Minnesota Prairie Roots

Writing and photography by Audrey Kletscher Helbling

In Faribault: A creatively moving production of “A Christmas Carol” December 2, 2022

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A scene from “A Christmas Carol,” now on stage in Faribault. (Photo courtesy of director Sam Temple)

ON THE MORNING OF OUR GRANDSON’S preschool holiday party, Randy took time off work to watch a group of preschoolers perform an unrehearsed version of the Christmas story. The little ones eagerly donned swatches of cloth, transforming into multiple Marys, Josephs, angels and shepherds. My eyes focused on Isaac, brown tunic slipped over his plaid flannel shirt, shepherd’s staff in hand. I worried he might bonk a classmate over the head. He never did. In the end, the pastor-directed impromptu play proved entertaining and joyful, a blessing to all.

Later that evening, after he returned from a half day of work, Randy joined me at the Paradise Center for the Arts in Faribault to watch an invitation-only final dress rehearsal of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol performed by The Merlin Players. Well-rehearsed, directed, staged, acted and presented, this play contrasted sharply with the one we’d seen earlier that day. Yet, the messages of peace, love and good will (among others) repeated. The Dickens’ play ended with the line: “God bless us everyone!”

Two plays in one day—one familiar to me, the other not. One faith-based, the other centered on choices one makes in life. Both powerful in their own way. One loose and unstaged, the other professionally done.

The promotional poster for “A Christmas Carol.” (Courtesy of Sam Temple)

That I’ve never read or seen A Christmas Carol is something I hesitate to admit. I am, after all, an English minor, an avid reader, a writer. Of course, I knew the basic story line of main character Ebenezer Scrooge visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future. But that’s about it. So I walked into the theater Thursday evening not quite knowing what to expect, although I anticipated another outstanding performance by The Merlin Players. Fifteen years ago they presented this same play at the Paradise. Now the theater company is disbanding, choosing to end with a repeat of A Christmas Carol, albeit different in presentation.

Posted in a window of the Paradise Center for the Arts, a quote by Jacob Marley, Ebenezer Scrooge’s business partner. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo December 2022)

As I sat in my theater seat listening and watching, central themes began to emerge. “There’s more to life than work,” Mrs. Fezziwig (Alane Bendtsen) states as Ebenezer Scrooge faces the Ghost of Christmas Past. I thought of my husband who just that morning missed work to attend our 3-year-old grandson’s preschool party and pageant. I felt grateful for his decision. Age has a way of shifting priorities. And in this theatrical production, a story has a way of exposing regrets. Scrooge focused his life on work, on making money, on getting things and, in the end, gave up so much, including love.

I expect we have all experienced many Scrooge moments, when we stand at a crossroads and make choices that aren’t the best, that, in the end, hurt us, those we love, even strangers. Choices that are self-serving and unkind. I expect we have all turned away those in need, like Scrooge did in a brief interaction with a child caroler (Ella Boland) in a moment I found especially touching.

Sam Temple, who directed the play, notes that “through this story, Dickens sought to solidify Christmas as a season for charity, kindness, and compassion for the downtrodden.” That carries through in the unfolding plot and dialogue with a message as timely today as in 1843 when Dickens penned this story.

Another scene from The Merlin Players’ production of Charles Dickens’ Christmas classic. (Photo courtesy of Sam Temple)

From the youngest to oldest, these 26 performers (all playing multiple roles except Steve Searl/Scrooge) pour their hearts and souls into retelling Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. I cannot imagine trying to direct a cast of this size; Sam Temple proved he was up to the task. The lines. The movement. The dancing. The costuming. The technical aspects. The music and singing—Jingle Bells, Silent Night, O Tannenbaum… The festive spirit of the season emerges. Everything comes together seamlessly.

That I came into this performance with no preconceived ideas, no comparisons to other productions, allows for an unbiased review. I sat back. Took it all in, appreciating the dramatic special effects which include the banging of chains, globes of floating light, a towering and menacing black Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come and more. I’m intentionally not revealing details. Technical Director Matthew Boyd and crew outdid themselves in creatively enhancing this theatrical version of Dickens’ Christmas classic.

A second quote by character Jacob Marley posted at the Paradise. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo December 2022)

I exited the theater feeling reflective and uplifted by the transformation of Scrooge from money-focused and miserly to kind, caring, compassionate. “I am not the man that I was,” he declares. He stood at a crossroads and, in the end, chose good will, kindness, love. He experienced what I would term A Christmas Awakening.

FYI: A Christmas Carol opens at 7:30 pm Friday, December 2, at the Paradise Center for the Arts along Central Avenue in historic downtown Faribault. Other 7:30 pm performances are on December 3, 8, 9 and 10. Two afternoon shows are set for Sunday, December 4 and 11 at 2 pm. If you plan to attend, I highly encourage you to reserve tickets now or you may not get a seat. Tickets are selling quickly. Click here for more info.

© Copyright 2022 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

“The Santa Diaries II” debuts in Faribault with humor & so much more December 11, 2018

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From The Merlin Players Facebook page.

 

WHEN I ATTENDED The Merlin Players’ performance of The Santa Diaries four years ago at the Paradise Center for the Arts, I laughed. And I cried. Playwrights and performers brought a moving message coupled with comedy to the stage.

And now they’ve done it again in A Christmas Wedding—The Santa Diaries II. I attended Saturday evening, a day after the play debuted. Writers Laura Ambler and Mala Burt flew in from Maryland to watch as a talented cast—many of whom performed in the first Santa Diaries—took the stage.

