Theater Review: Inspecting Carol
presented by the Labyrinth Theatre

by John Garcia of John Garcia's The Column

Reviewed 11/24/06 Performance

Directed by Cliff Stephens

Scenic, Lighting, and Sound Design by Kevin Ash

Costume Design by Stephanie Epstein

Cast:

Zorach Bloch.................Amy Mills

Kevin Emery..................Chris Dover

Phil Hewlitt................Paul Taylor

Sidney Carlton...............Francis Fuselier

Luther Beatty...............Cayman Mitchell

Wayne Wellacre...............Lee Irving

Betty Andrews...............Lisa Anne Haram

Larry Vauxhall..............T.A. Taylor

Thomas B. Frances.............Jared Culpepper

M.J.McMann.................Maria Zsohar

Dorothy Tree Hapgood.............Julie Erickson

Spike...................Jake Nelson

Review

I'll share a little secret with you, when it comes to Christmas; well I guess you could call me Mr. Grinch's nephew, Mr. Bitter. The truth is I'm not a fan at all of this holiday. I dread it creeping around the corner starting in October. The stores don't help with thrusting their Christmas goodies & décor right in your face, and its only September! TV shows already promoting their holiday specials, "NBC is proud to present from Hallmark's Christmas snow, holiday treats, and ornaments galore starring Kathy Lee Gifford." Where's my gun?

There are personal reasons why I just hate this holiday, and they'll remain personal. But also because so much is force fed down our throats that this holiday demands mountains of presents, endless shopping hours, traffic jams, the relatives, those ugly Xmas sweaters, spending more than you can afford, and of course-the annual Christmas theater show.

Oh, 'tis the season where theater companies mount the 500th version of A Christmas Carol or Best Christmas Pageant Ever. As an actor I did a Christmas show two years in a row hoping it would melt this ice frozen distain toward the holidays. No dice. By the second year I was begging for the stage lights above to fall on top of me, ending this cruel, cruel torture of doing yet another show involving the Herdmans & 100 kiddie actors high on sugar that the stage mommies fed them backstage.

But the audiences and the kids love - and I mean - love these shows. They sell out so big, theater companies add even more performances to fill the demand. These productions become major hit makers for their season. Can't beat that.

That's why Mr. Bitter stays tucked away from the eggnog and silver tinsel in his cave with his Diet Coke and DVR, begging that it just passes over him quickly.

So why on earth would I make a visit to the Labyrinth Theatre for their current holiday production of Inspecting Carol? Well, I've never seen the play, it seemed far from the usual sugar coated holiday fare, and it was time I paid a visit to one of the newer theater companies.

This comedy by Daniel Sullivan and the Seattle Rep Theatre Company centers around a theater company about to put on their holiday show, A Christmas Carol. Oh, and by the way, there are only two theater companies in this production's unnamed town. The other theater company happens to be an all Lesbian theater company. Already you get the sense you're not in Dickens country.

This is their annual fundraiser production the holiday classic. Easy enough. But then they find out that they are broke, plus they have to deal with method actors, suicide, divorce, and to top it off they may lose their funding from the NEA (National Endowment of the Arts).

In that usual slapstick genre of comedy, the company confuses the stranger that comes into their theater as the NEA judge who has come to evaluate their current show - and the comedy ensues.

The majority of the script is quite witty & entertaining. It actually at times reminds you of that other backstage comedy, Noises Off. Not all the characters are fleshed out, and there is missing subtext sprinkled throughout the writing, but the bulk of the script is quite mirth provoking and highly enjoyable.

The Labyrinth Theatre calls home an oval shape portion of a church, which hinders them physically in sets (in other words, it is an intimate space). I honestly don't know if it's due to the space or budget constraints, but physically the production suffers. There is no hint of color from its lighting palette which is basic, bland beige. Additionally, there was some flickering white light far upstage, which resembled either a strobe light gone wacko or the bulb was going out. The set is small, cumbersome, and tight. But oddly enough in this case, it actually aided the vibe of the piece to resemble a company struggling to put on a great show on a shoestring budget.

Having said this, designer Kevin Ash deserves a standing ovation for his ability to still create some frenetic laughter thanks to his scenic design elements within the second act. For a small company like this to design some physical, difficult set elements really gave the piece its solid center to work off of.

