Star-News Feature: The Night Before Christmas
posted by Nick Cernoch at 1:42 PM
This `Night' takes on an adult twist for the holidays
By Michelle J. Mills, Staff Writer
Posted: 11/20/2008 04:52:36 PM PST
If you can't bear the thought of sitting through yet another "A Christmas Carol" or "Nutcracker," then Furious Theatre Company may have the answer.
The group is presenting the Los Angeles premiere of Anthony Neilson's "The Night Before Christmas" beginning Nov. 28 at the Carrie Hamilton Theatre at the Pasadena Playhouse in Pasadena.
Directed by Robert Pescovitz and starring Doug Newell, Troy Metcalf, Nina Silver and K.M. Davis, the adult comedy relates the tale of Gary, a warehouse worker, who believes he has discovered an elf during his shift on Christmas Eve. His friend (a closet homosexual living with his mother) and a hooker (who hopes to collect the coveted toy of the season in exchange for sexual favors) join Gary in determining if the elf is real. Through this they discover the true meaning of the season.
"It's a play about hope and family and generosity, people coming together to regain their innocence and, in a sense, redemption in a subversive way," Pescovitz said. "These are people from a certain social strata, so it's a cross between `A Miracle on 34th Street' and a Guy Ritchie movie."
Pescovitz has won several acting awards and was previously in the Furious Theatre production of "Canned Peaches in Syrup" and on television in episodes of "Cold Case" and "Brothers and Sisters." He directed "Hamlet" at the Gene Bua Theatre in Burbank and other Shakespearean plays for A Company of Their Own. His biggest obstacle with "The Night Before Christmas" is the short, intense rehearsal period, which has been made easier with a small cast, one set and a good script, he said.
"There's a hooker involved and there's drugs and there's thievery," he said. "There are people on the margins of life, so when you're dealing with them, the challenge is to make people like them, want to see them and spend time with them."
Doug Newell, who plays Gary, found not getting lost in the jokes the hardest part. He wants his character's human side to shine rather than to be a punchline.
Newell has also won awards for his work and has been in "An Impending Rupture of the Belly" and "Back of the Throat" with Furious Theatre. He has been very involved with improvisational comedy as well. He identifies with some aspects of his character.
"Gary cares a lot about his family and enough about his friends to share this, what could be a potentially embarrassing and crazy moment in his life," Newell said. "He sees himself as a businessman and he can, while making a profit off the holiday season, find the joy in it as well."
Newell finds Christmas a romantic time and is pleased to be doing a seasonal show that offers more opportunity for men than the usual fare. While growing up in Houston, he experienced what could have been his worst Christmas, but it turned out to be his best. He was in middle school and the pipes froze and burst at his family's home.
"We spent the night in a hotel room and my parents had to scramble to find new gifts to give us," Newell said. "As a kid it's generally all about the presents, but it still seemed like Christmas, being there with my family."
Pescovitz didn't celebrate Christmas growing up,but after the theater company board approached him to direct the play and, after reading the script, he readily agreed.
"For me, it really is a play about family and redemption and about hope and faith and recapturing innocence and those are universal issues," Pescovitz said. "It's entertaining, so . . . the holiday is immaterial."
Both Pescovitz and Newell agree that "The Night Before Christmas" could become an annual show for Furious Theatre. It is a humorous ensemble piece with just the right style for the company: edgy and contemporary.
"We're calling it an adult holiday fare, but I think it's almost redundant if you put the `Furious Holiday Show' in front of it," Newell said.
Pescovitz will continue teaching acting at the Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in Hollywood through December. In January, he will return to work with Furious Theatre to prepare its next show, "Hunter Gatherers," opening Jan. 24.
"The Night Before Christmas" is "an opportunity to see what we do," he said. "There is some adult language in it, but there's no violence. `Rocknrolla' is out there now, a Guy Ritchie movie, if you like that kind of work, that kind of British mob comedy stuff. It's just a nice way to get acquainted with the Furious Theatre Company."