The play focuses on a Hollywood couple returning to their hometown for their desired small town Christmas wedding. Except others have other ideas, including making the wedding a reality TV event. So the story evolves with humor aplenty, conflict and discerning what’s most important in life. Choose fame and fortune? Or love, happiness and contentment?

I realized part way into the play that I was smiling nearly non-stop. That says a lot for the writing and the performing. But when the script got serious, my thoughts turned introspective also. Like the characters in the play, we all have choices to make, especially this time of year. It’s easy to get caught up in finding the perfect gift, the material things that we think will make us, or our loved ones, happy. But really, it is the gift of time, of being with family and friends, that’s most important. I left the theater with that point reinforced.

I also left with awe at The Merlin Players’ performance, echoed by the playwrights with whom I chatted briefly. Laura Ambler praised the cast. I did, too, But I also praised her writing and that of co-writer Mala Burt. It takes a good, strong script to make a play successful as much as good, strong performers and production staff.

And there were many talented actors and actresses. Plus singers. Solos by Mandie Siems and Paige Pick held a quality of pureness. I could sense the raptness of the audience as the two sang.

I especially appreciated the ways in which the play became distinctly Minnesotan, even distinctly Faribault. Local radio personality Gordy Kosfeld voiced the radio announcer. Casseroles became hotdish, at least in one reference. Poinsettias set on stage came from Donahue’s Greenhouse, so said one of the performers. Details like that endear a performance to a local audience.

The playwrights also endeared themselves to me in their appreciation of Faribault, telling me how much they enjoyed the fresh snow and exploring my community. I loved hearing that. Locals don’t always appreciate Faribault’s historic setting and small town feel. This really is a special place.

And that includes the Paradise Center for the Arts. I am so grateful to have this arts center in the heart of our historic downtown with professional theater and so much more available locally.

FYI: Additional performances of A Christmas Wedding–The Santa Diaries II are set for 7:30 p.m. on December 13, 14, and 15 and at 2 p.m. December 16 at the Paradise Center for the Arts, 321 Central Avenue North, Faribault.

© Copyright 2018 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

A must-see holiday play: The Santa Diaries December 10, 2014

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I THOUGHT I MIGHT make it through a local holiday theatrical production without crying.

But I didn’t.

The Santa Diaries actors, left to right, Thomas Drenth as Timmy; Samuel Temple as Marley the Dog; and Michael Lambert as Will Hawes. Photo by Edward Brown and courtesy of The Merlin Players.

The Santa Diaries actors, left to right, Thomas Drenth as Timmy; Samuel Temple as Marley the Dog; and Michael Lambert as Will Hawes. Photo by Edward Brown and courtesy of The Merlin Players.

Saturday evening found me seated on the far right side of the Bahl Family Auditorium, near the back of the Paradise Center for the Arts restored theatre in historic downtown Faribault, wiping away tears during The Merlin Players performance of The Santa Diaries.

The play penned by Mala Burt and Laura Ambler and debuting in Minnesota, in Faribault, resounds with the age-old theme of discovering what is truly most important in life.

For main character Will Hawes, played by seasoned actor Michael Lambert, that is deciphering whether he truly values his success as a Hollywood actor over love and family. A return to his small hometown at Christmas causes Hawes to reexamine his choices in life.

During an especially creative scene in which Hawes is dreaming, he is advised to “open your heart and listen.”

This holiday chorus line will have you laughing out loud. Photo by Edward Brown, courtesy of The Merlin Players.

This holiday chorus line will put you in the Christmas mood and have you laughing out loud. Photo by Edward Brown, courtesy of The Merlin Players.

That could be the mantra for a production that mixes serious topics with humor. From the Hotdish Ladies (“Casseroles” in the original script, but this is Minnesota) bearing Sweet Potato Hotdish to a chorus line to the moment that made me cry—hearing the inner thoughts of Martha (played by Stephanie Weiss) wanting nothing more than her family home for Christmas—The Santa Diaries touches the heart.

You will laugh. You may cry. And, with absolute certainty, you will consider your own family and your life priorities as The Santa Diaries unfolds.

The older I grow, the less I care about the worldly trappings of Christmas. Like Martha, I just want my family home for Christmas. That won’t happen. Not precisely on Christmas Day. But we will have 1 ½ days together prior. And I am grateful for that. (The college son arrives home from Boston in exactly eight days.)

While The Santa Diaries presents a rather predictable happy ending—hey, you can’t have a holiday show that ends badly—real life isn’t that way. I know that. You know that. Life is messy. Work and distance and disagreements and busyness keep families apart.

But there is hope. People change. Situations change. We grow older and wiser. And, like main character Will Hawes, we eventually figure it out, that family is more important than money and success and work and schedules and, well, whatever else fills the time we could be with those we love.

The Paradise Center for the Arts is the cultural hub for theater and art in a historic theatre along Faribault's Central Avenue.

The Paradise Center for the Arts is the cultural hub for theater and art in a historic theatre along Faribault’s Central Avenue. Each December a holiday show is featured. This photo is from a past performance.

FYI: Additional performances of The Santa Diaries are set for 7:30 p.m. December 11, 12 and 13 and for 2 p.m. December 14. Julianna Skluzacek is the artistic director for the play featuring 28 passionate performers ranging from elementary age to decades older.  Call (507) 332-7372 for tickets from noon – 5 p.m. Tuesday – Saturday or noon – 8 p.m. Thursdays. Tickets may also be purchased an hour before show times. I wouldn’t wait, though. Tickets are selling quickly.

The playwrights are flying into Minnesota from the East Coast on Friday and will be here for all three weekend performances.

© Copyright 2014 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

The Santa Diaries photos copyright of Edward Brown/The Merlin Players and published here with permission.