Scrooge

THEATER 63
-December 2001
The Wood Theater had a children's program, still called the Pirate Players, who put on several shows a year. The new director was Jenn Robinson, fresh out of college, energetic and eager. She asked whether i would be the sole adult actor in the first production, playing Ebenezer himself. I loved children dearly, but had never been crazy about doing theater for them. Here was a chance to act with them, in a theater i loved. After haggling over compensation (i got my $100/week plus housing), we held auditions. A lovely cast of about sixteen was assembled. We held rehearsals in the community center across from the theater. It quickly became a love-in between the cast and i. Not in charge, i was free to be a grown-up kid. Disciplined and dedicated, but always goofing and playing when the moment was right. Lots of the kids regularly hopped on my back (or head). The youngest ones loved swinging on my outstretched arms. Jared played Bob Crachit. He had one foot in the acting world and the other in normal adolescence, and loved joking around and talking with me. Sarah was my other best buddy. She played the ghost of the past, with presence and talent beyond her years. I'm almost positive that i'd been her kindergarten substitute teacher seven years earlier. I think she and i had made a special connection even then, that she'd drawn a picture just for me and that i'd saved it, out of the many, many similar such drawings i didn't keep. Now in early adolescence, she grew a little crush on me. She concocted games for us that were wonderfully childlike, but she was also aware that the world was starting to tell her she could no longer be held or bounced around like the younger cast members. I could almost visibly see her mind trying to figure this stuff out. She played a pouncing cat game with me, trying to hold on to the human contact that, in this broken world of ours, only a child is "entitled" to. It was so very touching, perhaps a little heartbreaking, and i adored her every bit as much as she did me. Kasey played the ghost of the present, and centered the younger kids nicely. Whitney was the ghost of the future. She was so adorable you almost had to laugh, as the smallest cast member playing the most frightening role. She had no ghost lines, just lots of pointing. In rehearsal, she needed regular help with her cues. We would get to a pointing-point, and she would stand there. I would lift my finger just the teeniest bit, she would see it, smile, and raise her hand ominously. Possibly the cutest thing i've ever seen. She also played my sister Fanny, and had the most-mimicked line of the play - "Ebenezer, Ebenezer!" She said it so quickly and earnestly, you couldn't help but smile. Another of her lines, "A great black bear!", sounded like "beer", particularly to the adult crew. I entertained the kids with a Crocodile Hunter impression, searching for the rare (and dangerous) "scroogius whitnius" bird on Sanibel, listening for that high-pitched "ebenezer!" Chris played Jacob Marley. He had auditioned for me at the Orpheus the year before, and was a delight. Amanda's spunky little brother Jacob played Dick and Topper. He would say things like "as I live and breathe", and it was so funny coming out of his mouth. Another of his line readings came across like "jazzercise". During our first performance, Jenn was suddenly running around backstage, because he couldn't be found. I finally spotted him on the stage right ramp, in full view of the audience, just lying down and watching. Playing the pivotal part of Fred was Carl.  He was in a tough spot, because he was only doing the show to look after his younger brother Tyler, who was playing Tiny Tim (Carl had entered the age when theater wasn't "cool"). He had one scene where he was supposed to kiss a girl, but Jenn reworked it, because Carl wouldn't even TOUCH a girl. He came through fine, though. 5 year-old Tyler's casting was a shameless bit of promotion, as he was a real life Tiny Tim, with cerebral palsy. Jenn's favorite, he'd taken his first steps only a month or so before. But his smile was an infectious starburst, he learned his lines so quickly, and his performance was heart-touching, spirit-lifting, and perfect. I got to hold him as the play ended, and my hug needed no actor's touch. Amelia, funny and spunky, played the street urchin outside my window, along with Kacie. They were a great pair. Danielle played Belle. She was talented, but i could never get her to make eye contact onstage. I was being housed in a Sanibel resort. While there, i did some storytelling for one of their Christmas functions, and met the widow Wood, plus another patron who told me i had replaced John Cassavetes' as her favorite theater voice. We performed on a dressed-up set of LION IN WINTER, the medieval architecture lending a nice feel to our show. My buddy Ken was playing the oldest son in LION, a dream role for him, but he was unstable because of the HIV Cocktails he was taking. Robert and i had 11th-hour discussions about me replacing him. I was pulling for Ken, and he came through. On a backstage bulletin board, our casts left notes for each other. Amanda was in LION, and i wrote that our cast had the talented, feminine one from her family. She zinged back. Around this time i had some nasty breath, starting with my sickness in TONY AND TINA'S. Kids are honest about that sort of thing (particularly Jacob, bless him), and i did much to fight it (gargling, parsley, pills), with iffy results. Prior to this, i'd been a remarkably unself-conscious human, but that was no longer the case for years to come. Performing as Scrooge was so, so wonderful. My costume, with top hat and cane and white mutton chops, was so great. Doing the show meant a third year in a row that theater kept me from being with my family at Christmas, but there was no sense of sacrifice. To play those emotions, to go through that character's unbelievable transformation, kneeling at my own grave…finally, when i realize it's not too late, i felt like i was floating through the air as i walked. Add to that the energy of the kids all around me…what more could anyone ever want? The audiences were huge and happy. For the curtain call i came out last, always picking up one of the youngest actors to carry in my arms. Everyone then sang "Joy to the World". The final show, i picked up Whitney's 4 year-old sister from the audience. Her smile would have lit up the world's deepest darkness. I also picked up Carl's and Tyler's younger sister one night, and a year and a half later, i bumped into their family at a garage sale. The sister was the first to see me, and as soon as our eyes met, she ran to me and leaped into my arms. Happy Christmas. Bless us, every one.