Thrilling, Humorously Delightful 39 Steps w/ Veer Magazine

by Jerome Langston

“I make no apology for loving both a good comedy, and a good mystery,” says Mark Shanahan, with both a smile and an emphatic tone—following a day full of rehearsing the latest Virginia Stage Company production, a play that will run at the midway point of the acclaimed theatre’s Season 44. Shanahan is a New York City based director/actor/playwright, who previously directed VSC’s The Hound of the Baskervilles for season 39, and penned A Merry Little Christmas Carol, a new take on the Dickens classic which wrapped an extended run here at the Wells just a few days ago. He is back in Norfolk to direct The 39 Steps, the fast-moving whodunit which won both Tony awards and the prestigious Drama Desk Award, for its Broadway run back in 2008.

Mark has directed The 39 Steps multiple times before, but never with this talented cast of four actors who collectively portray more than 150 characters over the course of two hours. “I love this play because I’ve had a long history with it,” he says during our recent chat at a large rehearsal space in downtown Norfolk. The set is still very much a work in progress on the Wells stage. Mark and I are joined by actor James Taylor Odom, who plays the show’s lead role of Richard Hannay. The three of us discuss VSC’s take on this Hitchcockian, suspenseful and zany romp of a play—and how audiences are really craving such escapist, laugh-inducing smart entertainment these days, especially considering the collective stress of this mercilessly ongoing pandemic.

Photo Credit Sam Flint

When Mark was just a young lad of 10 years of age, his father took him to see the film version of The 39 Steps, which was part of a double bill at a second run movie house in NYC’s East Village. An Alfred Hitchcock directed classic from 1935, the suspense thriller was paired with another Hitchcock classic, The Lady Vanishes. That early experience with the artistry of the English master of filmmaking, inspired a young Mark in various ways.

“It was the granddaddy of a lot of spy stories that we still see today,” the actor/director says, referring to The 39 Steps film. His love of the film made him initially apprehensive of Patrick Barlow’s adaptation of it, based upon the John Buchan novel, into a play, till he saw an early version of it in London. Remarkably, Mark would later serve as the cover for the lead role of Hannay, during the highly successful Broadway run of the play, and did actually go on in place of actor Charles Edwards for several performances. “I got to really study the way the play was constructed, and see some wonderful actors do it,” Mark says about the experience.

His success with the play on Broadway led to the many offers to direct regional productions of the play, which was initially billed as Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps. He notes that “every production has to be handled differently,” though, and the premiere of it at Norfolk’s foremost professional theatre house is no exception. “I think it fits really beautifully in the Wells,” the director says.

“We wanted to create a set that sort of felt like an extension of the Wells itself,” Mark says, about his set that is being designed by D. Craig Napoliello. “This movie and play begins and ends in a theatre.” The creative team includes Jeni Schaefer as costume designer, with lights and sound handled by Alyssandra Docherty and Ryan Rumery respectively. Besides the aforementioned James Taylor Odom, the cast includes actors Kristen Hahn, Michael Di Liberto, and Steve Pacek, all of whom have worked with Mark before, but not for this play. Many of the cast members have portrayed characters in prior productions of The 39 Steps, however.

“We’ve all had experience with it, but we’re getting to come back to it after many years away from it, and reinvestigate it together, and make a new version of it for this theatre,” says its director, who also wrote and directed the inventive A Sherlock Carol, which ran Off-Broadway at New World Stages, and was a critic’s pick by The New York Times in December 2021. “I know from doing ‘Hound of the Baskervilles’ that this audience loves a good comedy, but it loves a comedy that’s smart…and shows you excellence on stage,” Mark says, regarding VSC patrons.

In The 39 Steps, Richard Hannay is a guy who goes on the run after being falsely accused of committing a crime. Along the way “he has to discover himself, fall in love, and save the world in order to save himself,” explains Mark. It’s quite a lot to portray during the show’s two acts, but Mark felt that James was the ideal actor for the role of Hannay. “His Hannay is very particular to what he’s rehearsing and finding…” he adds.

“Through this wild, espionage romantic thriller throwback, it’s a fun journey of self-discovery,” James says early on, about his character. “Richard Hannay is kind of going through a bit of a crisis himself. He has no friends, no partner, really no family…is stripped of any kind of specific identity, which is a great setup for where this character is going.” James and Mark have known each other for many years but are working together for the first time in this play. Mark tells me towards the end of our chat that working with this great cast is part of the joy of directing this production.

