The Washington Post’s Nelson Pressley did a great feature story on Twelfth Night director Rebecca Taichman during the Shakespeare Theatre of DC leg of the play’s journey.  Many of my colleagues have been able to get down to DC to see the production, they say it’s marvelous.  I’m hoping to post a review round-up of the DC reviews later this week.  But until then, I thought this Washington Post article might be worth sharing.

For Rebecca Taichman, Ambition Comes in Stages

By Nelson Pressley
Special to The Washington Post
Monday, December 8, 2008; Page C01

Let’s say you’re running one of the fancy new theaters that have popped up in Washington lately. You’re working on a bigger stage. You need a director with vision to fill it.

Maybe you’ve called Rebecca Bayla Taichman.

Woolly Mammoth used Taichman for Sarah Ruhl’s “The Clean House” and “Dead Man’s Cell Phone” when the troupe’s high-ceilinged new digs opened a few seasons ago. Arena Stage called on Taichman last spring for “The Mystery of Irma Vep” as the company adjusted to temporary quarters in Crystal City. And now Taichman has assembled “Twelfth Night” in the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Harman Hall, the 774-seat venue that’s in its second season.

“It’s a huge palette,” Taichman says of the Harman. “Just crossing the stage takes a long time. But I sort of think of it like a moving painting, and this feels like the canvas is operatic-sized.” She laughs: “And that gets my juices going.”

Woolly artistic director Howard Shalwitz says, “I think a visual imagination for all the elements of design is what many people consider her greatest strength.”

Taichman’s “Twelfth Night” is keyed by images of ice and giant roses in a setting designed by Riccardo Hernandez; she’s also creating a prologue for the show, and using a live five-piece band and original music by longtime collaborator Martin Desjardins. The concept came to Taichman in a dream — a dream of a design meeting, which seems to speak volumes about her measured, saturated approach to making pictures on the stage.

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Last week, Bob Cratchit (aka Jimmy Ludwig) and other intrepid members of the A Christmas Carol company went on a pub crawl of some of Princeton’s downtown establishments.  See below for The Happy Hour Guys‘ visit to Princeton’s own Triumph Brewing Company.  You can also go to their website to see their visit to my favorite bar (where you can always find me before opening nights!)—The Alchemist & Barrister.

Posted by Adam Immerwahr, Producing Associate at McCarter Theatre.

Mrs. Dilber was kind enough to sit down with us to answer a few more audience questions.  Watch them in the videos below (you can navigate between videos by moving your cursor over the video player).

Before we left, we caught Mrs. Dilber running downstairs to give us a surprising update on her situation.  Fortunately, we caught it on video (see the player below).

Posted by Adam Immerwahr, Producing Associate at McCarter Theatre. Mrs. Dilber is played by Lisa Altomare.

Matthew Kuenne and Dermot Crowley. Photo by T. Charles Erickson

“He had no further intercourse with Spirits, but lived upon the Total Abstinence Principle, ever afterwards.”  Thus begins the final paragraph of Charles Dickens’ novella, A Christmas Carol.  That same paragraph ends with the famous line (and much more memorable) line: “And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God Bless Us, Every One!”

Lately, we’ve been hearing a lot about how the final line of McCarter’s current production of A Christmas Carol (a production in its 9th year!!) doesn’t end with those lines.  This was commented upon in some of last year’s blog entries; one post asked us to “return your play to Mr. Dickens” (funny, he didn’t write the play…) and another accused us of replacing A Christmas Carol with “A Politically Correct Beige Carol.“  I chimed in and pointed out that the line is very much still in the production (Dickens uses it twice in his novella, we use it once in our play).

Being the politically correct, godless heathen that I am, I assumed that the discussion was over.  How foolish!

This year, two of our eminent newspaper reviewers decided to chime in about this line as well (maybe they were reading the blog?)—The Princeton Packet commented that “some may miss Tiny Tim’s final line, which is no longer in the production,” and The New York Times review manages to end with “And he doesn’t even say, ‘God bless us every one.’”

It’s time to confront this head-on!  I have in front of me a copy of the script we’ve been using (adapted by David Thompson) for the last 9 years and a copy of Charles Dickens’ Novella, which hasn’t changed much recently either. Here is the evidence:

The Christmas Present Sequence, from Dickens’ Novella: Then Bob Proposed: “A Merry Christmas to us all, my dears. God Bless us!”  Which all the family re-echoed.  “God Bless us every one!” said Tiny Tim, the last of all.

