Pianist's skull appears in Hamlet

STRATFORD-ON-AVON, England, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- An English concert pianist who died 26 years ago has been granted his final wish -- to appear on stage in Hamlet playing the skull in the graveyard scene.

Andre Tchaikowsky's skull has been used in rehearsals since he willed it to the Royal Shakespeare Company, The Sun reported. Now, the skull has finished a run of performances in Stratford-on-Avon, with actor David Tennant as Hamlet holding it up while intoning, "Alas, poor Yorick, I knew him, Horatio ..."

The company didn't let audiences know they were seeing a real skull until the last performance.

The Polish-born pianist, who died of cancer at the age of 46, was a fan of William Shakespeare and especially of "Hamlet." He made frequent trips to Stratford to see RSC performances.

"It was Andre's dream," Dave Ferre, a friend of the pianist's family, said. "They will be pleased he has made it on stage."

Tennant, best-known as the latest incarnation of "Doctor Who," plans to use Tchaikowsky's skull again when the "Hamlet" production opens in London. David Howells, the RSC archivist, says a real skull hasn't been used since the 19th century.