By Michelle J. Mills, Staff Writer
Posted: 11/20/2008 04:52:36 PM PST
If you can't bear the thought of sitting through yet another "A Christmas Carol" or "Nutcracker," then Furious Theatre Company may have the answer.
The group is presenting the Los Angeles premiere of Anthony Neilson's "The Night Before Christmas" beginning Nov. 28 at the Carrie Hamilton Theatre at the Pasadena Playhouse in Pasadena.
Directed by Robert Pescovitz and starring Doug Newell, Troy Metcalf, Nina Silver and K.M. Davis, the adult comedy relates the tale of Gary, a warehouse worker, who believes he has discovered an elf during his shift on Christmas Eve. His friend (a closet homosexual living with his mother) and a hooker (who hopes to collect the coveted toy of the season in exchange for sexual favors) join Gary in determining if the elf is real. Through this they discover the true meaning of the season.
"It's a play about hope and family and generosity, people coming together to regain their innocence and, in a sense, redemption in a subversive way," Pescovitz said. "These are people from a certain social strata, so it's a cross between `A Miracle on 34th Street' and a Guy Ritchie movie."
Pescovitz has won several acting awards and was previously in the Furious Theatre production of "Canned Peaches in Syrup" and on television in episodes of "Cold Case" and "Brothers and Sisters." He directed "Hamlet" at the Gene Bua Theatre in Burbank and other Shakespearean plays for A Company of Their Own. His biggest obstacle with "The Night Before Christmas" is the short, intense rehearsal period, which has been made easier with a small cast, one set and a good script, he said.
"There's a hooker involved and there's drugs and there's thievery," he said. "There are people on the margins of life, so when you're dealing with them, the challenge is to make people like them, want to see them and spend time with them."
Doug Newell, who plays Gary, found not getting lost in the jokes the hardest part. He wants his character's human side to shine rather than to be a punchline.
Newell has also won awards for his work and has been in "An Impending Rupture of the Belly" and "Back of the Throat" with Furious Theatre. He has been very involved with improvisational comedy as well. He identifies with some aspects of his character.
"Gary cares a lot about his family and enough about his friends to share this, what could be a potentially embarrassing and crazy moment in his life," Newell said. "He sees himself as a businessman and he can, while making a profit off the holiday season, find the joy in it as well."
Newell finds Christmas a romantic time and is pleased to be doing a seasonal show that offers more opportunity for men than the usual fare. While growing up in Houston, he experienced what could have been his worst Christmas, but it turned out to be his best. He was in middle school and the pipes froze and burst at his family's home.
"We spent the night in a hotel room and my parents had to scramble to find new gifts to give us," Newell said. "As a kid it's generally all about the presents, but it still seemed like Christmas, being there with my family."
Pescovitz didn't celebrate Christmas growing up,but after the theater company board approached him to direct the play and, after reading the script, he readily agreed.
"For me, it really is a play about family and redemption and about hope and faith and recapturing innocence and those are universal issues," Pescovitz said. "It's entertaining, so . . . the holiday is immaterial."
Both Pescovitz and Newell agree that "The Night Before Christmas" could become an annual show for Furious Theatre. It is a humorous ensemble piece with just the right style for the company: edgy and contemporary.
"We're calling it an adult holiday fare, but I think it's almost redundant if you put the `Furious Holiday Show' in front of it," Newell said.
Pescovitz will continue teaching acting at the Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in Hollywood through December. In January, he will return to work with Furious Theatre to prepare its next show, "Hunter Gatherers," opening Jan. 24.
"The Night Before Christmas" is "an opportunity to see what we do," he said. "There is some adult language in it, but there's no violence. `Rocknrolla' is out there now, a Guy Ritchie movie, if you like that kind of work, that kind of British mob comedy stuff. It's just a nice way to get acquainted with the Furious Theatre Company."
posted by Nick Cernoch at 1:42 PM
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