The Christmas Present Sequence, from David Thompson’s Adaptation:
Mrs. Cratchit: How about a toast.  Who will make it?  Robert, you sweeten the punch.
Bob Cratchit: A Merry Christmas to us all, my dears.  God bless us.
Tiny Tim: God bless us every one.

Pretty similar, huh?  And here’s how the two pieces end:

The ending, from Dickens’ Novella:  “He had no further intercourse with Spirits, but lived upon the Total Abstinence Principle, ever afterwards; and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge.  May that be truly said of us, and all of us!  And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God Bless Us, Every One!”

The ending, from David Thompson’s Adaptation:
Scrooge:  Now, when you hear this song — it can be Christmas whenever you want.  And Tiny Tim, from the bottom of my heart — a heart which until very recently never knew the meaning of the phrase — a very…merry…Christmas.

In our last version of A Christmas Carol (also adapted by David Thompson), before we phased this one in 9 years ago, the story of A Christmas Carol was bookended by the story of a father reading Dickens’ Novella to his child.  In that context, it made lots of sense for the father to say, “and so, as Tiny Tim observed, God Bless Us, Every One!”  In this context, which removes the bookend that had been added onto Dickens’ story, it’s a bit unclear who would say: “and so, as Tiny Tim observed, God Bless Us, Every One!”  It’s only Scrooge and Tim onstage, after all!

More importantly, it seems that the moment in the Novella is really about Scrooge’s transformation; how he’s changed by accepting the spirits of Christmas into his life.   And I think that the words that David Thompson has given to Scrooge—”a heart which until very recently never knew the meaning of the phrase–a very…merry…Christmas”—actually captures Dickens’ original intention quite well, and quite poignantly.  It would break my heart to end that gorgeous moment with a voice piping up, “God Bless Us, every one!”  Personally, I think there’s a reason that Dickens doesn’t have Tiny Tim say that at the end of his story—he has the narrator remember when Tiny Tim said it—it’s so much more poignant.  We don’t have a narrator (because it’s a play, not a novel!) and so I think what Thompson has done to capture Dickens’ original intent is sheer genius.

And so, while you’re listening to A Christmas Carol this year, I know you’ll hear (every single night!) Tiny Tim chime in during the Christmas Present sequence with “God bless us, every one!”  And I know you’ll be touched by the ending of the play, and Thompson’s extraordinary job in capturing the mood and spirit that Dickens intended.  And I hope you won’t miss the final lines of the novella too much.  Especially not the ones about having intercourse with Spirits!

What do you think?  I’d love to hear responses to this, and the easiest way to share them is by clicking on “comments” below.

Posted by Adam Immerwahr, Producing Associate at McCarter Theatre

Old Joe.   Photo by T. Charles Erickson

The Laundress came by the shop the other evening, along with Digger, whom I suspect is a “Resurrection Man,” but I make no judgments, mind.  We’ve all got our callings and we have to make a living how we can.

I’m always happy to see the Laundress with her quirky Irish ways, and Digger is a regular visitor to the shop, but they dragged along a stranger and brought her directly into the parlour where I do business.  I’ve had to talk to them about this a number of times.  I likes to meet new people, of course, and am always glad to expand my business opportunities, but people has got to be introduced to the business proper-like.

Here’s how it works.  If you meets someone you think has something to offer, you brings them round to the shop downstairs first, so’s I can have a look at them.  If they smells of Sir Robert Peel to me, I gently steers them away.  You never know who might me sent a-spying on you.  Not that I’m doing anything illegal, mind, but if stolen property was to find its way into my shop, it would be bad for business.

Have a care about who you brings to the parlour, I say.   This charwoman they dragged in t’other night was a suspicious-looking woman.  She had a very posh music box with her that would have fetched a fair price and I wonder if that wasn’t a bit of bait to catch this old fish.  It was a good job that the two vultures had a grab at it and it dropped to the floor and shattered into bits.  See, I never paid the charwoman nothing for it, so I couldn’t be accused of receiving.

They all come into the back room after we did our business and had fruitcake and gin.  The charwoman, I think her name was Mrs. Dribbler or something like that, turned out to be a right sort, and she’ll be welcome to the parlour anytime something comes to her hand, but I do wish that people would follow the proper procedure.

Old Joe

Posted by Old Joe, played by John O’Creagh in the McCarter Theatre production of A Christmas Carol.

