|
 INSPECTING
CAROL
By Daniel Sullivan & Seattle Rep Theatre Company*
The Labyrinth Theatre
REVIEWED 11/24/06 PERFORMANCE
Directed by Cliff Stephens
Scenic, Lighting, and Sound Design by Kevin Ash
Costume Design by Stephanie Epstein
CAST
Zorah Bloch...............................Amy Mills
Kevin Emery.............................Chris Dover
Phil Hewlitt...............................Paul Taylor
Sidney Carlton...........................Francis Fuselier
Luther Beatty.............................Cayman Mitchell
Wayne Wellacre........................Lee Irving
Betty Andrews...........................Lisa Anne Haram
Larry Vauxhall...........................T.A. Taylor
Thomas B. Frances.....................Jared Culpepper
M.J. McMann.............................Maria Zsohar
Dorothy Tree Hapgood..............Julie Erickson
Spike..........................................Jake Nelson
_________________________INSPECTING CAROL_________________________
I'll share a little secret with you, when it comes to Christmas; well I
guess you could call me Mr. Grinch's nephew, Mr. Bitter. The truth is
I'm not a fan at all of this holiday. I dread it creeping around the
corner starting in October. The stores don't help with thrusting their
Xmas goodies & décor right in your face, and its only September! TV
shows already promoting their holiday specials, "NBC is proud to present
from Hallmark's Xmas snow, holiday treats, and ornaments galore starring
Kathy Lee Gifford." Where's my gun.
There are personal reasons why I just hate this holiday, and they'll
remain personal. But also because so much is force fed down our throats
that this holiday demands mountains of presents, endless shopping hours,
traffic jams, the relatives, those ugly Xmas sweaters, spending more
than you can afford, and of course-the annual Xmas theater show.
Oh tis the season where theater companies mount the 500th version of A
CHRISTMAS CAROL or BEST XMAS PAGEANT EVER. As an actor I did a Xmas show
two years in a row hoping it would melt this ice frozen distain toward
the holidays. No dice. By the second year I was begging for the stage
lights above to fall on top of me, ending this cruel, cruel torture of
doing yet another show involving the Herdmans & 100 kiddie actors high
on sugar that the stage mommies fed them backstage.
But the audiences and the kids love-and I mean-love these shows. They
sell out so big, theater companies add even more performances to fill
the demand. These productions become major hit makers for their season.
Can't beat that.
That's why Mr. Bitter stays tucked away from the eggnog and silver
tinsel in his cave with his diet coke and DVR, begging that it just
passes over him quickly.
So why on earth would I make a visit to the Labyrinth Theatre and their
current holiday production of INSPECTING CAROL? Well I've never seen the
play, it seemed far from the usual sugar coated holiday fare, and it was
time I paid a visit to one of the newer theater companies.
This comedy by Daniel Sullivan and the Seattle Rep Theatre Company
centers around a theater company about to put on their holiday show, A
CHRISTMAS CAROL. Oh, by the way, there are only two theater companies in
this unnamed town. The other theater company happens to be an all
Lesbian theater company. Already you get the sense you're not in
Dickens country.
This is their annual fundraiser production the holiday classic. Easy
enough. But then they find out that they are broke, plus deal with
method actors, suicide, divorce, and to top it off-they may lose their
funding from the NEA (National Endowment of the Arts).
In that usual slapstick genre of comedy, the company confuses the
stranger that comes into their theater as the NEA judge who has come to
evaluate their current show-and the comedy ensues.
The majority of the script is quite witty & entertaining. It actually at
times reminds you of that other backstage comedy, NOISES OFF. Not all
the characters are fleshed out, and there is missing subtext sprinkled
throughout the writing, but the bulk of the script is quite mirth
provoking and highly enjoyable.
The Labyrinth Theatre calls home an oval shape portion of a church,
which hinders them physically in sets. i.e. it is an intimate space. I
honestly don't know if it's due to the space, budget constraints, but
physically the production suffers. There is no hint of color from its
lighting palette. It's basic, bland beige. Although there was some
flickering white light far upstage, which resembled either a strobe
light gone wacko or the bulb was going out. The set is small,
cumbersome, and tight. But oddly enough this actually aided the vibe
of the piece to resemble a company struggling to put on a great show on
a shoestring budget.
Having said this-Designer Kevin Ash deserves a standing ovation for his
ability to still create some frenetic laughter thanks to his scenic
design elements within the second act. For a small company like this to
design some physical, difficult set elements really gave the piece its
solid center to work off of.
As for the production itself, the piece does have some pace problems.
Comedy needs to have that special pace to get through the exposition as
quickly as possible so that the center of its comedy is fully explored.
However the pace here at times seemed tamed and sluggish. Scene changes
also hindered the pace, especially in the second act. The company
created all this frenzy hilarity, only to have it dulled a little by the
slow scene changes in the dark.
Director Cliff Stephens used the space as best as he could in regards to
blocking and staging. There really isn't much leeway for him to add
picture window staging or grandeur in regards to subtext blocking.
