iTunes Exclusive Episode A Christmas Carol

The following is a sooner orgator production.
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The 162nd one of these things that we've done, welcome.
My name is Rob.
I am the executive producer of the clubhouse podcast, and oh, do I love this time of year,
my friends.
It's the holidays, you got to love it.
But I am not alone for this particular edition, joining me across the desk as he tends
to do as my co-host, and a man, if his beard starts to get a little lighter could look
like Santa Claus, he is Chad.
Welcome, sir.
It's all the compliment.
I'm not exactly sure what that is.
It depends on how you take it.
I mean, you grew the beard intentionally, it's like you just woke up and it was there.
This is true.
Also joining us with this particular edition, across the desk from his official fact
checker of this show, and a man who couldn't be more jolly if he tried, except when
he's not.
He's bought humbugging everything.
You may know him as fun, don, go, but his mom and even don Ford, I'm going to call him
Don Ford.
Welcome, sir.
I'm jolly right now.
That's good to know.
Like a jolly rancher.
Whenever we do one of these, it is usually to review something.
This is no exception.
But we're going to get real local on yet today.
So we want to apologize to all members of the empire who are not in the Dallas Fort Worth
area, because normally, I mean, we're doing a stage production, but this thing's not going
anywhere.
Though your city probably has something very, very similar to it.
Right now, the Dallas Theater Center presents at the wily theater, a Christmas carol.
This is a multi year tradition, happens every time this time of year, and we got a chance
to see it.
Before we get in.
Yes, sir.
We have to thank Catherine at the wily, the wily people at the wily center
down.
She's been very nice for you.
She's a very nice lady.
We can't think very, very nice.
I got to know her just recently with heha, but Catherine, thank you so much for inviting
us to wily theater, Dallas Theater Center, thank you so much, guys.
All right, gentlemen, do we really need to tell the plot here?
I mean, unless you're time machine that you got in in the 1300s dropped you off, and
you can't get back anybody born after 1870, I think, pretty much knows this.
Born in a cave in Montana still has it my half time.
I mean, this story written by Charles Dickens is almost 175 years old.
And while while I was pondering this earlier today, has there been another story that
has been told and retold and remade as many times as this has, and I'm not even talking
Christmas wise.
I'm thinking, think about how many times this film, the Bible.
Well, okay, notwithstanding, notwithstanding, I'm talking about any, let's, let's leave
the sacred out of it.
Well, leave the Bible out of it.
Leave Shakespeare out of it.
Yeah, I mean, really it's going to be in your top five.
Yeah.
I mean, they have all the different types, they even have screws, things like screws to
the, the, the real down to one.
Well, I think even they did, Disney did it with Scrooge McDuck.
Yeah.
Scrooge McDuck.
The muppets is done it.
Uh, you had the, the computer animated version, which I'm carries voice, uh, you've, you've
had several animated versions of that.
Stewart did a version for TNT in 1999.
You've had BBC productions.
You've had American productions.
It's just been done over and over and over and over and over again.
Which really, I mean,
you, you look at it from two different sides.
You look at it from the point of, yes, it's been done a bunch of times and, you know, maybe
it needs a breather.
Then you look at it from another aspect of, you know what?
People like to bring something new and different to the table, which the Dallas Theatre
Center really likes to do.
They like to take a, a story, I won't say out of its comfort zone, but they don't like to
tell a story necessarily the same way you've heard it a hundred times as the multiple
productions we've been able to see with them have.
This is no exception.
Now, it still stays within the time frame, but there's just a little bit the basic story
like this.
There's only subtle differences, which really, I had no issue with.
No, me either, but I've got to say right off the bat.
This isn't experience from the time you walk into the, to the theater until the time you
walk out.
One thing that the widely does amazingly well consistently on all levels for me is
use of real estate.
Yeah.
They decked out this entire theater.
And you walk in there and you know, it's okay.
It looks a little different, even the raptors look a little different.
But you don't realize how different it is until you're need deep into this thing.
Now, let's be honest for a minute.
This is an hour and a half nonstop, no intermission.
As God intended it.
Yeah.
