Next Comes Every Other Christmas Story

by Warren Francke

We see theater in all sorts of venues, but few can match the current opportunity to see A Christmas Carol with snow falling on a Dickensian street and Tartuffe with powdered wigs and period costumes in the splendor of the Joslyn Castle music room.

Brigit St. Brigit is blessed to present the Moliere classic surrounded by beautiful wood, whether it’s oak as described in the daily, or satinwood as I termed it last week on advice of a spokesman for the Joslyn Trust. And you can tour the castle’s other 34 rooms while tasting wine and cheese after the 7-9 p.m. performance.

And for 36 seasons now, we’ll been blessed to see the snow fall on London town, thanks to the Omaha Community Playhouse in general, and this time to Valmont, which helps water crops all over the world and is now “special effects sponsor” for the snow.

It troubles me whenever I run into someone who has never seen the Charles Jones creation. Just do it. Go. Again and again.

I have no idea how many times I’ve seen Dick Boyd and now Jerry Longe find redemption in the auditorium that now bears the names of Howard and Rhonda Hawks. But I can tell you why it never gets old: because you can always find some new pleasure.

At Thursday’s preview, Longe’s Ebenezer Scrooge gave his usual comic flourishes to every scene, but with the added fun of a youngster in the audience whose musical laughter was contagious. Even the only mishap was rather charming.

That was when Scrooge sadly observes his young love Belle breaking up with the business-obsessed young Ebby at his money-counting desk. Scrooge’s unoccupied bed decided to sidle up and nuzzle the desk. You know you’ve watched too many Disney movies when you sort of expected the canopied bed to shed a tear over the breakup.

I’ll comment on the Brigit classic when it resumes after Thanksgiving.

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If you missed 12 Ophelias last weekend at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, note that it skips the turkey holidays and returns Nov. 30-Dec. 3. Director Cindy Phaneuf was clearly fonder than I was of the Great Plains Theater Conference offering by Caridad Svich.

She directed Svich’s Alchemy of Desire/Dead Man’s Blues, which certainly possessed some poetic power, and now presents this story of Shakespeare’s heroine returning to try and control her own fate.

You’ve also got a few weeks to see the return of Christmas with the Crawfords at SNAP! Productions and to catch the brand new Every Christmas Story Ever Told with Ben Beck, Bill Grennan and Theresa Sindelar, Nov. 25-Dec. 17 at the Blue Barn.

Cold Cream looks at theater in the metro area. Email information to coldcream@thereader.com.

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