A long, long time ago I discovered David Gilmour, of Pink Floyd, singing Sonnet 18. It was my first experience with Shakespeare-to-music, and it just happened to be one of my favorite bands. Well, the solo guy from that band, but still. At the time I used the expression, “Excuse me while my head explodes, in the good way.”
(Later, someone from Google quoted me on that one when Google Books announced their Shakespeare project.)
And there was the German rock opera Hamlet In Space, which was so good that I had songs from their sampler in my regular playlist (I’ve long since lost them, alas).
So I’m quite excited to see Hamlet : A Rock Experience, which puts Hamlet to the music of Pink Floyd’s The Wall:
A prince descends into madness, haunted by the ghost of his murdered father, hatred for the uncle who usurped him and resentment toward a mother he feels has betrayed him.
A troubled rock star, oppressed by an overprotective mother, abusive teachers and the superficiality of stardom, imprisons his inner rage behind a mental wall, each brick closing him off from the rest of the world.
I would kill to see that. Hamlet and The Wall could be the new Dark Side / Wizard of Oz.
Have you seen it yet, or going this weekend? I'm curious to know what you think, if it lives up to your expectations.