Upcoming Events
Readers’ Theatre: Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge -
Monday, December 21 - Tuesday, December 22, 2009
The Firehouse Theatre and Barksdale Theatre present
a staged reading of
Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge
Book & lyrics by Christopher Durang, music by Michael Friedman
Dec. 21 & 22, 7:30 p.m.
“A rollicking parody!” - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“A hilarious success! The show goes in so many wonderfully loony directions at once.” - Pittsburgh Pulp
“Fiendishly funny...never disappoints. Wild it most certainly is, without apologies.” - Observer-Reporter
Starring
Ali Thibodeau, Eric Pastore, Holly Timberline, Jacqueline Jones, Jacqueline O’Connor, Jeanie Rule, Maggie Roop, Margarette Joyner, R. Cooper Timberline, Robert Albertia, Robert Throckmorton, Steve Perigard and Tom McGranahan!
Directed by Billy Christopher Maupin
Music Direction by Matt Mangialetti
Stage Management by Tiffany Shifflett
After standing-room-only success last year, Firehouse Artistic Director Carol Piersol invited Director Billy Christopher Maupin to revive Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge again at the Firehouse Theatre for 2009. Playwright Christopher Durang reveals Mrs. Cratchit’s transformation in this bawdy staged reading with music and song.
The Young People’s Guide to Theatre and the Galaxy writes of last year’s staging:
“The show is hilarious, and the audience was crazy! Seriously, as opposed to laughing, they just screamed at the stage.”
In this departure from Dickens, young Scrooge’s exclamations of “Bah, humbug!” are an undiagnosed “kind of seasonal Tourette’s Syndrome,” and the Ghost of Christmas Past is played by a sassy African-American woman with enough attitude to portray all three spirits (which she does). She tries to show Scrooge his past, present and future in order to change him, but her magic keeps malfunctioning in Durang’s version of the beloved holiday classic, and they consistently find themselves transported to the wrong time and place. Mrs. Bob Cratchit, a minor character in the Dickens, takes center stage here. No longer loving and long suffering, Mrs. Bob is in a rage! As the Ghost loses more control, the plot morphs into parodies of Oliver Twist, “The Gift of the Magi”, and It’s a Wonderful Life. In this rollicking parody, Scrooge’s tale of redemption and gentle grace is placed squarely on its head!
Two days only!
Suggested Donation $10; Students w/Valid ID $5. Tickets available at the door only.
(Ticket price includes a festive holiday beverage)