If you think Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” is overdone, you’re not alone. In “The Last Christmas Carol” by David Meyers and Scott Michal, a children’s theater director is tired of directing this same Christmas play every year. The Christmas comedy opens on Friday Dec. 4, at Possum Point Players in Georgetown.
In “The Last Christmas Carol”, children’s theater director Brodwyn Branson – played at PPP by Jim Hartzell of Georgetown – is tired of directing “A Christmas Carol”. His growing contempt for the predictable, annual production of Dickens’ classic becomes an obsession which permeates, and affects, his life and his career. Then, in an art-imitates-life-imitates-art scenario, Branson is visited by a ghost from his own past, and four other Dickens-like spirits.
And what ghosts visit a jaded director of children’s theater? They are none other than his former agent, played by Mary Anne Lave of Millsboro; a self-absorbed theatre critic, played by Diane Counts of Millsboro; a huckster of “All Things Christmas, played by Sierra Spicer of Laurel; a newsboy peddling “news of yet to come,” played by Will Dorey of Millsboro; and an Elvis impersonator, played by Claudius Bowden of Georgetown. Each of these spirits bestows wisdom in a very non-Dickensian way and their stories are woven in and around the rehearsals for A Christmas Carol. Regardless of the method these ghosts use to reach him, Branson learns a valuable Christmas lesson, and the audience gets to join in the hilarious hijinx.
Pat Erhardt, who directed “Funny Money” last winter, returns to the director’s chair for this endeavor. He has been seen in many area productions, and worked in front of the stage for many more. Erhardt’s talent for comedy was evident to audiences who watched him play a dual role in “Stinkin’ Rich” this past June. Now directing another comedy, one could expect to see such attention to comedy again.
Once again Possum Point Players is partnering with The Brick Hotel in Georgetown to offer a dinner-and-show package. Package tickets include a full, specially designed dinner at the Brick Hotel's restaurant. These tickets are $50 each, and are available through Tavern on the Circle, by calling 302-856-1836. Those wishing for tickets for the show only should contact Possum Point Players directly, as listed below.
Possum Point Players is currently accepting reservations for “The Last Christmas Carol”. Performances begin at 8 p.m. on December 4, 5, 11 and 12, and at 2 p.m. on Sundays December 6 and 13. Tickets are $20. Call the Possum Ticketline at 302-856-4560. Directions to the theater can also be obtained at that same number.
The Last Christmas Carol is produced by arrangement with Dramatic Publishing. Possum Point Players are sponsored in part by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Delaware Division of the Arts.