“You’re in the hands of really great actors for a two-hour evening, where you can forget your worries, but also be mesmerized by their expertise. And that’s the joy of it.”

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THE 39 STEPS 

January 18-February 5

Virginia Stage Company

Wells Theatre | Get Tickets Here

The 39 Steps | Cast & Creatives

Cast

KRISTEN HAHN*

(The Woman) Broadway: A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder; Our Town starring Paul Newman. 1st National Tour: Hello, Dolly! (Minnie Fay); A Gentleman's Guide... (Phoebe). Regional: Guys and Dolls (Sarah Brown) at Maine State; Death Takes a Holiday (Grazia) at Arvada Center; Our Town (Rebecca) at Westport Country Playhouse. Film: 5 Flights Up starring Diane Keaton and Morgan Freeman; Our Town (PBS Masterpiece Theatre). BFA Carnegie Mellon University. Thanks to our brilliant director Mark, Virginia Stage, my teachers, and loved ones!

MICHAEL DI LIBERTO*

(Clown #1, Mr. Memory, and others) Virginia Stage Company debut. Michael is thrilled to clown around again after previously working with Mark on this show over twelve years ago.  This cast is a dream!  Broadway: Wicked. Off-Broadway: Cuts (York Theatre). National/International Tours: Wicked, Annie, Cinderella, Strike Up The Band, Disney on Classic w/ the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra.  Select Regional: The Producers (Helen Hayes Nomination, Best Actor), Beauty and the Beast (PCLO), Elf and Oliver! (Paper Mill Playhouse), Around the World in 80 Days (Hangar Theatre), Sweeney Todd, Monty Python’s Spamalot, LMNOP (Goodspeed Opera House), Titanic, The Story of My Life.  Television: “The Good Fight” (Paramount+), “Evil” (Paramount+), “wecrashed” (AppleTV+), “Hit & Run” (Netflix), “The Gilded Age” (HBOMax, Season 2), and “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” (Amazon, upcoming release).  A big thank you to Mark, Virginia Stage Company and the fabulous team at CGF Talent.  For mom, forever and always.  @MichaelDi_Li

JAMES TAYLOR ODOM*

(Hannay) is excited to make his Virginia Stage debut! National Tours: The D’Ysquith Family in A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder and Captain Von Trapp U/S in The Sound of Music. His recent regional credits include: Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol (TheatreSquared); D’Ysquith Family in GGLAM (Gateway Playhouse & Tuacahn); Rev. Tim in the US premiere of Grumpy Old Men: the musical (Ogunquit Playhouse); Richard Hannay in The 39 Steps (Cortland Repertory Theatre); The Suspects in Murder For Two (Theatresquared); Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady (Prather Entertainment Group); Alan in God of Carnage (Shadowland Stages); George Banks in Mary Poppins (Tuacahn/Broadway Palm); and George Bailey In It’s a Wonderful Life: a radio play (Gainesville Theatre Alliance). He is the creator of two one-person shows: Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon and The Mystery Bookshop Musical. He holds an MFA in acting from the University of Arkansas and a BA in Theatre from Brenau University. Avalon Artists Group. 

STEVE PACEK*

(Clown #2, Compere, and others) is thrilled to return to Virginia Stage Company! He last tread the board of the Wells Theater as Miss Tracy Mills in the The Legend of Georgia McBride, before the pandemic closed the show prematurely. Before that, he played Sir Henry in The Hound of the Baskervilles. And during the quarantines, he directed The Comedy of Errors in parks across Norfolk for the education department. Other credits include: Titanic (Bride/Hartley) at Milwaukee Rep; Hand to God (Jason/Tyrone) at the Alley Theatre; the World Premiere of See Monsters of the Deep (Morton Plank) at White Heron Theatre Co; The Secret Garden (Dickon) and Metamorphosis (Phaeton) at the Arden Theatre Co; Peter and the Starcatcher (Peter) at TheatreSquared & Arkansas Rep; Little Shop of Horrors (Seymour) at the Hangar Theater; The Glass Menagerie (Tom) at Cardinal Stage Co; Mary Poppins (Bert) at Quintessence; Les Miserables (Jean Prouvier) and Man of La Mancha (ensemble) at Walnut Street Theater;  A New Brain (Gordo) at Theatre Horizon; The Bombitty of Errors (Dromio of Syracuse) at 11th Hour; and a show he created for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2019, [Untitled Project] #213. Steve is also a director, choreographer, teacher and visual artist. Check out www.stevepacek.com for more info! Ithaca College Alum. Many thanks to Mark, Tom, Jeni, Meg and everyone here at VSC. It’s so good to be back!

