by dick kerekes dickkerekes@yahoo.com
Want to see a different Christmas play? Then consider going to Atlantic Beach Experimental Theatre (ABET) and its current production of An O. Henry Christmas, which will be on stage until December 16th. This play is an added attraction to their regular season and ABET is offering tickets at the bargain price of $10.
The plot is based on the life of the short story writer known as O. Henry and uses four of his best stories as plays within the play. The setting is a railroad yard in New York City in l893. Six homeless people are sitting around a glowing fire, which has a pot of hobo stew cooking to be shared on Christmas Eve. A mysterious interloper, known as O.P., enters and offers to tell stories in trade for a bowl of soup.
O.P. is obviously running from the law because he disappears each time a New York policeman (Andrew McCraney) comes to inquire of the group about any strangers they may have seen in the area. O.P. directs each of the homeless in roles that play out the stories. You will immediately recognize two of the stories The Gift of the Magi and The Last Leaf.
Margaret Hennessey is an experienced actress, although new to this area. She plays Fran, a lady down on her luck. Ms. Hennessey has extensive experience in costuming, directing and acting. A wonderful find for ABET and the Jacksonville scene, she shows she knows her way around a stage.
Fritz Reinhardt plays Dinty, a cynical old man who is an artist-painter and gets to do his finest masterpiece on Christmas Eve. Reinhardt was acting at the beach before most of this cast was born, he is an award winning character actor, and one of the beloved performers in the beaches area.
Gwen Cordes is Agnes, a kind and compassionate person who is concerned with the health and well-being of young Marguerite (Maria Leitz) who feels her life slipping away as each leaf falls off a nearby vine. Ms. Cordes did many plays in the early years of Players by the Sea, and for the past five years has been very active with the Vintage Players. Ms. Leitz is a Douglas Anderson and Eldon University graduate who is making her debut with ABET. She has a role that is done lying down for the entire play. (My kind of role!)
Chris Medina is Hal, the rich kid whose parents tossed him out because he won’t sober up and settle down. Medina is a senior at Foundation Academy, and I can truthfully say I saw him grow up in theater, in many productions at the Jacksonville Beach school. He has good stage presence and I am glad to see he has moved out to community theaters to show off his striking features and considerable talents.
Grover, the tarnished and discredited doctor, is portrayed Terry McCraney, who came to the area from Indiana where he was involved with several theaters. He looks the part of a weary physician who has lost his confidence. I liked the way Gary Rhodes portrayed the pivotal O.P., who narrates all the action on the stage. O.P. could be played very hard-nosed and rough, but Mr. Rhodes gives him an almost angelic air, displaying kindness and tenderness. Somehow the audience knows that everything will turn out better with O.P. at the helm.
George Maida has been active with ABET in every capacity for the past eight years, including acting, board member, building sets and cooking wonderful gourmet foods for gala openings. This is the first time Maida has directed a play and he was assisted by Tom Hickman. ABET does have a stage that is director friendly. It is very small, which is great for the audience (they are only an arm’s length away), but creates difficulty when you have large casts to move around between the furnishings on the set. I’m sure that his real life occupation as a clinical psychologist came in handy as well.
This is billed as a family show, and it is, but I would not bring the small kids since most of the dialogue would be over their heads. A little known fact about O. Henry is that his stories, although still unique, do not have the popularity he once had since Americans do not read as much these days. Would you believe O. Henry is a household name in Russia and his books have been translated and made into movies in that country?
All performances will be held at the Adele Grage Cultural Center in Atlantic Beach. Call (904) 249-7l77 for reservations. Don’t miss the O. Henry special. Mark your calendars for January 4, 2008, when ABET will present the first play of the year in North Florida; Arthur Miller’s The Ride Down Mount Morgan.
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