BWW Blog: Jeffrey Sanzel, Executive Artistic Director of Theatre Three - 'I Have Always Thought of Christmastime'

"I Have Always Thought of Christmastime"

by Jeffrey Sanzel, Executive Artistic Director, Theatre Three

"[Scrooge] turned upon the Ghost [of Christmas Past], and seeing that it looked upon him a face, in which some strange way there were fragments of all the faces it had shown him, wrestled with it."

Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, 1843

We are now in our third weekend of A Christmas Carol (I guess we're part of the problem not the solution). Last night, almost to the end of act one, I had an idea for next year's production. Or maybe the one after that.

And that is the nature of the beast.

As I referenced in my first blog entry, for the past twenty-six years, the work has been a combination of evolution and revolution. I stare it a scene for a run or two ... or three. It can go through a dozen drafts and many years to become "soup."

Case in point. In our production, Scrooge also plays Young Scrooge. This came about when Brent Erlanson, who was directing in in 1990, couldn't find an actor short enough to play young Scrooge (i.e., young "me"-on a good day I'm not quite 5'4 ½"). That's how it began. The change is the Ghost of Christmas Past removing Scrooge's robe and for Scrooge to step into the scene. And now he's young Scrooge ... because he's not wearing a bathrobe. (The magic of Live Theatre. Anyway ...) This leaves the Ghost holding the bag (or, in this case, the robe). For some years, the Ghost hung the robe on a peg onstage. And it sat there the rest of the act. Then the Ghost carried it up the stairs and offstage. Better. Ish. Then a few years ago, during the run, I came up with the idea of having someone (Matt Paudano, playing warehouse worker Mr. Tackleton) cross through with a basket and the Ghost would deposit the robe in the basket. We added it during that run where it is has been since. Closer but still awkward for the Ghost to drape the robe in the basket. Finally, this year, what if Young Scrooge stops Mr. Tackelton who puts down the basket so that Ghost can drop the robe into the basket? Much better.

That's 222 words on a robe and probably ten years of work to solve a five second moment that almost no one will consciously notice. And that's the process of theatre. It's not lightning bolts. It's chiseling away. (One of the great moments in film is the book rehearsal scene in Topsy Turvy. It is eight minutes of discussing "Shall I cross here?" and "Why are you saying it that way? Please don't." and "Maybe you should cross on that line instead.")

The addition of a tea cup (a single reference in the novel that jumped out at me a few years ago), an ink blotter, a different quill, new lanterns, a coffin ("Ask Randy and Neil if I can have a coffin." Again, something that separates what we do from the rest of the world.) ... Changing a line. Cutting a single word.

What facilitates this? Returning cast members. (Recidivists? Repeat offenders?) We are truly fortunate to have so many actors return to the production, year-after-year. Some will go away for a year or two and then come back. Some come and stay.

At the top of this pyramid would be Douglas Quattrock, best known as Bob Cratchit, now in his tenth year. He will play his 500th performance on Sunday, December 15. Joining him are Matt Paduano (nine years as a Seeker of Mercy plus School Master and Old Joe), Debbie Starker (eight years; first Mrs. Dilber/Mrs. Fezziwig; then onto the Ghost of Christmas Present) and Renee Santos-Stewart (who stepped in for Debbie after her accident; over 500 performances, most notably Christmas Present as well as stints as Mrs. Dilber, Mrs. Fezziwig, First Seeker of Mercy, and Old Joe) and George Liberman (seven years; Mr. Fezziwig). Jessica Eichinger, who began at eight years old, marks her ninth year, returning as Martha. She is also one of the very few in the history of the show to go from the young person's cast to the adult company. Also of note, in his fourth season is Benjamin Fogarty as Tiny Tim-he will hit his 100th performance closing day. Not far behind are Marquez Stewart (Mrs. Cratchit), Steve McCoy (Bob Cratchit, Jacob Marley), Joan St. Onge (Mrs. Dilber and Mrs. Fezziwig) and Jacqueline Hughes (Ghost of Christmas Past, Belle, Janet, Seeker of Mercy).

That's hundreds of rehearsals and performances-thousands of hours of Christmas Carol experience that are brought to the table. We are never starting from the beginning. We're starting somewhere in the middle and it gives us the room to try different things. These most flexible (and patient) of actors are not fazed by ideas that seem to come from nowhere. They always know that we can go back to where we started. (There is sometimes the bemused look of "Oh, there he goes again. I'll just wait it out. Let me know when he's done.") Never once have these people not committed to some new idea, no matter how bizarre or far-flung off the beaten path.

Of course the flip side to this is the poor people who come to the show new ... Somehow I expect them to know the show through osmosis or air particles. I often want to say: "What do you mean you don't know the blocking? I don't care that's your first rehearsal."

Which leads me to the strange experience it must be for any cast of A Christmas Carol. While I have been involved with productions since 1988, it was really in 1993 that I began directing and playing Scrooge. I am a caricature of an eighteenth century actor-manager. Bellowing blocking, directing a few lines to a scene partner, and then walking offstage into the house to look at the picture. I have been known to break off in mid-sentence to shout off into the wings or ask for the stage manager to take a prop note. I have to apologize to the long line of wonderful actresses who have played Scrooge's fiancée, Belle:

"This is the way of the world, Belle, there is nothing-" Wait a minute is this desk in the right place?-"so hard is poverty and nothing is condemned with such sev-" You know, I think the desk should go here-"erity as the pursuit of-" Aren't we supposed to have a crate on the desk? I remembered asking for a crate. Put it on the list so we can have it tomorrow-"wealth."

Sorry about that.

During tech week, I employ one of the young cast members to take notes for me. I have developed a series of hand signals that at best make me look like a rabid baseball coach. I can't fathom what that must be like to play opposite.

This makes the process seem more autocratic than is. But, truth to tell, these actors know their parts and know the story and THEY KNOW THE PRODUCTION. They have a lot to offer beyond the minutiae (that is how the show flows, where the props go, etc.-which is also nice).

These actors have made amazing contributions (and, when they work, I get the credit-sorry about that, too). Fred's Wife's pregnancy (Sari Feldman) evolved to an ad-libbed discussion of whether it will be a boy or a girl (TracyLynn Conner) that has now become part of the permanent script. One of the great laugh moments for Christmas Present is a single word placement contributed by Dennis Setteducati ("unfeeling"). When the "Voices" from the end of act one were revamped, it was Steve McCoy who recommended changes to make it clearer; during tech week, lighting designer RoBert Henderson's suggestions that finalized the piece.

The designers and staff like Robert (and Russ Behrens for many years before him), RAndy Parsons, Bonnie Vidal, Julie Hoffman, and technical director Neil Creedon all have a stake beyond their areas. Like the cast, they know the show and can think in terms of the big picture. Maureen Spanos, our resident stage manager for many years, was just as much a collaborator as anyone could have been. In the same vein, I could write a book on the contributions made by Brent Erlanson in his twenty plus years of involvement along with Christmas Carol champion and cheerleader Vivian Koutrakos.

And then there's Ellen Michelmore and the brilliant music. (But that is the subject for its very own blog.)

I know if I were to walk into call tonight and said, "I want to try something tonight ..." these

incredible, committed actors who return, day-after-day, season-after-season, would say, "Okay Why not?"

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