A Southern Christmas Sampler

Presented by Mockingbird Public Theatre

7:30 p.m. Dec. 8-9, 15-17 at Belmont Mansion; 7:30 p.m. Dec. 21-22 at TPAC

For reservations for Belmont shows, call 242-6704; for TPAC shows, call 255-2787

A Musical Christmas Carol

Through Dec. 23 at the Ryman Auditorium

8 p.m. Tues., Thurs.-Sat.; 3 p.m. Sun.

For tickets, call 889-3060

Tampering with holiday stage traditions can be tricky. After all, there’s a fine line between sprucing up an old favorite and so completely altering it that it disturbs the audience’s comfort zone. As its sold-out performances attest each December, A Southern Christmas Sampler has managed to walk that line since its debut in 1995. Cast and venue changes this year, though, will push the boundaries of the show further than ever before.

The show is a compilation of prose and poetry by Southern writers, along with traditional and original music. Each year, it changes slightly: Some stories and songs are dropped in favor of a new piece, only to reappear the following year. Certain segments, like Truman Capote’s “A Christmas Memory,” recited by Mockingbird Public Theatre founder David Alford, remain constant. Each year, however, director and compiler/editor Rene Copeland tries to do something new to keep the show fresh. “A huge percentage of our audience each year are repeat customers,” she says. “This year we’ve looked back through the past four productions and chosen the stories and songs our audiences especially liked and requested. We felt our fifth season was a good time for a greatest-hits version of the show.”

Copeland also felt that this year was the time for her to step aside as a performer, signaling the first cast change since the show’s inception. “It was a hard decision for me to make, but because we’re also doing the show at TPAC this year, I felt I really needed to concentrate on the directing.” Veteran Nashville actress and Appalachian balladeer Carol Ponder replaces Copeland in the cast, which also includes Alford, Sam Whited, Erin Whited, Lynn Rothrock, and onstage guitarist Paul Carrol Binkley. The cast change has allowed Copeland to expand the musical side of the show. “Because Carol Ponder is such a fabulous traditional ballad singer, she’ll be singing some of the songs that are referred to in ‘The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree,’ a story set in Appalachia,” Copeland explains.

Favorite segments in this year’s show also include Mark Twain’s letter from Santa to his daughter and a selection from T.R. Pearson’s novel A Short History of a Small Place that deals with a comically disastrous Christmas pageant at a Methodist church. “The big finish is an essay we found in Southern Living magazine called ‘Voices of My Christmas Past’ that is performed by the entire cast,” adds Copeland. Music ranges from an a cappella version of “Jingle Bells” and traditional folk carols like “I Saw Three Ships A-Sailing” to the gospel classic “Go Tell It on the Mountain.”

Apart from the diverse selection of holiday stories and songs, the show draws much of its appeal from its intimate nature. “It’s a different kind of experience from the bigger, glitzier Christmas shows where the audience is more of an observer,” Copeland says. “Our show is kind of like we’re all just hanging out together in a living room.”

The elegant furnishings and holiday decorations in the salon at Belmont Mansion, where the show has been performed in the past and where it will be presented five times this year, reinforce the relaxed atmosphere. Trying to maintain that ambience for the two performances at TPAC’s 1,000-seat Polk Theater is a challenge, Copeland admits. “My goal is to create the same kind of audience experience whether you see the show at Belmont Mansion or at TPAC,” she says. “At the Polk we’ll have more theatrical tools like sound and lights available than we have at Belmont, and I think that will counterbalance any loss of intimacy. We’ll also be staging the show very close to the audience at the Polk, and just like at Belmont, the show will emphasize the personal communication you have when there is an actor telling a good story to the audience.”

One difference between TPAC and Belmont, however, will be the admission price—which at Belmont includes the holiday treats that have been a tradition in past years. Tickets for TPAC shows are $20, and refreshments will be available for purchase in the lobby during intermission. Tickets for Belmont Mansion shows are $25, inclusive of intermission refreshments. “TPAC is enthusiastic about our being there and has promised to help us provide a full holiday experience,” Copeland says.

Keeping tradition

From modern updates to sex changes for Scrooge, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is a holiday tradition that gets a complete overhaul nearly every year by some misguided film producer or stage director. Happily, A Musical Christmas Carol, now at the Ryman Auditorium, simply adds a generous trimming of traditional Christmas music to Dickens’ original tale. The adaptation by David H. Bell has a solid track record with audiences, having been presented for the past 10 years at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C., and at the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera.

The Ryman production is directed by Mac Pirkle, who oversaw the creation of an excellent non-musical version of Carol during his tenure as head of Tennessee Repertory Theatre. In fact, the large, talented cast includes several local performers who appeared in the Rep’s Carol of Christmases past. New York-based Dennis Parlato plays Scrooge, while Nashville actor Pete Carden is Scrooge’s beleaguered clerk Bob Cratchit. Corbin Hedley Williams plays Cratchit’s young son, Tiny Tim. Other familiar faces in the show include Francie Murphey, Matt Carlton, Tim Fudge, Glory Kissel, and Mary Bailey. Rounding out the 19-member cast are Sarah Hart, Kalisa Ewing, Jay Birdwell, Rob Wilds, Timothy Spruill, Todd Van Rowan, Sherry Jo Ward, Stacy Bell, Gregg Miller, Travis Knauss, and Helena Jansson.

The production features lavish sets and costumes and a wealth of familiar carols, including “The 12 Days of Christmas,” “Away in a Manger,” and “Joy to the World.” The songs function more as a film soundtrack, however, than as devices to further the action, as in a traditional book musical. In early scenes, for example, hopeful carols sung by street carolers serve as an emotional counterpoint to the misanthropic actions of Scrooge. Later in the show, songs underscore Scrooge’s transformation into a man who knows how to keep Christmas in his heart all year long.

The show also profits from the venue itself. The Ryman, built in 1892, has a long, though often overlooked, history of hosting live theater, and the ambience of the historic stage venue adds a special touch to Dickens’ classic. Sarah Bernhardt, Ethel Barrymore, Fannie Brice, Mae West, and Katharine Hepburn are among the stage luminaries who performed on the Ryman stage over the years, in shows ranging from The Merchant of Venice to The Philadelphia Story. This year’s holiday offering is a fitting addition to that lofty lineup.