Creative Team

MARK SHANAHAN

(Director) returns to Virginia Stage having directed The Hound Of The Baskervilles at Wells and his adaptation of Agatha Christie’s The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd online. Additionally, he is the proud author of Virginia Stage’s annual production of A Merry Little Christmas Carol. Mark is the writer and director of the hit play A Sherlock Carol, produced Off-Broadway and in London and nominated as Best New Play 2022 by the Off-Broadway Alliance. His directorial work has been seen at Alley Theatre,  The Westport Playhouse, The Irish Repertory Theatre, George Street Playhouse, Theatre Squared, Arkansas Rep, White Heron, Fulton Opera House, Weston Playhouse, Florida Rep, Penguin Rep, Merrimack Rep, The Cape Playhouse, and many more. As a playwright, Mark is the author of See Monsters Of The Deep, the Off Broadway and regional hit The Dingdong, and was nominated for an Edgar Award by the Mystery Writer's Association of America for his stage adaptation of The Chronology Protection Case. Mark is the creator and writer of NPR's Radio "Ghost Light Series"  for the White Heron Theatre and Westport Playhouse- featuring original audio plays starring Christopher Plummer, Judith Ivy and other notables of stage and screen.  As an actor, Mark performed on the New York stage in The 39 Steps on Broadway and in the Off Broadway hits As Bees In Honey Drown, Tryst, The Shaugraun, Small World, Checkers and many others. He has appeared on numerous regional stages across the country including the Alley, The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and Hartford Theatreworks. Mark is the resident director at The White Heron Theatre and curator of the Script-In-Hand Series at The Westport Country Playhouse, and a graduate of Brown University (BA) and Fordham University (MA) where he happily taught  classes on Hitchcock for 20 years.

D. CRAIG M. NAPOLIELLO

(Scenic Deisgner) is a New York City based designer.  Credits include Regional Scenic Design: River Ditty, Peter and the Starcather, VA Rep, I Am My Own Wife (Robert Fulton Award – Best Scenic Design), Witness For The Prosecution, Fulton Theatre, The Music Man-In Concert, Two River Theater. Off-Bway Scenic: I Forgive You, Ronald Regan, Beckett Theatre, The Bardy Bunch, St. Clement’s Theatre, Touch, 59E59, Sexual Healing, Rattapallax, The Germans In Paris, Arclight Theatre. Off Broadway Scenic & Costume: The Exes, Midnight Street, Theatre Row Come Light My Cigarette, St. Clement’s Theater Death of the Moon, Jerry Orbach Midnight Street, Lion Theatre Productions. Associate Scenic Designer (Selected) Broadway: In Transit Off Broadway: Scotland PA, Roundabout Theatre West Side Story, International Tour.  www.napoliellodesign.com

JENI SCHAEFER

(Costume Designer) is the Director of Design and Resident Costume Designer at the Virginia Stage Company in her 21st season. Regional credits include: A Christmas Story at Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Hound of the Baskervilles at The Hangar and White Heron Theatre, Always...Patsy Cline PCPA Theatrefest, World premiere of Tom Jones for Florida Studio Theatre, Wit for Playmakers Repertory Theatre. VSC productions including; The Hobbit, Every Brilliant Thing, Dreamgirls, Merry Little Christmas Carol, Dear Jack Dear Louise, Hold These Truths, Sense and Sensibility, Guys and Dolls, Matilda, Secret Garden, Fun Home, Always Patsy Cline, Crowns,The Hound of the Baskervilles, Pride and Prejudice, The Wiz, A Streetcar named Desire, Oliver, Peter and the Starcatcher, All my Sons,The Great Gatsby,The Fantasticks, Death of a Salesman, Red, Around the World in 80 days, Crowns, Billy Bishop Goes to War, Hank Williams Lost Highway and A Christmas Carol. Jeni Schaefer holds a MAC in Theatre/Costume Design from Wichita State University. Thank you to my family Tony, Sara and Ethan for being my inspiration and for always believing in me.

