Winter in Charleston. Gotta love it. I'm wearing flip-flops in December and my A/C is running.
But—there are times you wouldn't mind if the Polar Express whizzed through the South ushering in artic air and snow, if only for a few hours here and there. Like maybe when we hang our Christmas wreaths on the front door, go caroling, or say, have a date to see the musical adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol at the Footlight Player's Theatre downtown Charleston.
Try as I may, my wishes wouldn’t conjure up so much as a cool breeze. I spent the morning with my toes in the sand at Isle of Palms and by mid-afternoon the temperature climbed to a balmy 73 degrees. A few hours before the show time, it started to rain.
We walked out onto the streets of Charleston from the parking deck, and then suddenly, the magic of the Holy City turned an otherwise blasé dreary evening into my own little winter wonderland.
As dusk fell west of St. Michael’s Church, the rain reduced to a drizzle. Damp cobblestones twinkled with the reflection of gas lanterns and Christmas lights. Wavy sidewalks echoed the footsteps of people going to and fro and, for a few minutes, I imagined this is how it had always been here.
The arched entry doors at The Footlight Player's Theatre—which is in an old cotton warehouse at 20 Queen Street—were amply lit and wreath hewn. It was beautiful and looked as it would have in its origination, circa 1852. After retrieving our tickets and playbills, we found our seats. The theatre felt cozy.
As most of us who have seen, read, or listened to versions of the Charles Dickens' classic, I felt there weren't going to be many surprises. I was happily wrong.
The stage props weren't elaborate, which I rather enjoyed. I prefer things be not so perfect. The costumes were phenomenal, true to the era, not flashy—authentic. I loved that the curtain didn't have to come down to graduate the show to it's next set. It was fun to watch the cast scurry to get the new props in place in the reduced lighting.
The musicians were awesome. It was a stroke of stage set genius to situate them in the backdrop prop. They almost appeared to be part of a dimly lit theatre event taking place during the production. The musical selections were perfect for the progression of the story. I loved all of the performances, my favorites being the full cast ensembles. Incredible!
An interesting tidbit:
Karl Bunch played the Ghost of Christmas Present; 50 years ago, he performed at Footlight Players as Tiny Tim, his first role ever in a play!
But, Christmas Future, still gives me the eebie jeebies! Scary!
We really enjoyed the performance and left knowing that we would come back to catch another production. When we walked out onto the streets of Charleston, the wind had chilled the night and we pulled in closer to each other as we walked the streets back to our vehicle. Don said, "You got your winter ambience."
Yay, it's Christmas in Charleston!
>> Footlight Players' "A Christmas Carol" runs December 6 through 22. Go here to find out more.
