Motor City Youth Theatre
Nancy Florkowski, Founder and Director
(313) 535-8962 or e-mail nancy@mcyt.org

Former Grantland actor offers take on 'Hamlet'
Comic production from Kalamazoo will feature 19 skits

April 1, 2007

BY MARY LENDZION
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

Melissa Zinn, left, and Lucas Campbell are in "Nineteen Variations on Hamlet". "It is a fun, fast-paced comedy with modern dress," Zinn says.

Melissa Zinn has fond memories of being an actor with the Grantland Street Players in Livonia.

A few years ago, she was Hermia in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and Ophelia in "Hamlet." When she moved soon after from the Detroit area to Kalamazoo, she started her own troupe, Abstraction Theatre.

But she missed working with the artistic director of Grantland Street Players, Nancy Florkowski, and she came up with the idea to take her theater troupe to Florkowski's stage.

Florkowski welcomed the idea, and the result is "Nineteen Variations on Hamlet" -- which Zinn wrote, directs and produces. It will be presented 7 p.m. Friday at Grantland Street Playhouse.

"It is a fun, fast-paced comedy with modern dress," said Zinn, 31, of Kalamazoo. "It's a take-off on Shakespeare's 'Hamlet,' and there are 19 short skits. One is inspired by the TV show 'Twin Peaks,' and another, called 'Hamleta,' has all of the genders reversed."

Zinn works as a substitute teacher in all subjects in the Portage and Comstock school districts. It allows her time, she said, for acting, directing and producing, all of which she is passionate about.

"There is a lot of good theater in Kalamazoo, but I felt a need for theater that was more intimate and personal, and offered more of a connection between actors and the audience," said Zinn. "I also wanted to provide more opportunities for local actors and authors, especially high school and college students."

This marks Abstraction Theatre's second production. Its first was "Things Didn't Turn Out the Way I Planned," a combination of four short plays written by Michigan authors.

"It went really well," said Zinn. "I was thrilled with the quality of the acting, and with the audience's response."

The cast of this production includes Andy Argo of Kalamazoo as Rosencrantz, Lucas Campbell of Parchment as Hamlet, Lisa Marie Dorgan of Parchment as Gertrude, Kyle Foster of Kalamazoo as Polonius, Sid Redlin of Kalamazoo as Horatio, Chris Schwallie of Kalamazoo as Claudius and Zinn as Ophelia.