Tiny
Tim; A Christmas Carol Revisited
A Full
Length Holiday Play by Steve A. Rowell
Published
by Playscripts.com
|
POSTED
DECEMBER 19, 2002 Holiday Haunts Teach Tiny Tim A Lesson
Tiny Tim: A Christmas Carol Revisited stars Tony Smithey as Tim Cratchit, Bill Barbour as Uncle
Scrooge, Mellany Wells as the Ghost of Christmas Past, Dana Clawson as the
Ghost of Christmas Present, Jay Fenwick as the Ghost of Christmas Future.
Over 20 other local actors and guests fill out the other roles. In addition to starring as Tiny Tim, Tony Smithey is a professional costume designer and designed
the costumes for this show. The show is directed by Blowing Rock
Stage Company producing artistic director Kenneth Kay. The production is made
possible by WMMY My Country 106 FM and the Bill and Jorgann Rogers Family,
with support from First Citizens Bank. Pictures
from 2002 production Blowing Rock Stage Company |
Theater review
American Christmas
Local actor Cameron Crain explores holiday spirit and patriotism
with starring roles in two Christmas productions
By Adrienne Rice
(RN&R) December 13, 2001
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For
many of us, this Christmas will be different in so many ways. Expensive gifts
will give way to more understated expressions of love as we head deeper into
recession, and prayers for peace on Earth will have a much more profound
meaning than before.
This
holiday season has been especially moving for actor Cameron Crain, who will
star tonight in the final performance of a bittersweet mixture of holiday
spirit and patriotism titled Tiny Tim: A Christmas
Carol Revisited. This Nevada Shakespeare Festival adaptation
of Charles Dickens' tale presents Tiny Tim all grown up, working as a merchant in
Manhattan's garment district during the turn of the last century.
"Deep
patriotism, women's suffrage and immigration are major themes of the show,
with, of course, the Spirit of Christmas as the departure point," Crain
says. "It's very sad at times, but exhilarating and profoundly satisfying
when all is said and done. This is not to say the play doesn't have its funny
moments, but life is like that. Comedy and tragedy are not mutually
exclusive."
The
story behind the play may be just as touching. When Florida playwright Steve Rowell heard about
NSF's troubles after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks--more than 600 theatergoers
canceled for the company's Sept. 14-15 productions of Romeo and Juliet--Rowell offered to
let NSF use his work in progress without paying royalties.
Director
Jeanmarie Simpson then adapted Rowell's adaptation, using the play as "an
opportunity to speak to some of the rhetoric that was floating around"
after the terrorist attacks, Crain says.
"Tiny Tim's heartlessness
as a merchant ... his exploitation of widows, orphans and even his own nephew
... illustrates a lot of the truth about what was going on in this country at
that time, and still goes on, if the truth be told."
At
one point in the play, two women playing garment workers present a homemade
American flag. During rehearsal, this moment was the catalyst for more
reflection.
"The
first time the ladies brought out that quilt, I just lost it," Crain says.
"I burst into tears. The whole company did, actually. And it created an
opportunity for us as an ensemble to talk about our own patriotism. ... This is
why theater is so important--not only for audiences, but for those of us who do
it."
Crain
is passionate about the importance of theater, especially in these trying
times. He says that for the hundreds of people who did attend NSF's troubled
productions of Romeo and Juliet, the cast and crew felt like
"rescue workers."
"Our
audiences wanted to be among a group of people--living people--taking a
collective leap of imagination to another place, another time," he says.
"We all needed to be reminded that life could be other than as it was
being lived at that moment. We needed the theater."
Now
that the curtain is closing on Tiny Tim, audiences
can take a break from the world while watching Crain in another big holiday
role: playing Ebenezer Scrooge in Ballet Nevada Performing Arts' production of A
Christmas Carol. Though Crain says he is relishing his rare opportunity to
play two evil characters, it's their transformation to goodness that makes all
the difference.
"Both
characters are the anti-hero rediscovering their hero path. The great part is
that after all of the processing, which the spirits facilitate through the
realm of magic, there is a catharsis."
Christmas 2000 Production
Tim Crachet has left
his family in England and immigrated to New York City. Tim does well in this land of promise and is
soon a respected man of industry.
Although Tim has wealth and power, he has lost his humanity and his
Christmas Spirit! It will now take
three miracles to write this wrong.
Tim’s Uncle Scrooge shows up in the guise of Marley to take Tim
on three quests to find his 
Christmas Spirit.
The Ghost of Christmas Past (Lady Liberty)
takes Tim back to England and to his early days in New York. Tim is reacquainted with his lost love and
his lost family life. The Ghost of Christmas Present (Teddy Roosevelt) shows Tim how to celebrate the season through his assistant and his nephew. 
The Ghost of Christmas Future (A Gunslinger dressed in
black) cast an ominous shadow over Tim and reminds him of how fleeting life can
be. Tim recounts and recovers from the
visits a better man and changes his ways.
Tim, now a new man, sets out to make the world a better place.
(Photos from
December 2000 production in Mansfield, Texas)
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