The cast of a Christmas Carol, 2023, Citadel Theatre. Photo by Nanc Price.
By Liz Nicholls, .ca
It’s been the hardest of weeks at the Citadel. The death of the much-loved actor Julien Arnold during Sunday night’s preview performance of A Christmas Carol has been profoundly shocking and sad for the theatre community, artists and audiences alike — and of course especially heartbreaking for director Lianna Makuch and her cast of 32, including 14 kids, in this deluxe large-scale production. It still seems so hard to believe, in truth, that Arnold’s impressive skills, his joyous spirit, his capacity for happiness, have been laid to rest, and live on in our memories now. A .ca tribute is here.
Tonight, the production, starring John Ullyatt as the flinty Mr. Scrooge, resumes public performances. And in Arnold’s roles — Jacob Marley, the exuberant and joyful Mr. Fezziwig, and assorted ensemble assignments — will be the actor’s close friend of 38 years, Troy O’Donnell. With Arnold one of the original founders of the Freewill Shakespeare Festival, and a fine actor, O’Donnell has been his friend’s understudy this year, and now valiantly steps up.
A Christmas Carol runs through Dec. 24. And the entire run is dedicated to Julien Arnold. Tickets: citadeltheatre.com.
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•The Blank Who Stole Christmas, Rapid Fire Theatre’s own original Yuletide musical, returns tonight for a third figgy pudding/Bah Humbug! season of combining improv and script. The Blank, the villain of the piece, is different every performance. The first few scenes are scripted, and then … improv!
No one onstage knows what character the guest star will have chosen to play. The Blank’s identity is a mystery until the moment they arrive onstage. And improv works both ways: the Blank has never seen the script, much less rehearsed with the cast.
This is, of course, holiday madness! What will happen? It pretty much defines unpredictable: you have to be there to find out. Last year I saw Lindsey Walker as Liza Minnelli as the Blank. And the results were hilarious.
There are three versions of the show, depending on your sensibility, the way you react to F-bombs, and your age. “Nice,” which runs Saturdays at 1:30 is “safe for everyone, no swearing,” as billed, with kid-friendly Blanks specially chosen. “Naughty” is 14-plus, and runs at 7 p.m. And you may hear some, er, choice words and adult humour. “Nasty,” for the 18-plus crowd, which runs Fridays and Saturdays at 9:30, guarantees bad words, and situations that could make you blush — just depending, of course.
The Blank Who Stole Christmas runs through Dec. 22. Tickets: rapidfiretheatre.com
