While Broadway is all agog over “Hamilton,” the National Theatre’s production of “Hamlet,” starring Benedict Cumberbatch and directed by Lyndsey Turner, has set the record for the fastest-selling play in British history. According to its producer Sonia Friedman, the entire limited run — which begins at the Barbican Theatre on August 5 and runs through October 31 — was sold-out within hours. That leaves the film star’s substantial fan base, the self-dubbed “Cumberbitches,” to queue up for the 30 tickets that will be sold on the day of each performance at 10 pounds each.The feverish intensity is not surprising. Since Cumberbatch won the Olivier Award for the National Theatre’s acclaimed production of “Frankenstein” in 2011, his international profile has been enhanced via movies and television, including roles as Julian Assange in “The Fifth Estate,” Alan Turning in an Oscar-nominated performance in “The Imitation Game,” and soaring to new heights in the title role of the BBC-TV series, “Sherlock Holmes.” As the son of actors, it was inevitable that Cumberbatch would one day assay the Everest of his profession, “Hamlet,” and at 39 years of age time was running out for him to do so. It must have seemed a daunting prospect to step into a role that had shone the spotlight of greatness on the likes of Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud, Ralph Fiennes, and, more recently Simon Russell Beale, Mark Rylance, Michael Sheen, Jude Law, and Rory Kinnear. Others have stumbled playing the mournful Dane, including Mel Gibson in a 1990 Franco Zeffirelli film, and Peter O’Toole, who starred in the inaugural production for the National Theatre in 1963. The latter, sick with nerves at the high-profiled prospect, noted, “If you want to know what it’s like to be lonely, really lonely, try playing Hamlet.”Don’t fret if you can’t get over to London to see Cumberbatch’s Hamlet, either by mortgaging a house to pay a scalper or to join the overnight queue with the rabid fans. A performance of the production will be broadcast around the world on October 15 as part of the series known as National Theatre Live! Previous events have included “Frankenstein,” starring Cumberbatch, “Of Mice and Men,” with James Franco and Chris O’ Dowd, the Kinnear “Hamlet,” and “The Audience,” starring Helen Mirren. Friedman was coy with the New York Times when she was asked whether the production is likely to transfer to Broadway eventually. “I’d love it if it could, but we’ll see,” she said. “There’ve been no discussions. We’ll see how it goes.”However, a transfer is almost a sure bet unless the reviews are mediocre, which is highly unlikely. The highly respected Lyndsey Turner, only the third female director to win the Olivier, directed a stunning Broadway revival of “The Machinal” starring Rebecca Hall last year. Broadway beckons this “Hamlet” for a number of reasons not least of which is the lure of lucre. There is simply too much money to be made. Take for example the limited run of “The Audience,” which concluded last June after wracking up, by a rough estimate, more than $20 million in grosses. Mirren went home with not only a Tony Award but also a cool couple of million in her purse.Cumberbatch and his wife Sophie Hunter, the award-winning theater and opera director, recently celebrated the birth of a son. The actor, raised as an only child, has made no bones about wanting more. And a run on Broadway in a hot property can finance a lot of education.
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