Hobnob doesn't say 'humbug' to classic
Rehearsal for the Hobnob Theatre Company’s annual production of “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens is in full swing with ghosts and chains and merry making and, of course, scrooging.
The show opens Dec. 18 at the Succop Theater on the Butler County Community College campus.
The show is once again under the direction of Liz and Ken Smith, founders of Hobnob. They primarily focus on Shakespeare’s works but have made it their mission to give Butler audiences this holiday tradition now in its fourth year.
“We make this very affordable for families to make, or continue to participate in, a theatrical Christmas tradition. It’s a great story for the season, and it’s a fun night out for the entire family,” said Liz Smith.
This production is infused with new energy from a handful of talent new to the “Christmas Carol” tradition.
The role of Ebenezer Scrooge will be portrayed by Greg Crawford of Chicora.
“Ebenezer has had to work hard all of his life. He has lost emotional connections he once had. Those connections have been absent for so long, that he no longer is aware of them,” Crawford said.
Crawford is no stranger to the stage or to Hobnob, but this will be his first time in their holiday production.
“Hobnob is such a professional group, and I’ve loved all of their productions that I have seen or been in,” he said about wanting to be involved in the show.
Crawford typically performs in shows with smaller casts, so the vastness of this production is something of a new experience for him.
“It’s fun to work on a show with such a large cast,” he said.
The timing of his character’s evolution is also something he is working on.
“It’s difficult to always remember to show Scrooge only where he is to the moment rather than let the transformations we all know come to him be revealed too soon,” he said.
Crawford is sensitive to the pressure of portraying such an iconic character as well as competing in some ways with the Hobnob Scrooges of Christmas shows past.
“I really hope that I can give the audience another Scrooge they can identify with through his transformation,” he said.
For this year’s production, Katy Wayne of Butler will don on the bonnet of Mrs. Cratchit.
“She is married to Bob Cratchit who is the sole employee of Mr. Scrooge. She has no sympathy or like for Scrooge at all,” Wayne said.
Wayne is the host of television’s Story Time and a voice-over performer. She said she is delighted to be in this family show for more than one reason.
“It’s an opportunity to perform in a show with my daughter and a chance to work again with Hobnob,” she said.
She is undaunted by the show’s familiarity in Butler. “Although it is an annual production, each new year gathers together a new collection of performers and therefore a whole new set of interpretation of the characters,” she said. “While the script remains the same, the characters and production are never the same.”
She last took the stage in Butler Little Theatre’s production of “Steel Magnolia’s” last season.
The large cast includes Bob Meals as Jacob Marley, Shannon Donovan as the Ghost of Christmas Past, Kara Whitmire as the Ghost of Christmas Present, Henry Marquiss as the Ghost of Christmas Future, Aaron Zimmerman as Bob Cratchit and Owen Boring as Tiny Tim.
