Illustration by Grace Huang
By Andie Dingman
Daily Bruin Contributor
Linda Hamilton’s back, and this time she’s playing
the role of a murder victim in the 1940s.
The star of the “Terminator” films puts down her
guns to play the title role in the period play,
“Laura,” which opened last weekend at the Tiffany
Theater.
The play is a detective murder mystery, in which the lead
character is the victim of a homicide ““ or is she? The
continuous twists and turns of the play keep the audience guessing
right up to the surprising end.
Originally a detective novel made into a movie in 1944 and an
onstage performance in 1947, this version of “Laura”
keeps with the style of its predecessors, from the long red
fingernails to the cigarette filters.
Hamilton plays Laura Hunt, a mesmerizing advertising executive
whose death is the mystery that needs to be solved.
 Tiffany Theater Linda Hamilton is Laura
Hunt in the 1940s mystery, "Laura," directed by Lynette McNeill and
playing at the Tiffany theater.
“It’s a super glamorous part,” Hamilton said
in a recent phone interview.
“(It’s) lots of fun, just to go back and try to
recreate women of the forties,” she continued.
“It’s really just worlds apart from the way we live
now, the charm, the graciousness, the way that they moved,
everything that was used just had such an appeal for me.”
After the box office success of the “Terminator”
films, Hamilton mentioned still feeling the need to return to her
first love, the stage. She longed for the required weeks of
dedicated rehearsal in theater, and had been looking for the right
role for a couple of years now.
“As an actress that’s what I really set out to
do,” Hamilton said, explaining her love for theater.
“It’s what my early career was about.”
“It’s nice to return to what you were,”
Hamilton said. “It’s been almost twenty years since
I’ve been on the stage. You realize what you meant to do when
you set out.”
“Laura” co-stars television and film veteran Robin
Thomas, who can currently be seen in “The Contender,”
opposite Joan Allen.
“He’s yummy. He’s yummy, yummy, yummy,”
Hamilton gushed about Thomas.
Thomas plays Detective Mark McPherson, who ultimately solves the
mystery of her murder. McPherson doesn’t learn anything about
Laura until after her death but he finds himself intrigued by her
persona and falls in love with the idea and mystique of her. The
conflict between his duty to be a professional and his own humanity
is a central issue in the play.
“He’s a cop, but there’s a sensitive side to
him,” Thomas said
According to Thomas, his character is multi-layered, with a cool
exterior that sheaths his boiling passion. McPherson is a sensitive
individual that also has a darker side.
“This was an opportunity for me to play a character who is
an observer, and at the same time is engaged in the people that
he’s observing,” Thomas said. “He becomes
involved in the life of this woman, but at the same time he has to
maintain his objectivity, so it’s a kind of duality ““
there’s a contradiction going on.”
 Tiffany Theater Robin Thomas co-stars
with Linda Hamilton in "Laura."
“Laura” is directed by Lynette McNeill, who is
wholeheartedly endorsed by both Hamilton and Thomas.
“She has a great concept ““ an easy way about her, a
grace and definitely, a point of view,” Hamilton said.
“It’s always nice to work with somebody who has a
vision.”
“It’s very much her piece and I like that, to have a
strong leader. She has been a strong and gracious leader,”
she continued.
Thomas agreed with Hamilton completely.
“She has wonderful taste, and that’s important,
because one of the functions of the director is to pick and choose
tone, the way the set looks, the way the costumes look, the values
the actors are giving you,” he said. “She allows her
actors to explore,” he added.
“Theater is a very collaborative art form,” he
continued. “She allows you to contribute; she directs with a
very gentle hand.”
Arguably as popular and resilient as the play, is the theme
song, composed by David Racksin, who, at 88 years old, still has a
full schedule of conducting and composing. Racksin spoke plainly
about the popularity of his piece.
“It’s a matter of quality,” he said.
“The piece gets to people when they hear it in the
picture.”
While Hamilton’s role as Sarah Connor in the
“Terminator” films and as Laura Hunt in
“Laura” might seem like night and day, Thomas sees the
character of Laura as an extremely strong and contemporary woman,
much like Connor.
“It’s interesting the way this is a real
woman’s piece,” Thomas said. “It’s about a
woman becoming independent, strong and staying vulnerable at the
same time.”
“In a strange way, the themes are very contemporary; even
though we’re doing it as a period piece, we’re not
changing the language, we’re using period clothes,” he
continued. “It’s very contemporary because of that; it
deals with those issues of independence, chauvinism and
fear.”
Though that in itself may be a great reason for anyone to go see
the play, when asked why UCLA students should come out to see
“Laura,” Hamilton was charmingly frank in her
response.
“To see me!”
THEATER: “Laura” is playing at the Tiffany Theater,
8532 Sunset Blvd. West Hollywood. Performances are Thursday through
Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m., through Dec. 17. Tickets
are $30 Thursday through Saturday and $25 Sunday. For more
information, call (310) 289-2999.