Can't give up ttne gtnost

by Shanna_F._an_e_l_li___________

_ a & e editor

Call him John, Jack or Jake depending on his drink of brandy, bourbon or wine but one thing's for sure, John Barrymore, legendary actor of the famous Barrymore clan, is dead. Stone dead, for 64 years, after a turbulant life of booze, women and the hereditary robe of the American theater.

Jason Miller, Academy Award Nominated Actor for 'The Exorcist" and Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award Winner for "That Championship Season," donned Barrymores skin for a performance in the play, "Barrymore's Ghost," that he himself wrote, directed and starred in. The play gave the audience a first hand account of Barrymores greatest addiction; fame.

Miller, portraying the ghost of Barrymore, transforms himself and his stage into a lifetime of a man who had surrendered his destiny to the narcotics of an actors life, ushering all into the "abyss of bis broken brain" with firsthand accounts of a Barrymore past.

It was scarily easy to believe that Miller truly was John Barrymore seated upon that couch, smoke curling from a number of cigarettes that laced his fingers throughout the night. While the play is no longer running, Theater Double hosts a variety of shows for theater enthusiasts.

For more information, call 215-557-9421

Theater Double Mainstage

1619 Walnut Street Philadephia Pa 19103