In between her busy technical rehearsals, Mrs. Dilber sat down for a few minutes to do a video interview with associate publicist Erin Breznitsky, answering some of her most frequently asked questions (Mrs. Dilber’s, not Erin’s). She (this time it’s Erin) gave me the video to edit, and I’ve stuck some of them on YouTube—more are coming soon. So enjoy our new blog feature: “Ask Mrs. Dilber.” If you’ve got a question for Mrs. D., post it by clicking on “comments” below.

Ask Mrs. Dilber: How long have you been working for Ebenezer Scrooge?

Ask Mrs. Dilber: I hear you have a great gruel recipe? Will you share it?

Posted by Adam Immerwahr, Producing Associate at McCarter Theatre.

Have you seen this year’s production of A Christmas Carol? What did you think? Did you think it was the bee’s knees?  Do you agree with the newspaper reviews, or disagree? Favorite parts of the show? Things that weren’t to your taste? How does it compare to previous productions of A Christmas Carol? Post a “citizen response” or read what other people are saying by clicking on the “comments” link below. We can’t wait to hear what you think!

If you want to include your picture with your review, email it to me and I’ll make sure it gets attached.

Posted by Adam Immerwahr, Producing Associate at McCarter Theatre.

Ah, Princeton in December. The chill in the air. The lights on the big tree in Palmer Square. And a guy with mutton chops… running from bar to bar with an HD camera?

That’s right, folks. I’m James Ludwig, (better known to my friends as Jimmy), McCarter’s own Bob Cratchit in this year’s A Christmas Carol, and I’m also one-half of the popular web series The Happy Hour Guys! Our motto? “We find the bars you’ll tell your friends about.”

Mark Aldrich (my producing partner) and I started the series in 2006, primarily because of our love of history and pub culture. As it turns out, the history of drinking and the history of civilization go pretty much hand in hand. Did you know that the oldest recipe in recorded history is a 4000 year old Mesopotamian recipe for beer? Thank goodness for clay tablets! And archeologists.

On our ‘way up’ both Mark and I spent years in the booze industry; and the stories, the craftsmanship, and the locales made a great impression on us. For a time, I was a Brand Ambassador for Johnny Walker Whiskys, and had the privilege of training in Scotland and seeing first hand that Scotch truly is the lifeblood of that country; it is liquid history. And the USA is no different. The Happy Hour Guy’s very first (or ‘pilot’) episode was filmed at McSorley’s Old Ale House in Manhattan, a bar that’s been continuously serving since 1854; that’s 154 years worth of beer! Rumor has it that Abraham Lincoln drank there, and that after winning a bet with a local policeman, Harry Houdini left a pair of that cop’s handcuffs (that he had just escaped from) locked to the bar.

Here’s a short promo for the series; The Happy Hour Guys in 50 seconds or less. If you can name all the locations, I’ll buy you a drink.

In the last year, on our quest to move this series forward from the web to television, we have visited, sampled and reported in 14 states, 37 different communities, and over 120 different bars. But why, for goodness sake, why? Why put up with it all? The travel, the free drinks, the demanding shooting schedule of one historic or remarkable bar after another? I guess you could say it was all research, preparation for living the hardscrabble onstage life of Bob Cratchit. I mean after all, the guy’s broke, has a demanding boss, and four kids, one of whom constantly wants to ride on his shoulder! This man needs a drink.

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Every holiday season, a couple of cheerful, crafty, carol-singing McCarter staffers decorate the West and Lockwood Lobbies with festive lights, wreaths, and other seasonal trimmings. This year, a few staff members contributed to the décor, including our über-creative Graphic Designer, Danny Garber, who created the wreath you see in the photo. As you avid theatergoers might have already noticed, this merry holiday adornment features nine esteemed playwrights, each decked out in his best holiday attire.

Here’s the fun part: If you think you can identify the playwrights on the wreath, email your guesses to blog@mccarter.org. Anyone who identifies all nine correctly will win 4 tickets to one of the two upcoming McCarter productions whose authors appear on the wreath. (There’s your first and only hint!)

The wreath will be on full display above the McCarter Ticket Office until A Christmas Carol closes on December 28. So come on out to the theater if you want a closer look. And while you’re at it, stick around for the show!

Posted by Erin Breznitsky, Associate Publicist at McCarter Theatre

Directing/Producing Intern Sarah Wansley has done it again, with another short McCarter video–this time about the process of taping out the floor for the rehearsals of A Christmas Carol. The video combines a time-lapse film of the floor taping process with interviews of Stage Manager Hannah Woodward and Supervising Stage Manager Cheryl Mintz. I hope you enjoy!

Posted by Adam Immerwahr, Producing Associate at McCarter Theatre.