The Tyrone Community Players is embarking on the first production of the 22nd season of live theatre in Tyrone with a special holiday performance of A Christmas Caroled. The show is being presented at Altoona’s historic Mishler Theatre November 24, 25, and 26. Cindy Bennett is directing the musical, which is presenting an assortment of challenges a novice director would never under take.
“Because the show is being done in Altoona, but the sets are being constructed it could be problematic,” Bennett said. “But, I designed the set so it could be built in pieces and transported and put together on the Mishler stage.”
Bennett pointed out that there is a tremendous amount of work involved in putting on a show – outside the building of sets, rehearsing the cast, and finally pulling the curtain on opening night. Before the show’s debut, there is generally a year’s worth of work. First, the play reading committee selects a show that will be exciting and entertaining to the audience. Then a director for that specific show is selected.
The director decides on a vision for the show and then begins the prep work of organizing the technical crews (including a musical director if the show is a musical and a stage manager) to help obtain the mental picture. A rehearsal scheduled, set construction schedules, and costume design and plots are all worked out. Additionally, the director thinks through what kind of a look the posters and programs will have. All this is done before the auditions are announced.
“Once the audition notice is posted in our newsletter and in the Tyrone Daily Herald, I like to meet with my stage manager and musical director,” Bennett continued. “Since those two people generally sit with me during rehearsals, it is critical that we are on the same page. Doing the show at the Mishler presented an entirely different set of challenges than we have when we do a show in Tyrone.”
The stage at Altoona’s Mishler theatre is much bigger than the stages in Tyrone. It is 40-feet wide and 30-feet deep and that obviously requires a larger and more efficient set. The problem of where to build this massive stage dressing was found in the TCP building, located on Logan Avenue (the former Tyrone-Snyder Public Library building) and in the set design.
“Besides the Ebenezer Scrooge office and home, I had to come up with the Cratchit family’s meager home. I was able to design pieces that once they were built and painted in Tyrone would fit through the doors at the former Library building and then into the stage doors at the Mishler.”
Bennett’s crews constructed three pieces that will be clamped together when they arrive in Altoona. But, getting the pieces out of the TCP building on Logan Avenue proved to be no easy chore. Once the clever carpenters and talented set painters had created Ebenezer’s home, it had to be moved out onto a truck, which was no easy task. After taking out a light and climbing on ladders to check door heights and widths, the piece was completed and then completely disassembled — just to be transported!
In addition to the Cratchit home, the TCP set construction crew had to create Scrooge’s office, a 40-foot walkway complete with Victorian lamp posts, and four sets of stairs, along with an eight-foot tall cornucopia for the Ghost of Christmas Present, a queen-sized poster bed, numerous platforms for several other scenes, and some smaller furniture for the other show locales.
“I had to complete all the designs prior to the show even being auditioned and cast,” Bennett exclaimed. “Now we have to meet the next huge challenge of actually moving and for that TCP rents large box trucks to transport not only the set pieces, but the hundreds of props, some small carts, and 50-60 costumes that have been made specifically for this show.”
As if moving wasn’t stressful enough, TCP must wait to move their bounty into the Mishler until after 9 p.m. just five days before the show.
“We load everything into the trucks in Tyrone and out of the trucks in Altoona and all that takes place most of the night. But, by Friday night, November 24, the Mishler stage will be transformed into Victorian England where the show takes place. The creative minds that make up the TCP technical crews are even planning on having some fluffy snow falling during the show and a mysterious fog all combining to create holiday magic that’s guaranteed to become a Christmas tradition.
The challenges are many but the rewards for the TCP production staff, the cast, chorus, and audiences will be enormous. As the orchestra tunes and the lights go down, prepare yourself to become totally immersed in the musical re-telling of one of the most magical and beloved holiday stories. Tickets for A Christmas Caroled can be reserved by calling the Mishler box office at 944-9434.
