"There's a new Scrooge in town," says Crowded Kitchen Players' producer Pamela Wallace when talking about the company's adaptation of Charles Dicken's 'A Christmas Carol' which will play at their cozy Quakertown theater, McCoole's Arts and Events Place, December 6 through December 22, 2013.
"I shouldn't say 'new' exactly," Wallace continues. "Oz (David Oswald) played the role in 2002 at Mauch Chunk Opera House before two solid weeks of sold-out audiences." Oswald, like Wallace, is a founding member of the company, having cut his teeth with some of the older Lehigh Valley companies such as, then, Civic Little Theatre and the now defunct Theatre Outlet, among others.
If not 'new', what's different about Oswald's interpretation as opposed to what regional audiences are accustomed to seeing in their 'Christmas Carols''
"Well, for one thing, it's anything but traditional," Wallace explains. "'Traditional' often means 'tired.' It means 'predictable'. It means 'stale'.
"Instead, our 'Carol' is witty, it's irreverent, it's timely, it's a little bawdy, and it's very, very physical," Wallace explains.
"All the shows we do are distinct and probably unique for the many ways in which they push the limits of physical comedy."
"Another thing that probably could be considered different," she continues, "is that we treasure rapid and relentless delivery of the story-line, pushing it at breakneck speed whenever possible toward its conclusion.
"We don't leave much breathing room up there on stage."
Of their fifty-six productions over the past 14 seasons, all but a very few have been farces or farcial re-imaginings of classical comedies, mostly pre-World War Two, including critically acclaimed runs of 'The Front Page', 'Animal Crackers', 'The Prisoner of Zenda', and 'Parfumerie', to name but a few.
Oswald will be joined by a cast of 25 seasoned performers from Allentown, Bethlehem, Lower Macungie Township, Saucon Valley, Quakertown, and points north and south, including many long-time members of the ensemble.
William Gibson is the first of Scrooge's tormentors, portraying Marley's starving and thirsty Ghost.
Tom Harrison plays The Spirit of Christmas Present, in addition to several other choice roles. Dan Ferry plays the long-suffering clerk, Bob Cratchit, with Sarah Thomas as his wife, and six-feet, two-inches tall Johnny Miller Smith as Tiny Tim.
Meghan Laverne and Rachel Tizol play The Ghost of Christmas Past and The Ghost of Christmas Best Forgotten, respectively.
Newcomer Goran Zdravkovac plays Scrooge's playful nephew Fred.
Susy Barr, Paula Klein, newcomer Ellen Blickman, and Wallace play the four memorable thieves, cackling merrily as they pick through what they've stolen from the dying Scrooge.
Brian Keller, Alex Racines, Stefan Goslawski, Michael Crotty, sisters Coleen and Gillian Gallagher, Jack Fox, Liberty Ashe, and Rich Piotrowski round out the cast.
Music director is Becca Wahoff, assisted by Rebecca Burroughs. Nora Oswald is scene painter.
The play is directed by Ara Barlieb.
For additional information, please call 610-395-7176, or visit the Crowded Kitchen Players website at www.ckplayers.com