the world.' It's less of a job and more of a lifestyle choice."

New to the Donmar Warehouse ranks is Yank director-choreographer Rob Ashford, who just reprised Alfred Uhry and Jason Robert Brown's Parade, his West End hit, for the West Coast. "We just opened on Sunday at the Mark Taper in Los Angeles, and it went really well," he beamed blissfully. "T.R. Knight is terrific in the show. I think one of the reviews today said he was 'astonishing' so that's pretty good. ‘Astonishing' is alright."

And is this a movable feast? "It is. It is. It would be lovely if it came here, but right now we're just happy to get it up there and that it has been so well received." For the present, Ashford has more immediate Broadway plans: "I'm going to be doing this revival of Promises, Promises in January. Sean Hayes has the male lead, and the girl is . . . not quite signed yet, but somebody really good."

Another musical you may be hearing more from is Lucky Guy, a Nashville-set tuner that director-choreographer Warren Carlyle gave a Goodspeed lift-off a few months back with Josh Grisetti, Tony winner Gary Beach and John Bolton. "We're knocking on a few doors to try to get some interest to get it on here," said Willard Beckham, who did the book, music and lyrics. "That's the next step of the journey. We got a standing ovation every single performance the whole month of performances. That's saying something, I think."

Somehow, the celeb tip-sheet for the night led with the name of Will Ferrell. (Of course, he didn't show.) The Post's Cindy Adams positioned herself against a pillar at the Broadhurst's entrance and pelted any celeb who walked by with: "What do you know about Shakespeare?" You could see David Hyde Pierce's mind racing for a funny response. "Well, I know he's dead," he ventured, "but he's baaaack!"

In point of fact, Hyde Pierce was Laertes to Kevin Kline's [first] Hamlet at The Public. "That was a long time ago," he sighed, meaning B.F. (before "Frasier").

Natalie Portman created the most red-carpet commotion, rushing into the theatre unnoticed and, naturally, being very noticed. Also spotted: Barbara Walters (who ankled it after Act I), Barbara Cook with Harvey Evans, playwright John Guare, Aasif Mandvi (of "The Daily Show" and M. Night Shyamalan's next movie, "The Last Airbender"), "Gospel Girl" Brit Ed Westwick (a Jude Law look-and-soundalike) and Rutina Wesley.

In a kind of passing-the-British-torch gesture, Janet McTeer, who last reigned at the Broadhurst as Mary Stuart, was on hand, not doubt observing how well that theatre wears black (another black-rock castle) — and the weather. Whereas Mary Stuart met Elizabeth I in a driving rainstorm on stage, Law delivers his big "to be or not to be" number against a background of gently falling snow.

No stranger to Hamlet, having "represented one of the greatest, Nicol Williamson, and Hume Cronyn who was Polonius in Burton's Hamlet," veteran agent Lionel Larner recalled with a flinch Burton's Toronto liftoff.

"Jessie Tandy was my date, and she said to me, 'Lionel, these women didn't come to see Hamlet. They came to see the guy who's making love to Elizabeth Taylor.' And, at the end of the play, they went up to the footlights, and they were handing programs over for him to sign, which he didn't do. She said, 'Look at those programs. They're not Hamlet programs. They're 'Cleopatra' programs.'"

A number of ex-Hamlets showed up for the interpretation of Law. "It was actually the very first role I ever played, and it made me want to pursue the career of acting," admitted Daniel Sunjata, the neverending hunk of TV's "Rescue Me" and Broadway's Take Me Out. "I was an undergrad, and I'm sure I was horrific." Jefferson Mays, a Tony winner for I Am My Own Wife but sporting a spiffy bowler hat to make you forget that ("I'm a terrible hat fetishist, I'm afraid"), also did the undergrad baptism-by-fire version of Hamlet — "in Yale's Sterling Memorial Library, and then I did it in San Diego in 1995. The role is a glorious mountain, and I can't wait to see Jude scale the heights. I'll try not to recite along."

"Shakespeare in New York — and you didn't produce it?" I taunted The Public's kingpin, Oskar Eustis, who responded with a twist and a wink. "It happens all the time, Harry, but we're great believers that the more Shakespeare that's done in New York, the better it is. This is a wonderful production, and it's delightful to see that the British can do Shakespeare, too. I'd kinda lost track of that."