Hedgerow Theatre's A CHRISTMAS CAROL COMEDY Adds Performances After Initial Run Sells Out

This much joy and laughter can't be contained, again. A Christmas Carol Comedy at Hedgerow Theatre has completely sold out for the second year in a row. To give more audiences the chance to share in the joy and laughter, Hedgerow has added five performances and the show will now close  on Saturday, December 30. Katie Leamen's fun and festive adaptation of A Christmas Carol features regional favorites Brian Anthony Wilson and Christopher Patrick Mullen. Wilson plays the iconic role of Ebeneezer Scrooge and Mullen plays Everybody Else with his renowned comic dexterity. Celebrated and versatile Philadelphia theatre artist Pete Pryor, who helmed the US Premiere at Hedgerow last year, returns to direct this gleefully inventive take on the classic tale that will delight the whole family.  For the extension,   A Christmas Carol Comedy tickets cost $40 for adult tickets and $25 for youth (under 18 years old), plus fees, and are available online at www.hedgerowtheatre.org.

“There's nothing like the energy in these sold out houses night after night!” gushes Hedgerow Executive Director Marcie Bramucci. “To experience the high octane inventiveness of this team with the pure delight of our audiences of all ages is joy itself!”

Added performances are:

Wednesday, December 27 at 2 p.m.
Thursday, December 28 at 7 p.m.
Friday, December 29 at 7 p.m.
Saturday, December 30 at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m.

“I am thrilled that we are able to bring Scrooge and Everyone Else to more families,” celebrates Pryor, the director of the play and comic impresario himself.

Leaman's  adaptation is a playful take on Dickens' timeless tale. It retains the heart of the work,  with only two virtuosic actors taking on the task of bringing the story to full life. This year, Brian Anthony Wilson takes Scrooge's journey. Accompanying him on that journey is Christopher Patrick Mullen, who once again plays Everyone Else – as in every other character in the story. Sometimes he plays multiple characters at once.

“Sitting in the audience for multiple shows on opening weekend and listening to the delighted laughs around me, I had no doubt this production would receive as much love from audiences as last year's premiere did,” notes Leaman. “Even still, I feel the surprise, gratitude, and joy of this extension announcement like a mystery turkey arriving on Christmas! My heart is glowing with pride that this play keeps bringing such joy to the artists and audiences of Rose Valley that they want to experience it again and again.”

To create the world of Dickens' famed ghost story, as well as meet the madcap pace of the play,  Sarah Stryker and Lily Fossner return to the challenge as Scenic Designer and Lighting Designer, respectively. They collaborate once again with Jamel Baker, this time as Sound Designer, and are joined by Elizabeth Hanson as Costume Designer and Susan Wefel as Props Coordinator. Jacob Ryan reprises his turn as the “White Gloved Hand”/Assistant Stage Manager backstage, in partnership with Stage Management duo Jamel Baker and Ali Caiazzo, and Kate Fossner who helms as Production Manager. 

This holiday season, Hedgerow leads with mirth, laughter, generosity, and communal celebration. With this team of gifted artists, A Christmas Carol Comedy promises to be a memorable experience of unbridled merriment for the whole family.

   

About the Artists

Katie Leamen, Playwright: Playwright, producer, actor, and founding member of No Porpoise Productions, a Toronto (Ontario) based theatre collective that has produced two of her scripts including Alice in Wonderland: A Tale with No Porpoise and A Christmas Carol Comedy. Commissioned scripts include: Treasure Island, produced by Solar Stage four times and received multiple Dora Mavor Moore Award Nominations for Ensemble - TYA Division in 2016, 2017, and 2018; and an original script and soundtrack to educate grade 7-11s about the pathways in education for skilled trades, performed by student collaborators in the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board. Her next creative quest currently in the research phase is Worthy, a play about King Arthur and kidney transplants.

Pete Pryor, Director:  is the co-founder and former Producing Artistic Director of 1812 Productions; he most recently directed last season's A Christmas Carol Comedy. With Hedgerow he has performed as an actor in The Pillowman and The Weir. He has worked with People's Light as Associate Artistic Director and wrote and directed many of that company's holiday shows. Pete has worked extensively in theatre across the Delaware Valley and beyond. Pete is the winner of four Barrymore Awards for excellence in theater and is the recipient of multiple Independence Foundation individual artist fellowships. Pete is a Lunt Fontanne Fellow and was mentored at Ten Chimneys under Barry Edelstein. Pete's first play, Beautiful Boy is now available on Amazon. He has a M.Ed. in early childhood, is a certified special education teacher and is the Theatre Arts Program Coordinator at The Pathway School in Norristown; contactpetepryor@gmail.com.  

Brian Anthony Wilson, Scrooge: is a versatile Actor that has been blessed to maneuver through the fields of Theatre, Film & T.V. Recent Theatre : Twelfth Night & The Royale @ Lantern Theater, Radio Golf @ The Arden, The World Premiere of The Reclamation of Madison Hemings @ IRT in Indianapolis, King Lear, opposite Tony winner Andre DeShields @ St. Louis Shakespeare Festival, Jitney @ The Nashville Shakespeare Festival, Looking Over The President's Shoulder (one man Show) @ Act II Playhouse, Gem Of The Ocean @ Arden Theatre (* Barrymore Award for 'Outstanding Supporting Performance In A Play') & Thurgood ( one man Show) @ Olney Theatre Center in MD. Film/TV selected credits : Aurora: A Love Story, Manodrome, Finster, St. Michael of the City, Glass, Oceans 8, Creed, Limitless, Keeping The Faith, Rounders,The Postman / Shooting Stars (Peacock TV), (Interview With A Vampire (AMC), Manifest (Netflix), Poker Face (Peacock), Servant (Apple TV), Mare Of Easttown (HBO), FBI: Most Wanted (CBS), Dispatches From Elsewhere (AMC - Recurring), Wu-Tang: An American Saga (HULU-Recurring), Siren (Freeform TV-Recurring Guest Star), Bloodline (Netflix), Gotham (Fox), Blue Bloods (CBS) ,The Sopranos and The Wire (HBO-Recurring). 

Christopher Patrick Mullen, Everybody Else: Previously at Hedgerow: A Christmas Carol Comedy (last season), Amadeus (1998). Other credits include: West Side Story (First National Tour); The Runner Stumbles (Off-Broadway); Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes, Long Day's Journey into Night (Bridge Street Theatre); Birds of North America (Chester Theatre); Hapgood (Lantern Theatre); Assassins, Cabaret, Metamorphoses, Macbeth, A Little Night Music, Candide (Arden Theatre); The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Noises Off, Rumors, Leading Ladies, ChipandGus (Arts Center of Coastal Carolina); Productions with the Pennsylvania  Shakespeare Festival since 1992 include: The Tempest, Sense and Sensibility, Henry iv Parts One & Two, Irma Vep, Shakespeare In Love, Richard II, Love's Labour's Lost, Pericles, Henry VIII, Charley's Aunt, Hamlet, The Glass Menagerie, Twelfth Night, As You Like It, and Macbeth; A Midsummer Night's Dream, Hamlet, The Taming of the Shrew (Orlando Shakespeare Theatre). TV: Law & Order, FBI; Training: DeSales University. His play “ChipandGus” has been produced at Baltimore Center Stage, Proctors Theatre, Centenary Stage, The New York Fringe Festival (Best of Fringe Award), and SoHo Playhouse. CPM is a People's Light veteran of thirty productions over 30 years (from 1989 to 2020). He is an acting teacher and audition coach: www.christopherpatrickmullen.com

Production Details
November 22, now through December 30

A Christmas  Carol Comedy
Written by Katie Leamen
Directed by Pete Pryor

Featuring:
Brian Anthony Wilson** as “Scrooge”
Christopher Patrick  Mullen** as “Everyone Else”

Stage Managers  Jamel Baker & Ali Caiazzo

Assistant Stage Manager Jacob Ryan
Scenic designer Sarah Stryker

Lighting designer Lily Fossner^^

Sound designer Jamel Baker

Costume designer & Shop Manager Elizabeth Hanson

Props coordinator Susie Wefel 

Production Manager Kate Fossner
Line Producer Marcie Bramucci

Understudies
Mark DelGuzzo (Scrooge)
Abby Burris (Everybody Else)
Nicole Lawrie (White Gloved Hand/ASM)

**Artist engaged courtesy of Actors' Equity Association
^^Artist engaged courtesy of United Scenic Artists (USA)

Best enjoyed by ages 5+

Run-time: 70 minutes (with no intermission)

Extension Tickets:
$40 adults
$25 youth (under 18)

About Hedgerow Theatre Company:

A professional not-for-profit theatre situated in pastoral Rose Valley just outside Philadelphia, Hedgerow celebrates a century of rich and storied programming. Long recognized for its unique repertory theatre, Hedgerow has proudly produced and elevated the works of playwrights such as George Bernard Shaw, Eugene O'Neill, Susan Glaspell, and Seán O'Casey. Hedgerow produced the professional premiere of

 

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