PL AYBILL a christmas carol
a christmas carol charles dickens adapted by Michael Shamata }{
approximate running time: 2 hours there will be one 20 minute intermission
ARTIST NOTE: OLIVER DENNIS I’m growing my mutton chops (yipes). Wardrobe has MADE a costume for me (kudos to Geoff and Barb). Stage Management (Sarah, Emily and Ian) have been angels helping me review blocking and lines while our very busy stand-in director, Joseph Ziegler, is called into rehearsals for another Christmas offering at Soulpepper (Parfumerie – go see it. Gregory Prest and Michelle Monteith are stepping into the roles of George and Rosie and they’re going to be awesome). And in rehearsals: the new Cratchit children are settling in nicely; the rest of the cast (with one exception, but more on that later) are slipping into their characters seamlessly, practically all ready for performance; and the odd batch of cookies or birthday cupcakes make their way to a treat table. Everything is moving inexorably toward opening night with ease and confidence. Two of us, though, might belie that ease and confidence. We tend to come back from break early to sit, noses in scripts, or staring
into the middle distance. Jordan Pettle is replacing me as Bob Cratchit, a role I have played nine times. Goodness knows my Bob was not the definitive Bob, but it has to be daunting nonetheless. To feel like one’s performance is being judged against another’s. I know this because that is how I feel taking on a part that may actually be definitively performed by Joe Ziegler. Here, I have to say that Joe could not be more giving and generous with his notes, his encouragement, his insight into the character and his advice. Watching Jordan fills me with wonder. Wonder at his talent and his work and his generous spirit, yes, but I knew that already. Wonder at how the same story (in the case of A Christmas Carol – a very well known story) can be told in an infinite number of ways. Jordan’s uniqueness brings a whole new Bob Cratchit alive. Isn’t that wonderful? Now, about this Scrooge...
OLIVER DENNIS, Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol