Christmas
Carol MemoriesChristmas
Carol MemoriesAs far as I know, I am the only person or thing to have appeared
in all twenty Hippodrome productions of A Christmas Carol, with
the exception of an enormous soft-sculpture prop turkey , which has been
dutifully borne onto the stage by legions of poulterer's sons year after
year. I played Bob Cratchit and doubled as various ghosts for the
first twelve years and was promoted to Scrooge for the past eight.
Having said this, I must state that I could not possibly have appeared
in all twenty productions, because mathematically, that would make me a
middle-aged man, which, of course, is a preposterous notion. But mathematics
notwithstanding, I would like to share with you some of my memories of
A Christmas Carols Past.
People who are now adults have grown up attending A Christmas
Carol every year. The very first Tiny Tim, Justin Davis, is now
a very adult man of 26! Over the years the show has been expanded,
condensed, readapted, inflated into a full-blown singing and dancing musical,
and reduced back down to its essential elements, and now Mary Hausch's
current adaptation adds a vibrant new dimension with Jacob Marley
as the story's narrator.
Various special effects have been added over the years:
a terrifying flying Ghost of Jacob Marley which zooms menacingly over the
heads of the audience (How do they do that?!), a mysterious tombstone
that chases the hapless Ebenezer Scrooge around the stage, and a Christmas
goose dinner that magically transforms into bare bones in an instant.
The A Christmas Carol blooper reel, if it existed, would be hilarious. In an early production, Jerry Mason as the Spirit of Christmas Present, fell off of a platform backstage and became upended and completely and helplessly tangled in his robes and some backstage curtains. His involuntary vocalizations while trying to free himself treated young ears in the audience to a stream of decidedly unDickensian epithets.
One year Martha Williams as Martha Cratchit exited to retrieve the
Cratchit Christmas pudding, the arrival of which is preceded by a fever-pitched
anticipatory buildup of epic proportions by the onstage Cratchits. Backstage,
finding the beloved pudding missing from the prop table, Martha returned
empty-handed to her eager onstage family with the horrifying and depressing
extemporaneous explanation, "A dog ate it!" We other Cratchits bit
our lips and continued stoically on with the scene, minus our prized pudding
that night.
Sometime in the 80s Kevin Rainesberger as Scrooge awakened from his
disturbing but edifying dream and darted backstage to make a quick change
whereby Scrooge instantly dons his street clothes to greet the citizens
of London as a new man. On this particular night the dresser in the
incredible haste of the change jerked Scrooge's stocking cap off and the
Scrooge wig came off with it. So Scrooge greeted the astonished Londoners
sporting Mr. Rainesberger's stylish 1980s coiffure. Scrooge was a
new man indeed!
Some of the best stories about A Christmas Carol can't be
told because they would reveal some of the show's special efffects secrets.
Suffice it to say that Marleys flying Ghost has veered from his flight
plan more than once!
Please come join us for A Christmas Carol this year, whether it's your 20th time or your first. We promise you a hilarious, moving and heartwarming good time.
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