Which seems kind of odd because so many of these that we've gone to have had
but of course the first one that we never had in your remission.
Well, there's only one that we've done with that was just because it was a one act
as when we saw ball.
Yeah.
But you don't really need an intermission here.
It's, it's not intended.
I don't think that way.
And I think if you try to break this up, it might kind of break momentum for you.
Yeah.
Because if you're going to do it, you'd have to do it somewhere in between.
The ghost of Christmas passed and the ghost of Christmas present.
Right.
I'm talking about the stage and decked out.
I want to get into that because it starts off the scrooge factory.
That thing wasn't incredible.
Scrooge and Marley.
Scrooge and Marley.
I'm sorry.
But the factory.
Yeah.
That thing.
And how when that thing started, there's stuff going all around you.
Oh, absolutely.
I mean, even in the crowd too.
Yeah.
Everything.
And how it went from location to location.
They did very incredible.
My one little criticism of this whole thing.
That is what that set.
And that's that big metal thing to had that was on the stage that they weren't able to move in and out.
Which they used it to the table.
Yeah.
That would be my only thing because that didn't seem right.
But y'all that.
Everything else in this thing was beautiful.
Especially I love this stage.
I love house.
Yeah.
We had the metal grinding above us in certain scenes.
They used the fog, the lighting.
And let's talk about, I don't know if we want to bring this up.
But the lights.
That's what I'm saying.
Yeah.
The entire theater changed everywhere.
Yeah.
What I really dug.
I guess we're going to start technical.
How when the story was told.
Instead of trying to jam the entire story in there.
They gave you the highlights of the narrative itself from Dickens novel.
Narrated by the entire cast.
There wasn't one narrator.
I really dug that because it.
I mean, you kind of reset your brain every couple of seconds.
You weren't listening the same person talking over and over and over and over.
Like you're doing right now around the room.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
It's a totally immersive experience.
And I really dug that about it.
Tech from the other technical aspect.
I mean, this was top notch.
This was absolutely brilliantly executed.
From Scrooge's bed, which came up out of the floor.
They used the space and they used it well.
The transitions were amazing.
How people just kind of came and went.
The clothing.
The costumes was gorgeous.
I got to give it to Marley.
When the first time we really see Marley when he goes.
That sequence was gorgeous.
Oh, yeah.
How they did that in echoing.
To come on with it by Alex Oregon.
The voice echoing.
I think just added to that so beautifully with the chains and everything else.
That blew me away.
Chad, that was a standout moment for I think everybody in the room.
It was the first real stop down where when that guy exited the stage.
And he did it in very bombastic fashion.
Agreed.
The whole crowd just had to stop and take his breath and start applauding.
And it was just, I just want to go to breathe.
Because he was just killing it.
I mean, he sold that role about as well as anybody could sell a role on stage.
Do we want to get an acting now?
That's going to segue as beautifully into that.
We start with Ebony's or screwed played by Hassan L.A.M.
Who you actually got to talk to after the production.
There's three, which we'll get into.
We can talk about it as we go.
Well, let me talk about Hassan though.
Very nice guy.
He thought this doing the leading role was a total honor.
Because it's a holiday tradition.
It's a transition into a new birth and to new characters.
What he thought about it.
He does have something upcoming the all the way alley, which is going to be in Houston.
All the way, which is an alligator in Houston.
His website is HassanTheDream.com.
And he was his role here was brilliant.
Yeah, I mean, he just loved being out there.
He said the hardest part was to be honest.
Not to act.
Just trying to be honest and being that care.
And that came across very, very well.
I think that his performance here.
When you when you are a lead in a production like a Christmas Carol, you're in literally every scene.
You don't get the chance to to even catch your own breath.
And he brought a very organic performance to it that I really enjoy.
And he was in it.
But 98% of the the play.
That's why I brought up to my goal.
It was amazing that you were in at least 95% of this play the whole time.
And think about the transition that he had to make from his previous role.
He is he had just come off of the production, the mountain top, which is a story about Martin Luther King Jr.
And he played Martin Luther King Jr.
You go from playing a role that iconic to another role that's equally iconic, but in a completely different way.
