News

LIGHTNING REVIEW: This 'Christmas Carol' is merrier than most

By Bill Moss, Published: November 25, 2014

My standard emotion entering a performance of "A Christmas Carol" is vague dread cloaked by a thin layer of hope.

It is, after all, Dickensian London, of all that coal dust and poverty and classism. We know the story, and we know there is hope and understanding and ultimately redemption and blah blah blah it just takes too long to get there.
Except the Flat Rock Playhouse performance of the holiday classic does not seem that way. Propelled by the incorrigibly upbeat Scrooge nephew Fred, played with wonderful grinning optimism by Jarid Faubel, leavened by Peter Thomasson's Scrooge and scooted forward by Steve Carlisle's Jacob Marley, the Playhouse version hints of hope throughout. Thanks to Stephen Terry's remarkable lighting and the lively musical accompaniment by music director Alex Shields, the show never loses heart.
Maybe it's the presence of the many YouTheatre actors, which new artistic director Lisa K. Bryant and director Amy Jones consciously added to this production. Directed by YouTheatre director Dave Hart (also billed as assistant director of the show), the kids shine.
In fact, opening night on Saturday was significant not only for who was on stage but who was in the audience. Hundreds of teachers received tickets for the show. That not only ensured a full house, which always makes for a better performance, but it also highlighted an emerging theme at the Playhouse to invest more in education and integrate the institution more deeply into the community.
Speaking before the curtain rose on Saturday night, Bryant joked that while she is enjoying her new job, "there's some really hard days." When things are bad "I just think about my three years as a public school teacher," she said. She taught theater at North Henderson High School for before returning to the Playhouse as assistant creative director in 2013. "If I can be a public school teacher, I can do anything," she said. "Other than parenting, teaching is the most difficult job on the planet."
She went on to announce that Pardee Hospital had agreed to pay for bus transportation, allowing the Playhouse to resurrect its outreach that brings high school students from Henderson, Polk and Transylvania schools to see shows.
I digress, yes, but it was a part of the whole night that felt nostalgic and altogether optimistic. The old vagabonds like Jane Bushway, Thomasson and Carlisle — a harsh critic of the Marini era — were back on the boards they've treaded hundreds of times. They mix well with more recently minted comic actors like Faubel, Scott Cote and Scott Pattison.
Thomasson's Scrooge is as grumpy as we expect him to be but he turns to wonderment when the Ghost of Christmas shows him his childhood. Christmas Present opens his eyes. The Ghost of Christmas Future — credit to the production crew and costumer Ashley Arnold for creating this 12-foot-high bony-fingered reaper — sends him into a spiral of despair. He sees and understands. He must save Tiny Tim, and if he must save Tiny Tim he must save the world.
Scrooge unbound by greed and liberated by generosity is Thomasson's finest hour. Uncle Scrooge's arrival at the doorway of Fred, his ever-benevolent nephew, will make you want to leap up and cheer. Go for it.

It's Christmas, and a merry one at that on stage at the Playhouse.

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Performances of 'A Christmas Carol' are 8 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are $40, $25 for students with valid ID and $10 for children 12 and under. For tickets call the box office at 828-693-0731 or 866-732-8008 or visit www.FlatRockPlayhouse.org.