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Whidbey Xtra! WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2015 | Vol. 1, No. 32 | WWW.WHIDBEYNEWSTIMES.COM | FREE

Playhouse offering a twist on Dickens’ Christmas Carol By RON NEWBERRY

rnewberry@whidbeynewsgroup.com

As if the action onstage wasn’t frantic enough, the chaos behind the scenes might’ve had it beat. Andrew Huggins wriggled through a narrow corridor headed in one direction while Heather Good squeezed past him going the other way. Some actors popped in backstage to grab a cap or wig, while others slipped into a new dress or jacket. The costume changes must take place in seconds to keep up with the frenzied production. “The pace is crazy, to say the least,” Good said. All this chaos was part of a recent rehearsal for an off-season play is being performed at the Whidbey Playhouse in December. “A Dickens’ Christmas Carol: A Traveling Travesty in Two Tumultuous Acts” is intentionally out of control. It’s part of the comedy centered around a traveling theater company bringing to the stage one of the holiday season’s favorite stories only to watch it come apart at the seams. “The conceit of the show is they are all actors playing characters playing actors playing characters,” said

Ron Newberry photo

Jim Reynolds plays Scrooge in a holiday play at the Whidbey Playhouse this month. ‘A Dickens’ Christmas Carol: A Traveling Travesty in Two Tulmutuous Acts’ plays through Dec. 20. Kevin Wm Meyer, who codirects the play with Julia Locke. “It’s a play within a play,” Locke said. Things go haywire when the company’s diva, who earlier feigns illness hoping the show will be canceled, decides to return mid-performance and upstage her young understudy after the show had gone on without her. That’s mostly when chaos ensues, sending actors

scrambling into strange and foreign roles on the fly to try to keep the show from total collapse. “The show’s all about improv,” Locke said. “It’s a really fun show. “And because the show features actors doing many different roles, it’s constant (costume) changes, so we have a big crew backstage helping people pull things off and put things back on, which makes it really fun and crazy.”

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Huggins gets the worst of it. In his acting debut at the Whidbey Playhouse, Huggins switches into nine characters involving 18 wardrobe changes. Fellow actor Thomas Clatterbuck isn’t far behind. “I’m over here as one character,” Huggins said. “I run back here and come out as another character and go back over there as the first character and come back here as the other character then go back.”

“Exactly,” Clatterbuck interjected. “The character on this side has an English accent,” Huggins continued. “The character on the other side has a Scottish accent, so I’ve got to know what I’m doing and what costume I’m in to make sure I get the right one.” The hilarity is squeezed into about 90 minutes, giving the audience a kick-start to the Christmas season and following the playhouse’s 50th anniversary theme this season of providing shows that been performed there in the past. About eight dressers and other crew backstage help to make sure costume changes go as quickly and seamless as possible while stage manager Julie McNutt keeps her fingers crossed. When they don’t, the actors are empowered with the freedom to improvise. Admittedly having it easy by comparison is Jim Reynolds, who plays Sir Selsdon Piddock, who in turn plays Ebenezer Scrooge. Reynolds can focus on just one character, though it’s the key role the play revolves around. “I can pretty much get

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away with murder because everybody else is doing the hard work,” Reynolds said with a laugh. Reynolds is tackling his biggest role in his 11th show at the playhouse since retiring from the Navy. He said he loves playing the role of the “old crotchety, kind of spry” Scrooge. He had to become a quick study after spending several weeks recently overseas aboard an aircraft carrier. He still is a consultant for the Navy. The cast also includes Mary Waters, Tamara Sykes, Coqui Herken and Good, four actresses who’ve played significant roles in past productions in Oak Harbor. Clatterbuck is another face familiar to the playhouse. While the characters run wild grabbing wigs and garments, the set also is at times spinning. To quickly change the scenery onstage, three areas of the set are built on turntables. And there’s plenty of chaos onstage and off. “I have a problem with that crazy blond wig, getting it on so it doesn’t fall off,” Good said. “The pacing is just wild.”