However, Stephens does do a marvelous job with the difficult physical
staging in the second act. The director also has a terrific eye for
casting, because he rounded up a solid troop of performers, from the
leads down to the minor roles.
Out of the entire cast, the funniest work is provided by Julie Erickson,
Lee Irving, and Chris Dover. Each of them brought a unique, special
comedic quality within their acting that stood out.
 Ms. Erickson (as the British vocal coach) has several scenes that had
the audience laughing endlessly. Such as the vocal warm up involving a
lemon and the one that had me doubling over in laughter-her "new"
vocal/speech pattern she created for her character within CAROL. It is
sinfully hilarious.
Irving as the out of town actor (or NEA judge?) had to warm up into the
role at the beginning, but once he loosened and relaxed within the molds
of his character, he gave a rip roaring performance. His second act work
was comedy gold, resulting in the audience heaving in never ending waves
of laughter, which he totally deserved and earned. His comedic
interpretation of King Richard and Tiny Tim (that's right, Tiny Tim) is
comedy payola for Irving. His facial expressions and physical comedic
choices for those two characters show some superb comedic talent within
this actor.
Then there is Mr. Dover, who I think had the funniest damn character
I've ever seen in a Christmas show. As the new Managing Director,
Dover's characterization is perfection from beginning to end. Comedy
cannot be taught, you are either born with it or not. A true comic actor
knows he or she must use their face, body, and voice to achieve the best
possible laughs within their character. One of the hardest tools in
comedy acting is finding every possible comedic subtext within your
character. Anyone can say a funny line, it's everything else before,
after, and around that line that singles out the better comic performers
from others. Dover is one of them. From his wide eye look of "deer in
the headlights", a hairdo that looks like an homage to Don Knotts, and
nervous tics-this highly talented actor steals several scenes throughout
the evening One scene resulted in the audience loudly applauding at the
end of Dover's fantastic comedic rants. Dover's pace, delivery, and
timing was sublime, he found comedy gold in the simplest of lines and
words. It is an exceptional performance.
Others in the company that also delivered terrific performances include
Amy Mills, who runs the company and is the director (her seduction of
Irving in Act Two proliferated loud laughs); Francis Fuselier as "Sidney
Carlton" (his actor stage business with the chains is very funny); T.A.
Taylor as the method actor "Larry" (his second act work as "Scrooge" is
hysterical from beginning to end); and Paul Taylor as "Phil", who has
transformed his body into this Quasimodo meets Marty Feldman's Igor that
results in pure comedy success
Rounding out the stellar cast include a trio of fine, comic
performances: Devon Jackson as "Walter"; Maria Zsohar as the stage
manager "M.J."; and Cayman Mitchell as "Luther", the only kid in the
show, but who has the hots for his stage manager.
Here's an excellent example of how no role is too small to be noticed.
Jared Culpepper and Lisa Anne Haram both have minor roles that have very
little dialogue, but both talented thespians forbid this to hinder them
from delivering some excellent work as well.
Culpepper does not say much, but throughout the entire performance I
would look at him, and he was completely in character, constantly
reacting with some very funny facial expressions and doing comic
business. That takes a lot of concentration; he did not fade into the
background, but held his own with the principals of the company as well.
Miss Haram only appears in the second act but she is quite funny, I
won't spoil the fun here on what she does, it should be a fun surprise
to you as it was for me.
As the shopping crowds trample all over you to get to the best buys; as
you sign the deed to your home to pay for that very expensive tickle me
Elmo or Play station 300; or have to sit with the kids for the 900th
telecast of FROSTY THE SNOWMAN; there is still some great escape from
the usual holiday season awaiting you at Labyrinth theater.
If you want to avoid the "been there, done that" Xmas fare, then hitch a
ride on Santa's Sleigh and get thee to Labyrinth for a hilarious evening
of theater. Spending an evening there even made Mr. Bitter's attitude
here toward the holidays melt a little. That's a start, right?
GRADE: B+
______________________________________________________________________
INSPECTING CAROL plays through December 9th. Thursday through Saturday
evenings 7:30 pm, Saturday matinees 3:00 pm. Performances at The
Labyrinth Theatre - 1400 W. Arapaho Rd. (at Coit), Richardson, 75080
(Inside the Arapaho United Methodist Church)
Cost: Tickets range from $12 to $25. Discounts for seniors, students and
groups are available. Patrons who also make a tax-deductible
contribution to TLT receive many additional benefits, such as reserved
seating and invitations to private dinners and receptions.
For more info: www dot thelabyrinththeatre dot org, contact TLT Box
Office at (972) 231-1012, or go to the Box Office at Arapaho United
Methodist Church, 1400 W. Arapaho Road (at Coit), Richardson, 75080.
John F. Garcia, Jr.
Executive Director/Producer, THE COLUMN Theatre Awards
Editor & Founder of THE COLUMN
Texas Regional Theater Critic for talkinbroadway.com |
