The Loose Moose entertains with budget Scrooge fest
Theatre celebrates 2 decades of send-ups with ghosts of Chrismooses past
Back in the winter of 1996, the improvisers up at The Loose Moose were debating what they should do for a holiday show. The big theatre news in town at the time was that Theatre Calgary’s lavish version of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol was entering its 21st year.
Dennis Cahill, the artistic manager of Loose Moose, recalls someone saying they should do their own version.
“That, in itself, was a bit daunting, but we decided to up the challenge. Theatre Calgary’s version of A Christmas Carol was renowned for its fantastic sets, costumes and special effects and, though we had no idea exactly what their budget might be, we knew it was pretty impressive. We decided that the budget for our A Christmas Carol or, as we dubbed it A Chrismoose Carol, could not exceed $100,” says Cahill.
“We literally scrounged our costumes, set pieces and props.”
To the Moosers’ delight, the show was a hit so they decided to revisit it the following year, albeit with a different theme.
So began a tradition. “Over the past two decades, we have presented our Carol as a western, as a sci-fi epic, a Roman epic complete with a chariot race and even as a three-person show where the audience got to vote each night to see who would play Scrooge.”
Cahill admits that three-person Carol was the wildest the company ever produced and it was so popular they did it twice.
This year, the Loose Moose will be presenting The Best of the Chrismoose Carols. This show will begin as the others have for two decades with Rob Mitchel- son playing the lord of the manor and Cahill his servant. They decide to call on the household servants to help them present a version of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. This year’s household will include Michael Roik, Alex MacKell, Anyssa Mckee and Sean Allen.
Cahill says the show will feature stilts, masks, lightning-fast costume and character changes, and some very special effects.
“To choose the best-of scenes for this show, I reviewed a lot of the old tapes to see what got the biggest response. That means this version ... will include western, medieval and even Victorian disco sequences, which means the costume changes will be horrendously challenging.
“We will be jumping time and space to tell Dickens’ famous story.”
Cahill admits at this time each year he has to pinch himself when he sits down to write the press releases for A Chrismoose Carol. He never expected the little show would become a holiday tradition or that it would remain so popular.
“We get people booking seats in October because they know some performances will sell out. People tell me for them it wouldn’t seem like Christmas without a family trip to see A Chrismoose Carol. I think that’s because they want to share the laughter with the whole family.”
Because it often slides into adult humour, A Chrismoose Carol is not recommended for preteens.
The show will run Dec. 7-9, 14-16 and 20-22 at 8 p.m. in the Loose Moose theatre on the second floor of the Crossroads Market, 1235 26th Ave. S.E. Tickets are $23 general and $17 for students with special group rates; go to loosemoose. com or call 403-265-5682.