A year ago, I started my journey on this blog by writing about A Christmas Carol Comedy at Hedgerow Theatre. Today, I get the pleasure of writing about it again. I am so ecstatic that Hedgerow decided to do this show for a second season. Hedgerow has been doing various versions of A Christmas Carol for as long as I know, and even beyond that. Whether it’s the traditional version that I acted in, a one man version that I saw there many years ago, or the current version, it’s a holiday tradition that I don’t think can be beat.
Let’s be honest…the holidays are a hard time of year. Work is crazy, we’re running around worrying about presents and food and family, and we’re all pretty exhausted in general. It’s so easy to feel run down and snappy. I work in grocery, and even our nicest customers can get sharp. I get it. We all get it. Because we’re all right there, in the same position. Whatever winter holidays we’re celebrating, we’re all in this together. It’s both terrible, and wonderful.
And that’s exactly why we need things like A Christmas Carol Comedy. For a show that runs for just over an hour, it did a remarkable job of lifting a lot of weight off my shoulders. I thought I understood what this play could do for me. First of all, it was the show that started my blog last year. Second of all, I remember all the laughs I got out of it, and the laughs the entire audience got out of it. Third of all, I remember how it brought all of us…ourselves, who we came with, the audience, the actors, every backstage person, to be in one good, present spot together. Isn’t that what the holidays are about?
But I got even more out of it this year. I don’t know if I needed it more, or there was some extra edge to it, more humor, me being a year wiser, or a combination of all of the above and more, but Friday night, I sat down and I don’t think I stopped laughing from beginning to end. I loved the invitation to clap and laugh. I don’t know if there was a single reserved person in the audience. How could anyone possibly be reserved watching a show like A Christmas Carol Comedy? I like to think it could touch even the Scrooge-iest of people.
It’s almost unbelievable, the show that we’re able to witness with just two actors. From the start, we know that’s what we’re seeing. It’s the comedic allure of A Christmas Carol Comedy…we have Scrooge, and then we have “Everybody Else”. Anyone who knows A Christmas Carol knows that there are a lot more characters than just Scrooge. There are a lot of men, a lot of women, a lot of children. Really important characters, like Bob Cratchit and Fan and Tiny Tim. And super minor characters, like the people collecting for charity and carolers. And A Christmas Carol Comedy gives all of those characters to one person.
That’s asking a lot of one person. Even just on paper. But Christopher Patrick Mullen is one helluva brave soul, especially to be doing this for a second year. And damn, does he absolutely rock at the role. Or rather, roles? It’s insane watching him bounce from character to character, switching out small costume pieces and props like glasses, wigs, scarves, and every other thing imaginable. It’s amazing when you think about everything he put into this, playing a whole score of characters. It’s lines, it’s bouncing around the stage, it’s running into the audience. I’m pretty sure I’d be on the floor within the first ten minutes.
The perfect compliment to this is, of course, Brian Anthony Wilson’s performance as Scrooge. I don’t think I could manage that one either, honestly. I’d be on the floor…laughing. But he completely keeps it together, delivering his own comedic gold in his entire body and disposition. Scrooge is, in a normal production of A Christmas Carol, definitely not a humorous character. He’s dark and haunted, and does things like hitting a child. But here, we see him just as funny as his counterpart. It takes a special talent to take a character like that and completely turn him around.
So here we have two phenomenal actors, along with a wonderful production team and crew, and of course, a brilliant playwright, creating a really wonderful production. The process that gets us A Christmas Carol Comedy is thinking about everything for the audience. Obviously they want to give us the absolute best they can, while still making the experience great for the other side of things…and I truly believe everyone involved wants that for all of us. We wouldn’t get that experience if all of them weren’t enjoying every second as well.
Maybe I did just need it more this year than last year. It was fucking fantastic to soak in those 70 minutes of absolute joy and laughter. Everything just felt lighter. I couldn’t stop laughing. I don’t think anyone could stop laughing. That’s the beauty of this show. I said the same last year, and I will definitely stick by that. A Christmas Carol Comedy brings joy and happiness. It brings success, and a year of awesome blog posts.
Here’s to another great year! And of course, as Tiny Tim would say…
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