ALYSSANDRA DOCHERTY

(Lighting Designer) (she/her) is a Philadelphia-based lighting designer originally from Vernon, NJ. After graduating with honors and a BA in Theatre from DeSales University, she continued her training as an apprentice at Goodspeed Musicals in Connecticut.  She then spent five seasons as the Lighting Supervisor at Philadelphia Theatre Company.  She has toured internationally with Koresh Dance Company and BalletX to stages in Belarus, Mexico, Bermuda, Serbia, and all across the USA. Recently, Aly’s work has been seen in Here You Come Again (Delaware Theatre Company & Pittsburgh CLO), The Garbologists (Philadelphia Theatre Company), and RENT (New Light Theatre).  She has also designed for Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, Brian Sanders’ JUNK, Theatre Horizon, and Wolf Trap Opera, among others.  Her designs have been recognized with Barrymore and Ostrander Award nominations in Philadelphia and Memphis respectively.  www.alyssandradocherty.com

RYAN RUMERY

(Sound Design) is a 2017 alum of the Sundance Institute Music and Sound Design Lab: Documentary. His music is regularly heard on “This American Life.”  His film credits include Food and Country (2023 Sundance), Ottolenghi and the Cakes of Versailles (2020 Tribeca),  District 15 (2020 for Patagonia), America’s Pandemic (2020 The Washington Post), Epic Extras (2019 Major League Baseball), The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Paul Manafort (2018 The Washington Post). And, Apart (2016 Golden Door International Film Festival), Those People (UCLAxFilmFest 2022.) He has also contributed additional music to City of Gold (2015 Sundance), Awake: A Dream From Standing Rock (2017 Tribeca), How to Let Go of the World (And Love All the Things Climate Can’t Change) (2016 Sundance), and When We Walk (2019 Hot Docs).

BINDER CASTING 

(NY Casting) Binder Casting, now part of RWS Entertainment Group, was founded by Jay Binder, CSA in 1984. Binder Casting has cast over 80 Broadway productions, dozens of National Tours, off-Broadway shows, full seasons for over 25 regional theatres, as well as feature films, episodic television and commercials. Binder has cast for Encores! at New York City Center since its inception in 1994. The office was also featured in the documentary, Every Little Step. Binder Casting is a twelve–time recipient of the Artios Award. www.bindercasting.com

Daniel LeMien*

(Production Stage Manager) is thrilled to be back and joining the team at VSC for A Merry Little Christmas Carol. Tour Credits: Tour Manager for recording artist Jim Brickman, PSM for Forever Plaid 25th Anniversary Tour (Barter Theatre Company), Menopause the Musical (TOC Productions), Say Goodnight Gracie (Alan Safier) Strega Nona The Musical (Maximum Entertainment). Regional Credits: The Hobbit, Dreamgirls (Virginia Stage Theatre Company), West Side Story (City Springs Theatre Company), Cabaret, Spring Awakening, Mame, Into the Woods, Bright Lights Big City, The Burnt Part Boys, Fiddler On The Roof, Grey Gardens, Becky Shaw, Harvey (FreeFall Theatre Company), Dirty Blonde, The Importance of Being Earnest, Romeo and Juliet, Camping With Henry and Tom (American Stage Theatre Company) Daniel is a graduate of St. Petersburg College and a proud member of Actors Equity Association. @managethestage

EMMA D. EMDE*

(Assistant Stage Manager) is elated to be spending her first season with Virginia Stage Company. Her recent credits here include A Merry Little Christmas Carol and The Hobbit. Prior to coming to Virginia Stage Company Emma spent the summer in Ithaca, NY as the Assistant Production Manager at Hangar Theatre Company. As a recent graduate from the University of Nebraska at Kearney, her collegiate stage management credits include Nightfall with Edgar Allan Poe, She Kills Monsters, and Eurydice. Following The 39 Steps, she will continue her time here for the last two season productions. Emma is a proud member of the Alpha Psi Omega National Theatre Honors Society and National Honors Society for Dance Association.

