The Player King Musical: The Beaver Family Musical

Music by Bill Tinsley

Directed by Terry Berliner, part of “The Hamlet Plays,” The Milk Can Theatre Company, May 2006. Each ten-minute play was based on a character from “Hamlet.”

From Debbie Hoodiman’s nytheatre.com review: “The Player King Musical takes a look at a modern-day version of the Player King, viewing him as a frustrated actor forced to leave New York for a paying gig teaching second graders. The show features two talented singers, Dennis Clark and Carrie Ann Champlin, and provides a high-energy opening to the shows. As I am not familiar with the Player King in Hamlet, while watching the show, I found myself wanting to look it up. That’s always a good sign!”

Chad is an out-of-work New York actor, whose girlfriend just dumped him and threw him out of their apartment. He’s so desperate, he takes a job teaching creative dramatics at an elementary school in Peru, Indiana. It’s nearly bearable, until one of his students skips out of class and his boss Marilyn confronts him. Maybe Chad and Marilyn aren’t as different as they thought.