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Xtra!CALENDAR Wednesday Dec. 9

Alcoholics Anonymous, 7 p.m., Dec. 9 and 20, in the Whidbey General Hospital conference room. Contact Tim M. at timmondk@hotmail. com or 360-320-8936 for more information. Suicide Grief Support Group meeting, 6 p.m., Dec. 9, at Hospice of Whidbey General. This is a time for individuals who have lost a loved one to suicide to meet with others and learn coping strategies and methods of moving forward through grief and other feelings. Register by contacting Dave Bieniek, bereavement coordinator, at bienied@whidbeygen.org or 360-321-1372. Literature & Laughter

Book Group: Favorite or Holiday Book, 6:15 p.m., Dec. 9, at the Coupeville Library. Share your favorite holiday-themed book. Contact Leslie Franzen at lfranzen@sno-isle.org or 360-678-4911 for more information.

office at 360-679-2237 or visit www.whidbeyplayhouse.com, for further information, show dates and reservations, or email office@whidbeyplayhouse. com

Thursday

Dec. 11

Dec. 10

Coupeville Late-night Holiday Shopping. 5-7 p.m. at Coupeville’s Historic Waterfront Association. www.coupevillehistoricwaterfront.com “A Dickens’ Christmas Carol: A Traveling Travesty in Two Tumultuous Acts,” will run Dec. 10-20 at the Whidbey Playhouse in Oak Harbor. Show times are 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays with a 2:30 p.m. matinee on Sundays. Call the box

Friday 2nd Friday Nonfiction Book Group: “Mountains Beyond Mountains,” 10:30 a.m., Dec. 11, at the Coupeville Library. Join the discussion about this book by Tracy Kidder. Contact Leslie Franzen at lfranzen@sno-isle.org or 360678-4911 for more information.

Saturday Dec. 12

Island Wings Dinner and Auction, 4-9 p.m.,

A Gift That Gives Twice a Week, Every Week!

Wednesday, December 9, 2015 • WhidbeyXtra!

HOLIDAY MARKET: Holiday Market on Pioneer, 4-7 p.m., Friday, Dec. 11 and 18 and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Dec. 12-13 and 19-20. Peruse the booths of over 20 arts and crafts vendors. The market runs the four weekends between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Santa will make special appearances.

Dec. 12, at the Coupeville Rec Hall. Full holiday dinner with all the trimmings. Dale Sherman will auction off wrapped bottles with surprise contents. Advance reservations are required. $10 per person. Call Deb at 360-320-2284.

Sunday Dec. 13

Navy Band Northwest free holiday concert, 3 p.m., Dec. 13, at the Oak Harbor High School Performing Arts Center. The 35 rated Navy musicians perform in various musical units including the Ceremonial and Parade Bands, Popular Music Group, Brass Band, Brass Quintet, woodwind chamber groups and a Protocol Jazz Combo. Alcoholics Anonymous, 7 p.m., Dec. 13, in the Whidbey

General Hospital conference room. Contact Tim M. at timmondk@hotmail. com or 360-320-8936 for more information.

Monday Dec. 14

Meet the Author: Judy Lynn, 4 p.m., Dec. 14, at the Coupeville Library. Local historian and longtime resident Judy Lynn has collected 101 oral interviews of Coupeville’s Front Street merchants, building owners and local residents, weaving together a colorful history of one of Washington’s oldest settlements. Lynn will discuss her adventures gathering these stories and will also talk about the new ebook she and Robert Elphick created for the Island County Historical Museum. 360678-4911.

Wednesday Dec. 16

Alcoholics Anonymous, 7 p.m., Dec. 16, in the Whidbey General Hospital conference room. Contact Tim M. at timmondk@hotmail. com or 360-320-8936 for more information.

Thursday Dec. 17

Coupeville Late-night Holiday Shopping. 5-7 p.m. at Coupeville’s Historic Waterfront Association. www.coupevillehistoricwaterfront.com Holiday Celebration with the Friends of the Oak Harbor Library, 3 p.m., Dec. 17, at the Oak Harbor Library meeting room. Celebrate the season with friends, food and

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fun. The Justin in Time Jazz Duo will perform live music. There will also be a silent auction of donated items. Proceeds from the auction benefit the Friends of the Oak Harbor Library. 360-675-5115.

Friday Dec. 18

How to Start a Business, 1 p.m., Dec. 18, at the Oak Harbor Library

meeting room. Learn how to write a business plan using the Small Business Administration’s format. Discover library tools to help you save hundreds of dollars. Pre-register at sno-isle.org or by calling the library at 360-6755115. Designer Hot Cocoa, 1 p.m., Dec. 18, at the Coupeville Library. Teens and tweens are invited to try something different

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by concocting their own signature cocoa recipes. Get creative while satisfying your sweet tooth. Contact Lindsey Anderson at landerson@sno-isle.org or 360-678-4911 for more information.