TOM QUAINTANCE

(Producing Artistic Director) is in his sixth year with Virginia Stage Company. At the Wells, Tom has directed A Merry Little Christmas Carol, Pride and Prejudice, The Santaland Diaries, and Matilda The Musical. Pre-pandemic, Tom traveled to Minneapolis where he directed Twelfth Night at the Guthrie Theater. As Artistic Director of Cape Fear Regional Theatre (CFRT), Tom produced over 35 plays and directed the World Premiere of Downrange: Voices from the Homefront, a play based on interviews with military spouses from Fort Bragg. Tom is an Associate Artist at PlayMakers Repertory Company in Chapel Hill where he directed An Enemy of the People, Shipwrecked! An Entertainment, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, and The Little Prince. He also directed The Little Prince at the 2007 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. As the founder of FreightTrain Shakespeare in Los Angeles, he earned a Drama-Logue Award for his direction of Pericles. Other Los Angeles credits range from King Lear to The Devil With Boobs. A member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, Tom is a graduate of Wesleyan University (Middletown, CT) with a B.A. in Theatre and Economics, and the University of California, San Diego MFA directing program, where he was the assistant director on the original production of The Who’s Tommy. 

JEFF RYDER

(Managing Director) has been Managing Director of Virginia Stage Company since March 2022. Prior to coming to VSC, Jeff served in several roles at Cleveland Play House from 2013 to 2022. Jeff holds a Master of Public Administration Degree from the Levin College at Cleveland State University and a Bachelor’s Degree from Tufts University. At Levin, Jeff was inducted into Nu Lambda Mu, the international honor society for the study of nonprofit management and philanthropy. Jeff also holds a certificate in Diversity and Inclusion for HR Professionals from Cornell University. He has served on the boards of the Cleveland Kids’ Book Bank, Theatre Forward, the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network of Cleveland, and the Cleveland Professional 20/30 Club. In Cleveland, Jeff was honored to be a part of the Cleveland Leadership Center’s Advanced Leadership Institute and the Cleveland Foundation’s Foundations for Philanthropy Program. Jeff has also been a stage manager at several theatres including Talespinner Children’s Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, and Berkshire Theatre Festival.

Additional Show Staff

Carpenters… Kacy McBride, Caleb Ouellette, TréVeon Porchia, and Michael Taylor
Scenic Charge… George Righter
Scenic Painters… Shawn Crawford, Deanna Hammond, Nanita Kovalik
Electricians… Harry Drew-Wingfield, Kim Fuller, and Leya Quiñones

Wardrobe Supervisor… Chelsie Cartledge-Rose
Wardrobe… Virginia Bird
Deck Captain: April Threet
Deck Hands: Iris Martin & Kylie Sorber
Light Board Operator: Eden Guill
Spotlight Operator: Joey Mueller
Sound Engineer: Shyloh Bailey
Sound Engineer…Danielle Saunders
Crew Swing… Cristina Shafarman

VA Pilot Review: Merry meta Christmas play! ‘Twelve Dates’ a slightly racy, contemporary one-woman show

Emel Ertugrul stars in The Twelve Dates of Christmas, a co-production with Core Theatre Ensemble.

NORFOLK — Yes, “The Twelve Dates of Christmas” is X-rated — for a bit of naughty language — but the X on this shiny bauble of a play really stands for “Xmas.”

Most exciting to people who groove on Greek prefixes is that this one-woman play, starring Emel Ertugrul — an impressive stalwart of the Virginia Stage Company and the Core Theatre Ensemble — is meta all the way, standing beyond and reflecting on not one but two other Christmas chestnuts. The first: the VSC’s current “A Merry Little Christmas Carol,” with which it shares a set and runs in repertory. The second: the original “A Christmas Carol,” from which it largely derives. Thus it’s doubly meta.

Are you finding this confusing? Well, what’s the meta with you?

Before Facebook changed its name to Meta and the regrettable portmanteau word “metaverse” (for “meta universe”), literary critics threw about the prefix “meta” with abandon, latching it onto anything that, in Merriam-Webster’s words, seemed “cleverly self-referential.” So it goes here.

While “The Twelve Dates of Christmas” is contemporary in feel and appeal (and also references the hoary old song) the central character Mary — Ertugrul plays her and 12 others — happens to be a classic struggling New York actor who, while vacationing in her native Virginia (one fills in the state where the show is performed), spots her fiancé on camera at the Macy’s parade, sucking face with his co-worker.

