A Mini King Lear: Actor James Carpenter on Preparing for A Christmas Carol

-
By Elspeth Sweatman and Annie Sears

The 12 days of Christmas? For actor James Carpenter, it’s more like the 12 years of A Christmas Carol. This will be his 12th year gracing the Geary stage as tightfisted Ebenezer Scrooge. Carpenter has frequented A.C.T. stages for nearly 20 years, from Glengarry Glen Ross (2001) to Rock ’n’ Roll (2008) to Heisenberg (2018), and he’ll be playing Charlie in Edward Albee’s Seascape this coming January. But first, he returns to Scrooge. We recently sat down with Carpenter to hear about his intimate knowledge of this iconic character.

James Carpenter as Scrooge and Sharon Lockwood as Mrs. Dilber in A.C.T.'s production of A Christmas Carol (2017). Photo by Kevin Berne.

How does it feel stepping back into the role of Scrooge? Does he feel like an old friend?
I don’t know that I’d call Scrooge an old friend. A mutual combatant, perhaps. A role I know I’m going to have to gird my loins for and ready myself to take on. This year, Anthony Fusco is bearing the brunt of the load because I will be in rehearsals for Seascape a bit after we open Carol. I know the kind of stamina and strength—with which Anthony is supremely equipped—it will take to carry the role. It’s very physically taxing. Scrooge is offstage a total of about 20 seconds the entire show, and it takes laser focus and precision to carry off the role cleanly and do it justice. A mini King Lear.

Do you discover new aspects of the text or your character?
I always, always discover new things every year. Domenique Lozano, our director, insists on finding new ways to open the piece up again so we can see it with fresh eyes. One year, she asked me not to look at anyone, even when addressing them directly. It was surprisingly difficult and even though we didn’t wind up doing it all the time, we found a valuable color for that year’s production. A way to steer. We’re always asking questions about moments, re-examining choices made in previous years, and exploring new paths through scenes. All of the regulars in the cast encourage new input from the M.F.A. and Young Conservatory students, and we look for new dynamics in each scene and stay open to the fresh ideas that these new cast members bring to the plate. And we remember the spirit of what Dickens wrote. It’s a gift, a reminder he gave to the world.

Get in the holiday spirit by joining us for A Christmas Carol, running December 6–29 on A.C.T.’s Geary stage. Get your tickets today!

Popular posts from this blog

“To Be or Not to Be”: The Iconic Speech’s Origins, Interpretations, and Impact

-
Image
By A.C.T. Publications Staff The opening line of Hamlet ’s “To be or not to be” soliloquy is theater’s most iconic, most referenced quote. What’s less known is the famous speech’s history, with Hamlet ’s earliest publications offering varying versions of its language. Also questioned is its meaning—is Hamlet contemplating suicide or is he weighing the consequences of murder? Though definitive answers are unlikely to arise, the questions “To be or not to be” asks have kept audiences, scholars, and actors engaged for centuries. Hamlet ’ s "To be or not to be" speech as it appears in the three original editions of the play. Photo by Georgelazenby. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons. The first edition, or First Quarto (Q1), of Hamlet was published in 1603. Because the text is much shorter than later editions and its language is less poetic, it is nicknamed the “Bad Quarto” by scholars. “To be or not to be” in Q1 reads as: To be, or not to be—ay, there’s the point. To die,
Read more

The American Sound: The Evolution of Jazz

-
Image
By Cecilia Padilla There is nothing so uniquely American as jazz music. In its simplest form, jazz embodies the essence of the American people: bold and inventive. The improvisation of the jazz ensemble can even be seen as a metaphor for the American democratic ideal: musicians playing solos have the liberty to express themselves as long as they adhere to the overall structure of the tune—individual freedom but with responsibility to the group. The evolution of jazz music also carries with it the social development of our nation from slavery to the swinging songs of World War II. Musically, jazz contributed immensely to the way contemporary musicians approach instrumentation, composition, and vocal arrangements. It is difficult to find a popular tune today that does not derive from such jazz icons as Joe Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Thelonious Monk. Jazz is the great equalizer; for more than a hundred years, it has been the common ground between blacks and whites, me
Read more

A Hell of a Businessman: A Biography of Joe Glaser

-
By Simon Hodgson Born in 1897, Joe Glaser was the son of a successful Russian Jewish physician in Chicago. He originally intended to follow a similar career and entered medical school, but after passing out in the operating room, he realized he wasn’t cut out to be a doctor. He started off in business selling used cars, but found better luck managing prizefighters. In his biography of Al Capone, Laurence Bergreen notes, “Glaser’s power to fix fights earned him a reputation as a sage of boxing, especially among reporters.” With advanced word as to which fights were fixed, Glaser could predict the results—and even the number of rounds—of many bouts in Chicago. His connections with organized crime continued in his next career change, when he began running nightclubs and whorehouses in the South Side for the Chicago Outfit, the powerful underworld gang led by Capone. Glaser’s tendency toward illegal action nearly ended his career. In 1928, he was sentenced to ten years in prison for
Read more