God Save Gertrude

The idea is genius: a musical that reconstructs "Hamlet," modernizing it and focusing on the prince's mother. What did her world look like to her? Was she a needy woman obsessed with superficial goals, was she brimming with regret, or was she evil incarnate? In actuality, however, Deborah Stein's script is oddly unaffecting, despite the immense talents of all involved in the production, led by director Michael Michetti.

This Gertrude (Jill Van Velzer) is a former rock icon who refers to her work as poetry, a self-professed contemporary of the godmother of punk music, Patti Smith. Gertrude's first husband was likewise a star, first a musician and then a music mogul. Their child, here called Mama's Boy (Steve Coombs), is a chip off these blocks: a querulous rebel but a rock star in his own right. After Gertrude's husband "flamed out," she married Man (James Horan), the warmongering president of a nation somewhere in Eastern Europe. Mama's Boy is seeing things again, presumably because he had gotten into papa's stash. Daddy's Girl (Lily Holleman) urges Mama's Boy to head off to his band's gig rather than join the war effort.

Van Velzer is magnificent here. Theatrical enough to keep us from worrying about her mental health, she's nonetheless a punk mess, even accompanying herself on an electric guitar, while amply convincing us she's royalty in its modern form. And along royal themes, near the production's end Stein slyly paraphrases a speech by Diana, Princess of Wales, probably pointing out the heavy toll fame takes on superstars. Coombs plays hostile and confident one moment, then, facing stepdad, crumbles under the parental gaze. Horan chills us with his character's laser-point insistence on warfare. Horan could offer a stronger characterization as the young voice of reason and kindness.

At 85 minutes, "God Save Gertrude" doesn't overstay its welcome. It's barely enough time to take in the evocative designs: Susan Gratch's bombed-out theater set, Soojin Lee's well-worn but high-style costumes, and Steven Young's dusky lighting. But some of us would appreciate further fleshing out of Gertrude's story, with or without the other "Hamlet" personae.


Presented by and at the Theatre @ Boston Court, 70 N. Mentor Ave., Pasadena. Oct. 10–Nov. 8. Thu.–Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m. (626) 683-6883. www.bostoncourt.org.