As for the production itself, the piece does have some pace problems. Comedy needs to have that special pace to get through the exposition as quickly as possible so that the center of its comedy is fully explored. However, the pace here at times seemed tamed and sluggish. Scene changes also hindered the pace, especially in the second act. The company created all this frenzy hilarity, only to have it dulled a little by the slow scene changes in the dark.

Director Cliff Stephens used the space as best as he could in regards to blocking and staging. There really isn't much leeway for him to add picture window staging or grandeur in regards to subtext blocking. However, Stephens does do a marvelous job with the difficult physical staging in the second act. The director also has a terrific eye for casting, because he rounded up a solid troop of performers, from the leads down to the minor roles.

Out of the entire cast, the funniest work is provided by Julie Erickson, Lee Irving, and Chris Dover. Each of them brought a unique, special comedic quality within their acting that stood out.

Ms. Erickson (as the British vocal coach) has several scenes that had the audience laughing endlessly. There was one scene showing her vocal warm up that involved a lemon. But the one that had me doubling over in laughter was her "new" vocal/speech pattern that she created for her character within A Christmas Carol. It is sinfully hilarious.

Irving as the out of town actor (or NEA judge?) had to warm up into the role at the beginning, but once he loosened and relaxed within the molds of his character, he gave a rip roaring performance. His second act work was comedy gold, resulting in the audience heaving in never ending waves of laughter, which he totally deserved and earned. His comedic interpretation of King Richard and Tiny Tim (that's right, Tiny Tim) is comedy payola for Irving. His facial expressions and physical comedic choices for those two characters show some superb comedic talent.

Then there is Mr. Dover, who I think had the funniest damn character I've ever seen in a Christmas show. As the new managing director, Dover's characterization is perfection from beginning to end. Comedy cannot be taught, you are either born with it or not. A true comic actor knows he or she must use their face, body, and voice to achieve the best possible laughs within their character. One of the hardest tools in comedy acting is finding every possible comedic subtext within your character. Anyone can say a funny line, it's everything else before, after, and around that line that singles out the better comic performers from others. Dover is one of the best. From his wide eye look of "deer in the headlights," to a hairdo that looks like an homage to Don Knotts, to nervous tics, this highly talented actor steals several scenes throughout the evening. One scene in particular resulted in the audience loudly applauding after one of Dover's fantastic comedic rants. Dover's pace, delivery, and timing was sublime. He found comedy gold in the simplest of lines and words. It is an exceptional performance.

Others in the company that also delivered terrific performances include Amy Mills, who runs the company and is the director (her seduction of Irving in Act Two proliferated loud laughs); Francis Fuselier as "Sidney Carlton" (his actor stage business with the chains is very funny); T.A. Taylor as the method actor "Larry" (his second act work as "Scrooge" is hysterical from beginning to end); and Paul Taylor as "Phil", who has transformed his body into this Quasimodo meets Marty Feldman's Igor that results in pure comedy success.

Rounding out the stellar cast include a trio of fine, comic performances: Devon Jackson as "Walter"; Maria Zsohar as the stage manager "M.J."; and Cayman Mitchell as "Luther", the only kid in the show, but who has the hots for his stage manager.

An excellent example of how no role is too small to be noticed. Jared Culpepper and Lisa Anne Haram both have minor roles that have very little dialogue, but both talented thespians forbid this to hinder them from delivering some excellent work as well.

Culpepper does not say much, but throughout the entire performance I would look at him, and he was completely in character, constantly reacting with some very funny facial expressions and other comic business. That takes a lot of concentration; he did not fade into the background, but held his own with the principals of the company as well. Miss Haram only appears in the second act but she is quite funny, I won't spoil the fun here on what she does, it should be a fun surprise to you as it was for me.

As the shopping crowds trample all over you to get to the best buys; as you sign the deed to your home to pay for that very expensive Tickle Me Elmo or Playstation 3; or have to sit with the kids for the 900th telecast of Frosty The Snowman; there is still some great escape from the usual holiday season awaiting you at Labyrinth Theater.

If you want to avoid the "been there, done that" Christmas fare, then hitch a ride on Santa's sleigh and get thee to Labyrinth for a hilarious evening of theater. Spending an evening there even made Mr. Bitter's attitude here toward the holidays melt a little. That's a start, right?

Grade: B+

THE COLUMN (TC) is an entertainment related column that is written, edited, & created by Dallas, TX professional actor/singer/theater critic John Garcia. Click here to join the over 7,455 readers of The Column worldwide.