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Theater Beat: Graveyard 'Hamlet'; Philly Youth Theater Fest

Spooky Dane I hear that New York's REV Theatre Company will be doing Hamlet in July - in Laurel Hill Cemetery. That's all I have right now. Stay tuned for details.

Spooky Dane

I hear that New York's REV Theatre Company will be doing Hamlet in July - in Laurel Hill Cemetery. That's all I have right now. Stay tuned for details.

'Clue' on the road

The new play Clue: On Stage, a zippy farce based on the board game and the 1985 film, set a record Wednesday at the Bucks County Playhouse for most tickets sold by one show in one day.

Now comes word that the playhouse's world-premiere show will go on a North American tour in fall 2018.

Cast, set, and tour schedule are not yet set. "The idea is to do the best play you can do when it world-premieres," said Alexander Fraser, producing director at the playhouse. "You'll always learn something, then take what you learned and perfect it for the road."

Hunter Foster directs Clue: On Stage and, with Eric Price, adapted the Jonathan Lynn script from the movie. "Throughout this run, Hunter has been rewriting at night for the next day's rehearsal," Fraser says. "Doing farce is sometimes the hardest of all."

The show continues through Saturday, with Sally Struthers as Mrs. Peacock.

Let's hear it for high school thespians!

Better yet, let's go see them. The first annual Philly Youth Theatre Festival happens at 5:30 p.m. June 7 at the Prince Theater. About a dozen high schools (including St. Joseph's Prep, AIM Academy, Penncrest High School, Academy at Palumbo, and the Baldwin School) and youth groups from local theater organizations will present monologues and scenes. There'll be prizes at the end.

It might never have happened had not Mayor Kenney, a St. Joe's Prep alum, done a cameo as a Boston cop in the 2016 St. Joe's production of the musical Curtains.

The mayor then asked Tony Braithwaite, who leads the Cape and Sword Drama Society at St. Joe's and is also artistic director at the Act II Playhouse in Ambler, to organize the high school fest.

"I hope Philadelphians come out to support and cheer on our talented young actors," says the mayor, who'll be one of the judges.

St. Joe's is host, along with the Philadelphia Office of Arts, Culture, and the Creative Economy; the Philadelphia School District; and Philadelphia Young Playwrights.

The Philadelphia office's chief cultural officer, Kelly Lee, says her office coordinated the applications and found both the venue and some enthusiastic and anonymous donors.

"Reading through the applications," she says, "we were so moved by students' testimonials about what theater means to them. It's exciting to give them an opportunity on a bigger stage."

Seats are free. Reservations required at princetheater.org/events/

philly-youth-theatre-festival.

A night at the museum

On June 9 at the Penn Museum, the InterAct Theatre Company will do a reading of a new play, Broken Stones by Fin Kennedy, about attempts to protect antiquities at the Iraq Museum from looters during the Iraq war. It'll be in the Widener Lecture Hall, and it's free, yo.

While there, check out the museum's new exhibit Cultures in the Crossfire: Stories from Syria and Iraq. The play will have its world premiere next fall. Information: 215-898-4000 or penn.museum.

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jt@phillynews.com 215-854-4406 @jtimpane