The show follows Mary through her difficult but enlightening post-breakup year as she struggles to banish the ghost of her fiancé past and find happiness — with a dozen suitors, who turn out to be a dubious, soul-testing bunch.

All must be conjured by Ertugrul through narration, the kind in which she deftly steps in and out of voices and accents. This kind of play can be done by the actor’s racing from spot to spot onstage, laboriously delivering both sides of a conversation. Ertugrul, as directed by Laura Agudelo, also of Core Ensemble and frequently VSC, thankfully forgoes that shtick, more subtly suggesting the switches as needed. (Ertugrul’s glasses-wearing, interfering Aunt Kathy is particularly winsome with her Tidewater drawl.)

Playwright Ginna Hoben created and premiered this now one-woman show at American Shakespeare Center in Staunton before moving it to Manhattan Repertory Theatre and elsewhere. Hampton Roads’ Core Theatre Ensemble, and Ertugrul, is similarly peripatetic, having performed in Italy, Lithuania and all over this region. They often choose literary adaptations such as Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” (a still-memorable hit, also starring Ertugrul).

Here, the mood is somewhat literary — in that Ertugrul’s character Mary is employed during her post-breakup year as Lady Macbeth and then as a familiar Dickensian figure. Mary explains the irony: “So, while I am trying to thwart the Christmas spirit, I get hired to be the Christmas spirit. Specifically, the Spirit of Christmas Past.”

But she and we the audience are mostly focused on her parade of suitors, which she describes as the “125 jackasses it takes to meet one decent man.” While not quite that many are depicted, they do deserve the comparison.

Mary has a one-night stand with good-looking Irishman Aidan O’Reilly, who says in parting, “The only thing I enjoyed more than your fine wit … is your fine (X-rated body part).” There are folks like Emil, a “One-Hit Wonder” who “unwittingly ruined himself with (her) by showing up in a Stars and Stripes fanny pack. God bless America!” There’s “Psycho Joe,” who activates an app on Mary’s phone to track and stalk her. And there’s Mr. Tim, the father of Mary’s co-actor, Tiny Tim, a 5-year-old heartthrob who easily beats out any adult for a place in her heart. Can you hear someone’s biological clock ticking?

Sometimes there are two suitors at a time. Mary takes to one, breaks things off with the other, and then the one she liked ghosts her.

With each suitor’s departure, she drops a Christmas tree ornament into a box and we hear a “ding.” (The original script has it the opposite — her hanging an ornament — but this way seems more appropriately ironic.)

Like all one-actor shows, this 90-minute, no-intermission show demands enormous, tour-de-force acting. Ertugrul, slightly restrained on opening night, seemed to be pacing herself for a dependably bravura run.

As a meta-member of the inspired-by-Dickens club of plays, “Twelve Dates” is not all jokes and raucousness. It conveys a modern but still Dickensian quest for finding oneself, which everyone hopes to do before life’s final chimes ring out our season on Earth. In that sense, this slightly racier-than-Dickens Christmas show also proves salvific.

In Mary’s words, “The best date I had all year involved a 5-year-old.” Christmas, after all, was started by and for a child.

Page Laws is dean emerita of the Nusbaum Honors College at Norfolk State University. prlaws@aya.yale.edu

Performer, reformer: Dickens still the star in ‘A Merry Little Christmas Carol’

NORFOLK — Those of us who encounter Charles Dickens already dead and deified at the hands of English teachers might be amazed to learn what a rock star he was in his day (1812-1870).

A scene from Virginia Stage Company's "A Merry Little Christmas Carol." Left to right, actors Mesgana Jackson, Meredith Noël, Adalee Alt and Sarah Manton. (Matthew Omilianowski)

The consummate popular artist, he sold copies of his 15 masterpiece novels at the rate of a Victorian David Baldacci. On his two American tours, he hobnobbed with superstars such as Edgar Allan Poe and Mark Twain, even venturing to Richmond, pre-Civil War, to see slavery firsthand. (According to David Perdue’s website, The Charles Dickens Page, Dickens, a staunch abolitionist, was horrified.) He was besieged by fans as voracious for tickets to his readings as Swifties are to see their Taylor. Among his fan favorites was ”A Christmas Carol,” a cash cow for him at readings, home and abroad.

