[NEohioPAL] 3 Actors + 2 Acts = One Excellent and Unique 'Christmas Carol'

[Gary Maher]

Largely Literary Theater Company's Unique Production of 'A Christmas Carol'
Comes to Hudson

AREA FAVORITE IN HUDSON FOR THIS WEEKEND ONLY!!!!!

 

The Hudson Players, Hudson's long running, award winning community theater,
are working together with The Largely Literary Theater Company to bring its
acclaimed three-person version of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol to the
Barlow Community Center in Hudson on December 16 & 17. This is the
'Christmas Nice' portion of the group's Naughty and Nice holiday offerings
and in the spirit of the holiday the show is also being used to benefit the
community, with 50% of money made after costs being donated by the Hudson
Players to the EMS Outreach Fund of Hudson. This fund supports Hudson's
volunteer EMS forces and their efforts to improve health and safety
throughout the community. 

 

Tickets are $14, with group, senior and student discounts available and can
be reserved via the Hudson Players website at www.hudsonplayers.com or via
phone by calling 330-655-8522.The theater is located at 41 S. Oviatt St, in
downtown Hudson. Dinner and show packages are available as well.

 

First staged in Cleveland and Akron in 2002, this adaptation of the holiday
favorite is described by director and playwright Mark Dawidziak as "a play
in two acts for three actors." The Largely Literary production emphasizes
fidelity to the original book.

 

The basic concept is that the audience has gathered to hear Dickens give one
of his popular readings of the story about miserly Ebenezer Scrooge. Dickens
(played by Dawidziak) appears on stage, opens the book and starts reading
the familiar words, "Marley was dead to begin with. . . " As the "reading"
progresses, a second actor (Tom Stephan) appears as Scrooge. This is the
only role he plays as the story literally comes to life around Dickens. The
third actor, Sara Showman, plays almost all the other roles - men and women,
ghosts and mortals - with Dickens moving in and out of the action as a third
voice is needed. The play is presented in two acts, and the entire
production runs about 90 minutes (with an intermission).

 

The Largely Literary Theater Company's production of A Christmas Carol has
been toured to many Ohio cities, including Cleveland, Columbus, Akron, Kent,
Solon, Kirtland, Hudson, Cuyahoga Falls, Stow, Medina and Nordonia Hills.

"All three are excellent actors who make this staging of A Christmas Carol a
most intimate experience," the Akron Beacon Journal said of the Largely
Literary Theater Company's production. "This adaptation of A Christmas Carol
taps into Dickens' heavy theme of darkness, which is often glossed over in
other adaptations."

 

The production also was acclaimed as "a wonderful version" by the Dickens
Fellowship, the 100-year-old organization dedicated to the study of the
author's life and works. Cleveland Scene said "this quiet, faithful take" on
Dickens' story "is restrained, reserved, and charmingly quaint." And the
West Side Leader said, "The three performers are excellent as they bring to
life Dickens' characters and his themes of celebrating Christmas with good
cheer and generosity."

 

The three-actor company of A Christmas Carol brings a wide breadth of
experience with them to the stage. Dawidziak, who also plays Bob Cratchit
and a few other characters, has been a theater, film and television critic
for more than 30 years. Currently the television critic at the Cleveland
Plain Dealer, his 12 published books include a novel, Grave Secrets, and
such non-fiction works as The Barter Theatre Story: Love Made Visible, The
Columbo Phile: A Casebook, Mark My Words: Mark Twain on Writing, The Night
Stalker Companion: A 25th Anniversary Tribute, Horton Foote's The Shape of
the River: The Lost Teleplay About Mark Twain and The Bedside, Bathtub &
Armchair Companion to Dracula. He frequently has lectured on Dickens at
meetings of the International Dickens Fellowship, and he was on the planning
committee of the group's 103rd international conference. Jim Tully: American
Writer, Irish Rover, Hollywood Brawler, a biography written with Paul J.
Bauer, was just published by Kent State University Press.

 

"Our production of A Christmas Carol is designed to be as intimate as it is
atmospheric," Dawidziak says.

The Largely Literary Theater Company was founded in 2002 by Dawidziak and
Showman to stage this version of A Christmas Carol. Specializing in faithful
adaptations of classic literature, the company's mission is to promote
literacy, literature and live theater. Other plays in the Largely Literary
repertoire include The Tell-Tale Play, a collection of poems and stories by
Edgar Allan Poe, and Twain By Three, Dawidziak's two-act adaptation of Mark
Twain sketches for three actors.

 

With Christmas Carol, Dawidziak says, "the idea is to draw the audience in,
asking them to use their imagination to see everything Dickens is
describing. Most changes of character for Sara occur in front of the
audience, using slight changes in attitude, costume and props. A few set
pieces - a trunk, tables, some chairs - are constantly shifted by the cast
to suggest various scenes, everything being used and reused as imaginatively
as possible."

 

Stephan, one of the Akron area's most popular actors, combined his acting
avocation with his vocational pursuits for 31 years before he retired from
English and drama teaching at Stow-Munroe Falls High School. He has appeared
in more than 80 major productions in the greater Akron-Canton area,
including the Weathervane Playhouse, Coach House Theater, the Stow Players,
Goodyear Theater, the old Bath Players, and the Players Guild of Canton. He
also appears in the Largely Literary productions of The Tell-Tale Play
(performing "The Raven" and "The Tell-Tale Heart").

 

Showman, who assumes the mantle of "just about everybody else" in A
Christmas Carol, is the co-founder and general manager of the Largely
Literary Theater Company. She has appeared in many productions in Ohio since
moving to the Akron area in 1983. She has worked with professional
companies, as well as college, children's and community theaters. She has
appeared at Kent State, Weathervane, Coach House Theatre, the Beck Center
for the Performing Arts, the Canton Players Guild, Porthouse Theatre
Company, the Working Theater and Actors Summit Theater. An Equity membership
candidate, she earned a bachelor of fine arts degree in acting and directing
from Kent State University. Favorite roles include Bella in Lost in Yonkers,
Melissa in Love Letters at Coach House, Clara in I'm Not Rappaport and
Shirley in Shirley Valentine. She also has appeared in four Shakespeare
productions at Stan Hywet. Before moving to Ohio, she appeared in several
productions for theater companies in her native Tennessee, including Another
Part of the Forest, A Little Night Music, A Streetcar Named Desire and
Inherit the Wind.

 

She appears in the Largely Literary productions of The Tell-Tale Play,
performing "The Bells" and "The Masque of the Red Death," and Twain By Three
(performing "Eve's Diary" and playing several roles). Showman also has
developed several storytelling programs for pre-school and elementary school
students, including Animal Tales, The Poetry Show, Holiday Stories with Mrs.
Santa Claus and Mother Goose rhymes.

 

The Hudson Players are an all volunteer non-profit community theater
organization and one of the longest running theater troupes in the area.
Volunteers are always welcome to assist with a variety of tasks including
publicity, poster distribution, set building, costumes and more. Up next
will be a production of the zippy, fun, new musical comedy Bingo: The
Musical to be presented February 3, 4, 10, 11, 17, 18, 19, 24 & 25, 2012.
Written by Michael Heitzman, Ilene Reid and David Holcenberg, Bingo is "a
winning new musical" that allows audience members to play along with the
game of chance. Please send an email to  <mailto:info at hudsonplayers.com>
info at hudsonplayers.com if interested in additional information or call
330-655-8522. 

 

Additional information is available at www.hudsonplayers.com.

 

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