Catch gender-bending ‘Christmas Carol' at Meadow Brook
When Scrooge encounters the Spirit of Christmas Present, he'll be facing a woman, and not a man, in Meadow Brook Theatre's production of “A Christmas Carol,” which runs through Dec. 24 at the theatre in Rochester Hills.
“They are breaking gender roles,” said Tamara Della Anderson of Philadelphia, who plays the part. It's traditionally been a man's role.
The Spirit of Christmas Present was played by a woman — Debra Lynne Wicks — in 1997, at Meadow Brook, but there hasn't been another female in the role until now. She is the second ghost who visits Ebenezer Scrooge (Thomas D. Mahard of Flint) during his transformation from an elderly miser to a kind and generous man.
When Anderson's character meets up with Scrooge, “he's left his childhood and now he's getting an eyeful of the people he's ignored,” she said. “He's in Bob Cratchit's (his clerk's) home and in his nephew Fred's home.
“She (the spirit) brings ebullient joy,” Anderson said. “She wears a crown like Mother Nature, and she wears earthy colors.”
Anderson was the voice of the plant in Meadow Brook's recent production of “Little Shop of Horrors.” She has been performing in theater for more than 20 years, starting out in a production of the musical “Violet in 1998 at the Apple Tree Theatre near Chicago. She said she received her equity card playing in “Little Shop of Horrors” in 2003. She has played roles in several regional theatre productions, including “Lysistrata Jones,” “70, Girls, 70,” “Matilda,” and “Saturday Night Fever.”
She also has acted in TV roles on “The Blacklist” and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” (as Deborah).
Anderson has her own production company, called Gumbo Lab, which provides stipends to “artists of color” through fundraising and grant writing, she said. She was recently nominated to attend the Hermitage Artist Retreat in Sarasota, Fla. “They give stipends (to artists) to work on new projects,” she said. “I'm working on a screenplay now.”
Mary Magyari of Mount Clemens plays the Spirit of Christmas Past. “'A Christmas Carol' is an emotional story — the journey of Scrooge and his transitions,” she said. “I can foreshadow that and help him realize the spirit of Christmas and incorporate it into his present day.”
Magyari has been an intern with Meadow Brook Theatre since September and performed as Audrey II in “Little Shop of Horrors” for a week-and-a-half. It was her first show with Meadow Brook.
“I've been acting since I was a kid in community theater,” she said.
Magyari graduated from the Specs Howard School of Media Arts in 2008. “After graduating, I was an executive administrator, but I quit my full-time job in September to pursue acting,” she said.
“It's exhilarating to be working with other professional actors and to get feedback from the director,” she said. “It's always been a dream role for me so I'm thankful and humbled to portray it.”
Ben Ellison from Rochester Hills and Conrad Nichols from Shelby Township share the role of Tiny Tim. The cast also includes Anthony Guest of Rochester Hills (Ghost of Jacob Marley); Tyler Bolda of Rochester (Spirit of Christmas Future), and Stephen Blackwell and Kristina Riegle as Mr. & Mrs. Cratchit.
Terry W. Carpenter directs this season's production with original choreography by Jan Puffer. Brittanie Nichole Sicker and Stacy White are both stage managers throughout the run. Scenic design is by Peter W. Hicks, lighting design by Reid G. Johnson, assistant lighting design by Phillip Hall, costume design by Mary Pettinato, and sound design by Mike Duncan.
“A Christmas Carol” runs through Dec. 24 at Meadow Brook Theatre, 2200 N. Squirrel Rd., Rochester Hills. Tickets range from $36 to $49 and are available by calling the Meadow Brook Theatre box office at (248) 377-3300 or going to ticketmaster.com.