The title of Mark Shanahan’s stage adaptation of Dickens’ classic 1843 novella, now at Virginia Stage Company, also alludes to the 1944 song made famous by Judy Garland in “Meet Me in St. Louis.” Shanahan’s reference to the sentimental “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” is one of the only faux pas in this otherwise sure-footed show. The adapter’s choice of title (in which the VSC likely had no role, though it did select this adaptation) is unfortunate because the words “merry” and “little” together diminish and even infantilize the classic’s content and repute. Fortunately, the show itself, however, does neither; on the contrary, this production, featuring five fine Equity actors, reveals and fulfills Dickens’ fight for social justice and the VSC’s ethos on achieving the same.

Actors Mesgana Jackson, left, and Beatty Barnes in "A Merry Little Christmas Carol" at the Wells Theatre. (Matthew Omilianowski)

How does this adaptation differ from Dickens’ traditional “A Christmas Carol”? Well, in Bob Cratchit’s words, it’s a “wonderful pudding.” It’s been trimmed a good bit in both senses of the word “trim.” It’s been invigorated with incidental carols, though they are secondary in importance to plot and performance. And Shanahan’s adaptation has some leavening: contemporary break-the-fourth-wall patter with the audience, tactfully hushed in the most dramatic parts. Rest assured that the Ghost of Christmas Future will still scare the dickens out of you, aided by spooky lighting and Steven Allegretto’s impressive sound effects, including “chimes at midnight” sounding from the rear of the house.

Jeni Schaefer’s costumes (with the exception of Bob Cratchit’s office jacket?) are Victorian. (Recall that the Wells was built only 11 years after Queen Victoria’s demise!) Dahlia Al-Habieli’s serviceable uniset is surprisingly nautical in feeling (wheelhouse to conceal the piano, ship’s wheel, etc.) but begins to make sense when one considers the Wells’ proximity to old Norfolk’s waterfront plus a brief section of the play’s being set at sea.

But everyone goes to see Scrooge, and Beatty Barnes Jr., reprising his role from last year’s production, never disappoints.

Barnes draws on his talent as a stand-up comedian to execute Dickens’ puns, augmented or emphasized by adapter Shanahan (e.g., “no time like the present” said to the Ghost of Christmas Present). But even more important than comic chops is Barnes’ ability to pace his transformation from a man who despises the poor, turning down charity-seeking philanthropists by saying “Are there no prisons?” and “Are there no workhouses?” into a man who can promise to “honour Christmas in (his) heart, and try to keep it all the year.” The transformation begins as soon as his encounter with Marley, but it must not be rushed — comprising, as it does, the very backbone and arc of the story.

Actors in "A Merry Little Christmas Carol" at the Wells Theatre in Norfolk: Left to right, Beatty Barnes, Adalee Alt and Sarah Manton. (Matthew Omilianowski)

By Dr. Page Laws

Page Laws is dean emerita of the Nusbaum Honors College at Norfolk State University. prlaws@aya.yale.edu

A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS CAROL is Back!

Giving Tuesday 2022 | Support Artist Workers Who Make the Jewell of Hampton Roads Theatre Shine!

Every year, during the season of giving, non-profits and arts organizations from across the globe participate in Giving Tuesday. This nationally recognized campaign asks those who support the arts and non-profit organization to consider, during this time of giving and cheer, to consider supporting your favorite local organizations with any amount you can.

Keep an eye on our social media, website, and more as our artists from across the country share why Virginia Stage Company is an arts organization worthy of your love and support and what about their experiences makes VSC feel like home.

Hear from the Artists Your Gift Directly Impacts

Jeffrey A Haddock is a teaching artist at Virginia Stage and was recently seen as Bilbo in our production of The Hobbit (2022). His work with Governor’s School Students, Young Artists, and on stage is supported by the meals and transportation assistance we provide to the young artists he teaches.

Bart Mather is a New York based artist who rocked our stage in his dazzling performance in the ensemble of Fun Home and Secret Garden. Thanks to the generous support of donors like yourselves, actors like Bart get to join our community and bring their talent, views, and energies to our family here at VSC.

Leila Stephanie is a teaching artist with Virginia Stage Company and most recently performed in the premier of The Earth Remembers as Mama E. She is a wonderful spirit, whose work with students from grades K-12 is impactful and a true joy to watch. It’s thanks to the funds that get students to our student matinees that Leila is able to help open young minds and hearts to the magic of theatre for every show.

