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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";">Review
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 26pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; color: red; display: none;">Silly, somber take stage for holidays December 09,2010 07:30 AM
GMTKerry Clawson Beacon Journal Publishing Co.<a href="http://www.ohio.com/entertainment/111581609.html#license-111581609"><span style="color: red;">Copyright © 2010 Beacon Journal Publishing Co. Inc and Black
Press. All Rights Reserved. Any copying, redistribution or retransmission of
any of the contents of this service without the express written consent of the
Akron Beacon Journal is expressly prohibited.</span></a> </span><span style="font-size: 26pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; color: red;">Scrooge
production delivers </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 26pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; color: red;">plenty of
talent </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";">By Kerry Clawson <br>
Beacon Journal staff writer</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";">Published on Thursday,
Dec 09, 2010</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><br><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><font style="color: rgb(255, 102, 102);" size="6"><i><b>'A Christmas Carol' </b></i></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";">Some folks may think if
you've seen one rendition of <i>A Christmas Carol, </i>you've seen them all.
Not so with the <span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;">richly
imaginative staging</span> in Actors' Summit's
production, adapted by Doris Baizley. <br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><br><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";">This is the rendition
the Cleveland Play House's resident company performed for years, and Akron audiences are lucky
to experience it decades later. In this version, which runs 90 minutes without
intermission, a troupe of traveling players has their prop girl and stage
manager jump into the roles of Tiny Tim and Scrooge to help tell this timeless
Dickens tale. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";">Connie and Neil
Thackaberry direct a talented cast of 11 under the advisement of Wayne Turney,
a former Cleveland Play House company member who worked with Actors' Summit for years. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";">At Greystone Hall, a
huge trunk designed by Will Neuert dominates the stage, turned sideways on its
end. As the playmaking starts, the trunk opens wide to cleverly reveal shelves
of backstage trappings, including props and costumes. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";">The simplest elements of
stagecraft make this production truly remarkable. That includes Bob Keefe
holding a door knocker in front of his face outside Scrooge's residence,
removing it to reveal his head wrapped in a bandage, uplit in eerie fashion. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";">Later, cast members
cover their faces with gruesome Scrooge masks when he looks in on his own
funeral. Neil Thackaberry's voice alone is awe-inspiring as Scrooge, from his
cruel-sounding tones to those of despair and, finally, joy. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";">Dreary lighting pervades
Scrooge's blackest moments. The miser speaks to both Marley and the Ghost of
Christmas Future (Keefe) in near darkness, which makes these scenes all the
more frightening. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";">The production is a true
ensemble effort, with the players taking turns narrating the story. Many are
Actors' Summit
newcomers, including Melissa Brobeck, Joe Dunn, Cassie Newmann, Emma Picht and
Mark Seven. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;">The directors have created a beautiful flow that
seamlessly incorporates their actors' additional talents, including violin
playing by Miller South sixth-grader Picht, singing by the classically trained
Brobeck and flute playing by Newmann. The Thackaberrys also have added
beautiful handbell playing onstage, led by Seven.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";">A big part of the
production's beauty is how its stage magic is laid bare: An actor clad in a
black robe spins Scrooge's bed around to represent him flying over London with the Ghost of
Christmas Past. And in the end, two actors create a wave of beautiful snow with
a glittering white swath of fabric. </span></p>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br>Arts writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at
330-996-3527 or <a href="mailto:kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com">kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com</a></span><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Neil Thackaberry<br>Co-artistic Director<br>Actors' Summit, a professional theater<br>
103 South High Street<br>6th Floor<br>Akron OH 44308<br><div style="display: inline;"></div><br>
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