By Trevor Walker
A Christmas Carol: On the Air is a beloved Cedar City tradition from the Neil Simon Festival. As a longtime resident of Iron County, it’s a real shame that I didn’t make time to attend The Neil Simon Festival’s A Christmas Carol: On The Air before I attended last night. They have been putting on this production for 10 years and I can see why it’s a Cedar City tradition. It is a delightful retelling of the classic Charles Dickens novel A Christmas Carol. Featuring TV and Film’s Clarence Gilyard as Scrooge, and Cedar City acting stalwarts Peter Sham (doubling as the director) and Richard Bugg as brothers who put on a radio show in small town America.
The show opens with a surprising tap number by a trio of great singers called the Carolettes. Throughout the show these Carolettes (Olivia Sham, Sara Funk, and Bridget Long) sing jazzy numbers and dance delightfully. They even sing the ads for the local companies that have sponsored this production, a gag that doesn’t get old. They are great but their strongest moment is a song in the first act dedicated to those serving in the armed services. It’s clear that Lawrence Johnson has done an excellent job as the music director of this production.
Staging this story as a radio show leads to some truly inspired moments including a newscast featuring newscasters Virginia Pine (Eliza Hall) and Douglas Fir (Ryan “Rev” Mclean) delivering jokes disguised as news. The audience thoroughly enjoyed their deadpan delivery of jokes loosely related to current events. They also throw it out to field reporter Ben Cano who has an interesting, and funny, conversation with local botanist Tannenbaum, played with flair by Keith Bradshaw.
The highlight of these radio station segments is a cooking segment featuring Wendy Penrod as a chef named Chiffon. Under the guise of teaching the audience how to make fruitcake, Wendy leads the audience on a delightful journey with a punch line that left my stomach hurting from laughing so hard. Her commitment to the role had the entire audience transfixed.
Another highlight of staging this as a radio show is the fact that their sound effects are provided by a young foley artist played by Taylor Hall. Hall spends the vast majority of the show seated behind a table that is covered in devices capable of making sound. There are scenes in this production where he is making several sound effects at once and it is simultaneously hilarious and impressive. Hall also has a powerful turn as the Ghost of Christmas Present. Hall’s deep baritone voice is thoroughly intimidating as he encourages Scrooge to change his life for the better.
The parts of this show that are actually the story of Ebenezer Scrooge and his journey from “bah humbug” to “Merry Christmas” are delightful. Peter Sham has a wonderful narrator voice and captures Dickens’ writing perfectly. Even though he is seated in a chair (it is a radio show after all), Sham captures the imagination of the audience with his voice alone. He provides a valuable framework on which the radio production itself sits. His interactions with Bugg take place primarily outside of the story of A Christmas Carol, but they lead to the biggest emotional gut punch of the show. These two have delightful onstage chemistry that will make you want to come back for more.
Of course, none of this would be possible without the unseen talents of stage manager Jaymes Wheeler, lighting designer Jerry Bixman, sound team Frank Stearns and Corlissa Jensen, costume designer Jen Bach, and set decorations and props by Alyson Wheeler. These unsung heroes deserve their own round of applause for a seamless performance.
One particularly touching aspect of the show is easily overlooked. A beloved cast member, Charles Metten, passed away this year at the age of 91. Metten had played the ghost of Jacob Marley in this production for seven years. Read the program carefully to discover the wonderful tribute this production pays to his memory.
Neil Simon Festival’s A Christmas Carol: On the Air is a wonderfully enjoyable night of theater. It not only pays tribute to the original novel and story, but it applies it to our time in surprising ways. The acting is top notch. The singing is remarkable. And each and every actor is thoroughly committed to the many different roles they get to play in this production. Please make sure that you catch this Cedar City production tonight or tomorrow with the whole family, because it will add so much to your Christmas season.
The Neil Simon Festival presents A Christmas Carol: On The Air
The Heritage Center Theater, 105 North 100 East, Cedar City, UT 84720
December 20-22, 2018 7:30 PM
Tickets: $10-15
Contact: 435-267-0194, 866-35-SIMON
Neil Simon Festival Facebook Page
0 Comments