Saturday Dec. 19

Bowman Bay Holiday, 5-8 p.m., Dec. 19, at Bowman Bay, Deception

Pass State Park. See the CCC shelters festively lighted and warmed with fires in the fireplaces. Have a photo taken with Santa in the restored beach shelter. Enjoy local music, drink hot cider and chocolate, purchase handmade wreaths and eat delicious baked goods.$10 parking per car or free with Discover Pass. The Ballet Slipper Conservatory of Oak

LOCAL LOCAL

Harbor (TBSC) presents “The Nutcracker,” 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., Dec. 19 and 2 p.m., Dec. 20, at the Oak Harbor High School Student Union Building.

Dec. 20

Red Ticket Drawing. At Historic Downtown Coupeville. $1,000 drawing. Shop, dine and stay with participating mer-

360-632-6619

Kathi Phillips, CRS, GRI Managing Broker Linda Earnhart, RE/MAXManaging Acorn Properties, Inc. Broker, REALTOR® CRS, GRI kathiphillipsremax@gmail.com Windermere 360-679-4585 (ofc) Real Estate/Whidbey Island 360-929-0206 (c)

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Coupeville, WA 98239 Mary’s Weeding Service Coupeville,360-632-7088 WA 98239 360-632-7088

REAL ESTATE AGENT

Earnhart@whidbey.net

WhidbeyIslandHomes.com Linda Earnhart, 360-929-0922 Managing Broker, REALTOR® CRS, GRINON PROFIT Windermere Pregnancy Care Clinic Real Estate/Whidbey 670 SE MidwayIsland Blvd, Oak Harbor Earnhart@whidbey.net execdir@islandspcc.org WhidbeyIslandHomes.com www.islandspecc.org 360-929-0922 360-675-2096 and Girls Club NONBoys PROFIT 98 NE Barron Dr., Oak Harbor Pregnancy Care Clinic nbarone@bgcsc.org 670 SE Midway Blvd, Oak Harbor www.bgoh.org execdir@islandspcc.org 360-240-9273 www.islandspecc.org 360-675-2096

Cheri English REAL ESTATE AGENT Broker, REALTOR®, SRES Cheri English Windermere PAINTING Broker, REALTOR®, SRESReal Estate/Whidbey Island Cheri@Ask4Cheri.com Painter’s Alley Windermere Real Estate/Whidbey Island Boys and GirlsSRClub Agent4Life.net 33650 20, Oak Harbor Cheri@Ask4Cheri.com 98 NE Barron Dr., Oak Harbor 360-320-9764 diamondrent@comcast.net Agent4Life.net nbarone@bgcsc.org www.facebook.com/paintersalley 360-320-9764 www.bgoh.org Elaine McDowell 360-279-0723 360-240-9273 Managing Broker, REALTOR®, SRES Elaine McDowell Windermere SEWING MACHINE Managing Real Broker, REALTOR®, SRES Estate/Whidbey Island PAINTING & VACUUM REPAIR EMcDowell@windermere.com Windermere Painter’sIsland AlleySewing and Vacuum ElaineMcDowell.withwre.com 31570 Ste 101, Oak Harbor Real Estate/Whidbey Island 33650 SR 20, SR Oak20Harbor customerservice@islandsewnvac.com 360-929-1500 EMcDowell@windermere.com diamondrent@comcast.net www.islandsewandvac.com ElaineMcDowell.withwre.com www.facebook.com/paintersalley 360-679-2282 Judith Zapanta-Borras 360-929-1500 360-279-0723 Managing Broker, Windermere 32785 SR 20 Ste 4, Oak Harbor Judith Zapanta-Borras judithzapanta@windermere.com Managing www.judithzapanta.withwre.com Broker, Windermere 32785 SR 20 Ste 4, Oak Harbor 360-914-7759(c) judithzapanta@windermere.com 360-675-5953 (ofc)

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chants through Dec. 21 and earn red tickets that are entered into a drawing. 360-678-5434.

Tuesday Dec. 22

Sunday

REAL ESTATE AGENT-CONT. Julie Kinnaird, Broker, REALTOR®, SRES Julie Kinnaird Windermere Broker, REALTOR®, SRES Real Estate/Whidbey Island Windermere JulieKinnaird@windermere.com Real Estate/Whidbey Island JulieKinnaird.withwre.com JulieKinnaird@windermere.com 360-632-6619 JulieKinnaird.withwre.com

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Low Vision and Blind Support Group, meets 2 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday of the month starting Dec. 22 at the Oak Harbor Senior Center.

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