How Far Does Your Gift Go?

This year, we ask you to think about every facet of theatre that your contribution supports. From the actors on stage, to the arts administrators and scene shop workers who build some of the most inspiring and unforgettable sets Hampton Roads ever sees. Every screw, every plank, every hour of rehearsal is curated by home grown artists and arts workers…nothing shipped in, nothing outsourced, all of the work crafted by hand by Hampton Roads community members who love to bring you life-changing theatre every day.

We ask this year, as you look at our ambitious goal, you will consider how far a dollar goes to support all of the things our hands can’t bring you…travel costs, meals, busses for students, all of these things need your support to happen. This support goes tremendously far in making sure Virginia Stage Company, your Jewel of Downtown Norfolk, can continue to be a lead player in the arts scene of Hampton Roads.

Make a difference to the Arts in Hampton Roads. Help Reach Our Goal. Support VSC.

Virginia Stage Company presents ‘Wiesenthal,’ inside the world of a Nazi hunter

NORFOLK — Against the backdrop of rising antisemitic violence and rhetoric, the Virginia Stage Company and the Holocaust Commission of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater will present the play “Wiesenthal” Tuesday.

“Wiesenthal” is a one-man show about Simon Wiesenthal, a Holocaust survivor who became a Nazi hunter after World War II and brought more than 1,000 escaped criminals to justice. “Wiesenthal” was written by and stars Tom Dugan, who said he wants people to know the man often called the “Jewish James Bond.”

Because educating young people is a focus of the Holocaust Commission, student groups will see it free on Wednesday.

Elena Barr Baum, director of the UJFT Holocaust Commission, said that it is as important a time as ever to remember the lessons found in “Wiesenthal.”

“The Holocaust Commission is not political,” Baum said. “But we have to understand why the Holocaust happened and be aware of the conditions that were right in Germany in the 1920s and ‘30s that made these things, these horrible things, happen.”

Last week, the FBI warned of a “broad threat” to New Jersey synagogues and located a man who the agency stated exhibited “an extreme amount of hate against the Jewish community.” Around the same time, NBA star Kyrie Irving made national headlines for not making an immediate apology for posting a link on his social media to a documentary that contained anti-Jewish sentiments.

“This should not be happening in a democracy,” Baum said.

“Wiesenthal” is one of six one-person, historical plays Dugan has written including “Shades of Gray” which spotlighted Robert E. Lee, “Frederick Douglass In The Shadow of Slavery,” and his most recent, “Tell Him It’s Jackie,” focusing on Jackie Kennedy.

Dugan has historians vet his scripts for historical accuracy.

“But each of my plays has been written and produced to be entertainment,” he said, “and my way of saying it is: If you’re not careful, you might learn something.”

Dugan isn’t Jewish, but his wife and two children are. Dugan was raised in an Irish Catholic family and his inspiration for “Wiesenthal” stemmed from his father’s experiences as being in an American military unit that liberated a concentration camp.

But “when I first started even thinking about writing about the Holocaust,” Dugan said, “I said to myself who wants to sit and listen to sad stories for 90 minutes.”

Then, he discovered that Wiesenthal was a pre-war amateur stand-up comedian.

It gave Dugan material to present more than Wiesenthal’s horrors.

“What is most surprising about the play to most audiences is how much they laugh,” Dugan said.

According to the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Wiesenthal was born in what is now Ukraine on Dec. 31, 1908. He graduated in 1932 from the Technical University of Prague after being rejected from a school closer to home because he was Jewish.

During the war, he and his wife were shipped to a series of forced labor and death camps before being liberated. While Wiesenthal and his wife survived, 89 of their relatives did not, including Wiesenthal’s mother.

“When history looks back,” Wiesenthal once said, “I want people to know the Nazis weren’t able to kill millions of people and get away with it.”

Wiesenthal later hosted students in an office he kept in Vienna. Dugan’s play is set in an office. Dugan, as Wiesenthal, speaks to the audience as if they were the last group he ever spoke to in the twilight of his life. Wiesenthal died in 2005.

“I’m not jumping into different characters, but he’s a good storyteller,” Dugan said. “So along the way, you’ll get to know his wife, and you’ll get to know certain war criminals based on the way that Simon tells the story.”

Colin Warren-Hicks, 919-818-8138, colin.warrenhicks@virginiamedia.com