Every Christmas Story Ever Told

…And Then Some

This was the big project I was working on last week. Oh yes, I just finished a starring role in the Gibson County Theatre Company’s production of “Every Christmas Story Ever Told… And Then Some!” And, boy, did we hit them all…

I would have posted about this ahead of time, but… well… the tickets had been sold out. For 5 weeks before the show opened! What a big problem to have! Also, our director didn’t want me leaking any of the very funny bits of the show.

So here’s the recap…

We started off with the plan to perform “A Christmas Carol.’” (You know, the Beloved Holiday Classic!)

It pretty quickly devolved as we decided that there were many other Christmas traditions that we were not covering. We dove in and performed many of those other BHC’s (Beloved Holiday Classics) that you all know and love.

We did “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” (yes, that’s Farmer Doc, standing in as Cindy Lou Who in a dress rehearsal!)

Complete with a musical interlude! (We act, we dance, we sing, what more can you ask for?!)

We did a… different… version of Rudolph. This is “Gustav, the Green-Nosed Reingoat.” (Copyright, or something…)

What’s your favorite holiday food? Did anyone say fruitcake? Of course! What’s Christmas without fruitcake! There was an entire section dedicated to fruitcake – the Fruit, Nut, and Dating Game!

We talked about Christmas traditions around the world. Did you know that in Iceland, if you don’t get new clothes for Christmas you’ll be eaten by the giant Yule Cat?

And in Australia, Santa doesn’t slide down your chimney. He invades yer home, like the giant black water snake, the willy-banger bitey-bitey, whose venom can kill a man in 30 seconds!

The holidays don’t really begin until the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade is on the air. We had our very own version, hosted by Fred Barbasol (that’s me) and Johanna Chanel (that’s Robin).

We did finally get around to doing “A Christmas Carol.” But we sort of did a mash-up of “Christmas Carol” and “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Complete with charades.

(Don’t you remember that scene? Between Scrooge and ghost of Christmas Yet to Come? No? Hm. Maybe that was just our version.)

And, who could forget singing Christmas carols as a favorite holiday tradition? We sang a delightful medley of just about every Christmas carol you could think of. And I may not be the best singer, but I certainly owned it!

Seriously, way too much funny to describe here. We did get a video of the performance. I’ll see about putting some clips up once I get a copy of the video… Really, you had to see it to believe it.

And, because it’s no fun if it’s easy, I got sick show week. With a bad cold and a cough. And I all but lost my voice. The rest of the cast and the crew was really great about helping me out during show week – making sure I had plenty of water, tea, and cough drops to keep me going, and getting me set up with a microphone (just in case). Luckily, my voice held out through all three shows, and I was able to sleep all day Sunday!

The Gibson County Theatre Company has already announced their season for 2013 – they’ll be performing 3 shows plus the annual Christmas dinner theatre. Check out the website for information about the great shows coming to Gibson County and how to get tickets!