And it's one of the rare occasions where Ebenees or Scrooge has been portrayed by an African American.
According to what they say in the play, it's only the second time.
Now I don't know if they mean only the second time locally.
I would think because I've never heard of anybody doing it in a film version or anything like that.
But when you first see it, you're just like, huh?
But after about 10 seconds, it's not even a fact.
I like that this cast was multi racial.
I really enjoyed that.
And it wasn't done in a way.
It's like, oh look at this.
It was very natural everything fit very well.
We're trying to make a political statement.
But I really enjoyed that.
That was a new twist.
You don't usually see in all these Christmas Carol movies from the past.
Now the second person that you got to talk to, I believe, was the ghost of Christmas past, correct?
Yes.
Yes.
The ghost of Christmas present was the one.
You talked to Dorcus?
Dorcus.
How did she talk to pass?
No, no, no.
I've talked to the ghost.
Dorcus Lyon who.
And she was my, in my written review at the clubhousepodcast.com.
That is our website.
I put that.
She was my non-leading shining star role.
Hey, how she was able to fly across the room.
Very acrobatic.
A lot of wire work.
But she brought an energy to that role.
That I mean, all that energy when you talked to her after the, because you talked after the production.
Yeah.
How did the G.C.M. winded was she still sprung?
She was bright.
They were all, this is like, you know, the big press night, everything like that.
The whole most of the cast 90s, if not the whole cast came up there after the fact.
She said she was, she enjoyed the flying.
It embroidered the, the, the, the character itself embroidered the meaning of Christmas.
Absolutely.
It's like being the six year old.
That's what she really thought about.
And that's really to me what came across in that portray.
Yeah.
Her, her, she's incredibly nice.
All three of the people I talked to, they want to be on Broadway.
That's their goal.
That's, I mean, that's the good.
You're an actor.
Yeah.
That's, that's the brass ring right there.
She also wants to have a role that she originates.
I think we're just to do her.
Yeah.
Exactly.
She does want to move some from stage into film.
So, um, but she very nice person.
She could tell she had the love her and the other person.
Well, let's hold on.
We're still wanted a time.
Yeah.
I know that Chad wants to talk a little bit about Dorkus as well.
Because this was one of his favorite portrayals in, in the production.
And she was also a favorite of mine in a production that we saw last year.
Of lay men.
Of lay men.
Absolutely.
Hasn't himself was in.
Yes. He was.
All three of my standouts were.
But the primary standouts for me other than, well, I guess he's not.
He's the prime.
He's the prime.
But, uh, but Marley himself.
Uh, he was also in, uh, Jacob Marley himself.
Alex Orgen.
Alex Orgen.
He was also in layman's.
But she also said the hardest part was wearing a harness.
I'm sure.
Yeah.
That one puts you love flying in.
I'm a man of a certain age that be a little snug for me.
But she, you could just, she loved being out there.
The little bear comment over and over from the side.
A bear.
Yeah.
That was very, very funny.
Very much.
She brought a really nice.
Nice little injection of fresh air into something that was very somber leading up to it
and kind of gave you a chance to catch your breath before the real thing hit
Scrooge because you know the story.
You know what's coming.
Yeah.
But she kind of gives you that.
Okay.
Let's just let it down for just a minute before we hit you with with with the big barrel.
Now who else did you could talk to?
The last one also.
Who was also in Lemus.
Okay.
We saw it.
It played Mrs. Cratchett.
Tracy Elaine.
Oh, that's who it was.
Yes.
Yeah.
She said this was a treat because she's from Dallas.
She's now in New York.
But being able to come back home to Dallas was just an incredible treat for her.
She would like to be in Hamilton on Broadway.
But she was basically saying that she just wants to perform.
Also, I do want to say one thing about.
Dorkus that she has a website.
Dorkus Luana, which is her full name dot com.
Okay.
Okay.
We're shameless plugs.
Dorkus Leon.
D-O-R-C-A-S-L-E-U-N-G.
Dorkus Leon.
Dot com.
Yeah.
That's what I'm saying.
Tracy just likes to perform.
That's her big thing.
And she played her role very well.
