Long past?--No. Your past.

Hey guys--I've been working my *ss off on this for the past month and I'm pretty proud of it. I chose all of the music--all Anglican sacred and English traditional pieces, like "Once in Royal David's City," "The Angel Gabriel," "Adam Lay Y-Bounden" and the Coventry Carol. (Plus tons of dramaturgy on Victorian culture, including mourning and courting customs...scratch a Clara, find an historian...)

Hope you can make it! One weekend only!

Clara

The Theater Company
in residence at The Center for the Performing Arts at DeBaun Auditorium presents
A Christmas Carol

By Charles Dickens

Performances
December 14, 2007 at 8pm
December 15, 2007 at 3pm & 8pm
December 16, 2007 at 3pm

Open Captioning Performance
In our ongoing efforts to make theater accessible for all, The Center is proud to offer Open Captioning for the hearing impaired at the 3pm performance on Saturday, December 15th . The New Jersey Division of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing makes this open captioned performance possible in partnership with the New Jersey Theatre Alliance and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State.

General Admission
Adults/$20
Students & Seniors/$15
Children Under Twelve/$10

Special Discounts & Group Sales
Discover Jersey Arts Cardholders: Buy one ticket, get one free.
Group Sales: 30% off groups of 20 people or more!

Special Package
Dinner & Show Package: Enjoy dinner just steps from the theater at Court Street Restaurant & Bar for only $40/person. More information and menu being offered can be found online at www.debaun.org/cgi-bin/tickets/dinnershow.php. This package is only available for purchase on-line at www.debauntickets.org.

Box Office
Call: 201.216.8937
E-mail: BoxOffice@debaun.org
Or Purchase Tickets On-line: http://www.debauntickets.org

Performance Location/Parking/Directions
DeBaun Auditorium, Edwin A. Stevens Hall
5th & Hudson Sts., Hoboken, NJ
Discounted Parking & Directions: www.debaun.org/cgi-bin/directions.php.
Easily accessible by PATH, LightRail, NJ Transit & NY Waterways

Show Info
A Christmas Carol is the story of an old, bitter miser—-Ebenezer Scrooge-—and the chance for his redemption through the visitation a partner from the past who learned his lesson too late, and three timely ghosts. Since 1843 Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" has been an integral part of many people's holiday traditions. The Theater Company's production helps to ignite that holiday spirit with traditional carols and English folk tunes creating the atmosphere of the world of Scrooge, Tiny Tim and old England for young and old alike.

Director: Clara Barton Green - Music Director: Meg Zervoulis

Cast
The cast consists of Pia Ambardar, PJ Brennan, Cathy Carrey-Aquino, Daphne Ciccarelle, Michael Clay, Samantha Gutterman, Benjamin Holmes, James E. Keelen, Jr., Peyton Kennedy, Anthony Lorenzo Parker, Don Pflaster, Duncan Pflaster, Rolando Ramos, Francesca Ruiz, Emma Spahic, Sarah Vidal, Kate Willard, Yasmin Yarosh, and Zoe.

For cast and director biographies and pictures, please visit The Center's website here.


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A Holiday Tradition
An additional holiday tradition of The Center is to provide support to The Hoboken Shelter, a local charitable organization that provides accommodations for 50 people and feeds 80 to 100 people every evening. At each production of A Christmas Carol, The Center will collect monetary donations from audience members who would like to aid The Hoboken Shelter in supporting their mission to prevent homelessness and to assist homeless men and women re-integrate into the community. Last year, The Center was able to collect over $1000 for the Shelter and knows this year they will be able to collect more!

www.debaun.org

Busybusybusybusy...

I've been so busy the past few days and it's not going to relent until sometime around Christmas (!). Saturday I had the AATI reading--we had rehearsal for that in the morning, then I hit the PATH into Hoboken for Xmas Carol rehearsal, then BACK into Midtown for the reading. I was planning to go up to visit Jason in the hospital after that but heard from Don that he was discharged that day so no go. After the reading Tim (who was at the reading) and I went to Houston's to have dinner. We talked about Brandy's (a piano bar on the Upper East Sie where we used to go a lot) and the show and all sorts of things.

Sunday I had Xmas Carol rehearsal, of course. Since last Thursday we have been having stumblethroughs and workthroughs, and also filling in the gaps for the sections that haven't been fully addressed. For example, last night we finally fully blocked and choreographed the Fezziwig scene--we'd had a choreography rehearsal much earlier but half the cast was missing so we had to pick it up last night. I added a bunch of party bits--flirtations, interactions, etc. I also worked out exactly where and how I want the choir to be singing certain pieces--very seldom does the choir actually sing a piece fully all the way through as in a standard musical. It's usually as underscoring or punctuation or as part of a transition. In the second Cratchit scene, when they're mourning Tiny Tim, I'm using the Coventry Carol--I have the choir singing a phrase, and then Mrs. Cratchit has a line. Then the choir comes back in a few lines later. I don't want the show to stop for the musical pieces--they're commentary and atmosphere. Same thing with the show's "anthem" which is an Episcopalian Advent hymn called "Remember, O Thou Man" (which chorus says "therefore, repent!"). I use that piece three times during the play, at three different key scenes, including when Scrooge is staring at the body on the bed.

I have to admit, I'm kind of pleased about the Ghost of the Future sequence. I hope it comes out as thpooooky as I imagine it. I won't tell you what I've done with it but it's not the way it's usually done. I was trying to make it both more thpooooky and also more meaningful. Gina looked pleased last night and told me what I did with the first part of the Future sequence was much more effective than what's usually done.

Slowly, slowly it's all coming into place. *tries to breathe* Tomorrow's going to be interesting--our first night on the set.