<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><head><meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"><meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 12 (filtered medium)"><style><!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Times;
panose-1:2 2 6 3 5 4 5 2 3 4;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times","serif";}
p.MsoBodyTextIndent, li.MsoBodyTextIndent, div.MsoBodyTextIndent
{mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-link:"Body Text Indent Char";
margin-top:0in;
margin-right:0in;
margin-bottom:0in;
margin-left:14.15pt;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
text-indent:.5in;
line-height:200%;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times","serif";}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:purple;
text-decoration:underline;}
span.BodyTextIndentChar
{mso-style-name:"Body Text Indent Char";
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-link:"Body Text Indent";
font-family:"Times","serif";}
span.EmailStyle19
{mso-style-type:personal-compose;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:windowtext;}
span.text11
{mso-style-name:text11;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
font-size:10.0pt;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
--></style><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Largely Literary Theater Company’s Unique Production of ‘A Christmas Carol’ Comes to Hudson<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>AREA FAVORITE IN HUDSON FOR THIS WEEKEND ONLY!!!!!<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>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’ <i>A Christmas Carol</i> 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. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Tickets are $14, with group, senior and student discounts available and can be reserved via the Hudson Players website at <a href="http://www.hudsonplayers.com">www.hudsonplayers.com</a> 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.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>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).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>The Largely Literary Theater Company’s production of <i>A Christmas Carol </i>has been toured to many Ohio cities, including Cleveland, Columbus, Akron, Kent, Solon, Kirtland, Hudson, Cuyahoga Falls, Stow, Medina and Nordonia Hills.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>“All three are excellent actors who make this staging of <i>A Christmas Carol </i>a most intimate experience,” the Akron Beacon Journal said of the Largely Literary Theater Company’s production. “This adaptation of <i>A Christmas Carol </i>taps into Dickens’ heavy theme of darkness, which is often glossed over in other adaptations.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>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, “<span class=text11>The three performers are excellent as they bring to life Dickens’ characters and his themes of celebrating Christmas with good cheer and generosity.”</span></span><span class=text11><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>The three-actor company of <i>A Christmas Carol </i>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, <i>Grave Secrets, </i>and such non-fiction works as <i>The Barter Theatre Story: Love Made Visible</i>, <i>The Columbo Phile: A Casebook</i>, <i>Mark My Words: Mark Twain on Writing</i>, <i>The Night Stalker Companion: A 25<sup>th</sup> Anniversary Tribute, Horton Foote’s The Shape of the River: The Lost Teleplay About Mark Twain </i>and <i>The Bedside, Bathtub & Armchair Companion to Dracula</i>. He frequently has lectured on Dickens at meetings of the International Dickens Fellowship, and he was on the planning committee of the group’s 103<sup>rd</sup> international conference. <i>Jim Tully: American Writer, Irish Rover, Hollywood Brawler, </i>a biography written with Paul J. Bauer, was just published by Kent State University Press.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>“Our production of <i>A Christmas Carol </i>is designed to be as intimate as it is atmospheric,” Dawidziak says.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>The Largely Literary Theater Company was founded in 2002 by Dawidziak and Showman to stage this version of <i>A Christmas Carol</i>. 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 <i>The Tell-Tale Play, </i>a collection of poems and stories by Edgar Allan Poe, and <i>Twain By Three, </i>Dawidziak’s two-act adaptation of Mark Twain sketches for three actors.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>With <i>Christmas Carol, </i>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.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>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 <i>The Tell-Tale Play </i>(performing “The Raven” and “The Tell-Tale Heart”).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Showman, who assumes the mantle of “just about everybody else” in <i>A Christmas Carol, </i>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 <i>Lost in Yonkers</i>, Melissa in <i>Love Letters</i> at Coach House, Clara in <i>I’m Not Rappaport</i> and Shirley in <i>Shirley Valentine</i>. 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 <i>Another Part of the Forest</i>, <i>A Little Night Music</i>, <i>A Streetcar Named Desire </i>and <i>Inherit the Wind.<o:p></o:p></i></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>She appears in the Largely Literary productions of <i>The Tell-Tale Play</i>, performing “The Bells” and “The Masque of the Red Death,” and <i>Twain By Three </i>(performing “Eve’s Diary” and playing several roles). Showman also has developed several storytelling programs for pre-school and elementary school students, including <i>Animal Tales, The Poetry Show, Holiday Stories </i>with Mrs. Santa Claus and Mother Goose rhymes.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>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 </span><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%'><a href="mailto:info@hudsonplayers.com"><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>info@hudsonplayers.com</span></a></span><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> if interested in additional information or call 330-655-8522. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoBodyTextIndent style='margin-left:0in;text-indent:0in;line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Additional information is available at www.hudsonplayers.com.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div></body></html>