Yeah.
Her hardest part she said was playing a mother when she's not a mother.
That's a great point.
Yeah.
That's what she said.
The hardest part now.
One thing that all three that I talked to said.
They loved the direction, the director.
They said that Christy wasn't credible.
Christy Vela is your director here.
She was always open to suggestions.
And they said this cast is like a family on this that they had.
And it shows.
It really shows.
It really nice.
Some three of them.
I never even brought it up.
They all said, Journey Interview, when did you like about that?
They all said the director.
She wasn't credible open minded.
She cared.
Let's make this thing great.
And she made a pretty big leap.
Because she went from directing a play that we saw in February.
Bull.
Oh, really.
She went from directing bull to directing this.
Very nice.
And that was a black box production.
Yeah.
Very very small, very intimate.
Yeah, that's three people in it.
Three people.
Four four.
Four.
That's right.
Four.
Four.
But on a single set.
Very very, you know, no scene changes or anything.
To something as elaborate as this.
Absolutely.
And it didn't look like anything that we experienced back in February.
That's a nice idea.
Yeah.
Totally different.
I was surprised.
You told me that I'm like, she did bull.
So anything else we want to add before we get to the final analysis.
Gentlemen.
I just loved to flow with a play, too.
I thought none of this bored me even though.
Yeah.
The low moments.
Anything.
There were some feels.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Got a little, a little sniffly.
Yeah.
A couple of points.
I'm not going to lie to you.
And I loved how even it snowed in there.
I just love the transition of everything.
Yeah.
I did a great job.
I can't see.
My one little grandpa just said it earlier.
But beyond that, I love this thing.
It was beyond belief.
And in the after party, everybody was so nice.
They weren't such incredible people.
We'll only give us time to talk to them.
I can't think those those three people enough.
They were incredibly nice people.
All right.
Let's get to the final analysis.
The way we do the final analysis on this show.
We don't give you thumbs up thumbs down.
We don't give you stars.
We don't give you letter grades.
We don't rank things one to ten.
Our audience whom we affectionately refer to as the empire is better than that.
We're going to ask two questions.
Question number one, is would you see this production again?
If the answer is no, then we're done here.
If the answer is yes.
Then with a stage production, I'm going to ask these gentlemen.
If you would see it again.
How much money would you be willing to spend to sit where you would want to sit?
Don.
Would you see a Christmas Carol put on by the Dallas Theatre Center at the Wiley Theatre again?
Definitely.
You want to sit mid-center the best you can.
I'm going to say this.
Just get in there.
No matter where you sit.
Okay.
But pay whatever.
If you pay full price or you pay a lower price, you're not going to feel like you got robbed on this thing.
No matter where you sit, just get in and see this thing.
Chat.
Ditto.
Okay.
I'm a little bit different.
I definitely would see this again.
But where I want to sit is right in front of the stage on the back row of that section.
That's right in front of the stage.
Okay.
Because that's to me.
It's going to give me the best vantage point of everything.
Because this was a little different because normally the four of us are sitting together in the same area.
In this particular production.
Don and I were on one side of the stage.
And chat and jewels were on the other side of the stage.
Which I thought was really, really interesting.
Exactly.
And we're not complaining.
No, no, no.
No, no.
It gave us a really interesting perspective.
Now, I'm not going to say who might have had a spotlight on them during the production.
But they're last initials with a wall mix.
And I don't know if you realized that survey from our vantage point.
There were points where there was a spotlight dead on you because people were standing right in front of me.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah.
We don't forget people flying above.
Yes.
Yeah.
When Christmas present stopped on her little perch on like everybody in this theater could see.
Exactly what I'm wearing.
But congratulations to everyone involved in this production.
It is absolutely amazing.
If you live in the Dallas Fort Worth area.
You have, I believe until the 26th of the 26th of the 26th of the day after Christmas to see this thing.
Do not deny yourself this experience.
Again, we got to think Catherine, everybody at Dallas Theatre Center of the Wiley.
And of course, the the the cast that gave us their time to be able to talk to them.
And so gracious.
Thank you so much.
So much.
All right, gentlemen.
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