You Tell 'Em, Scrooge!

Dear Boo and Bubble,

Today is my 67^th birthday.  The numbers are getting harder and harder to fathom, much less accept.  But, it’s a reality and, considering the alternative, one I embrace.

In chatting with a friend on FaceBook the other day, I was reminded of my 40^th birthday party on Saturday, December 5, 1987.  Captain enlisted our good friends Michael and Rachel Otis to host a gathering for me at their home.  It was a bittersweet day for me because your great grandmother Mary had died the April before, making this my first birthday without her.  Great Uncle Gene brought his family and Granddaddy Schaefer from Greenville.  There were several other close friends invited as guests. 

It so happened that the University of South Carolina Gamecocks were playing the University of Miami Hurricanes in football that night as well. At the time, Miami was ranked #1 in the country with South Carolina at #8.  It was a wildly anticipated matchup and the idea was to combine my birthday celebration with the viewing of the game. I understood perfectly that my party was secondary.  If I had been made to choose, I would have been the first to forego it.  However, it would be a nice present if the Gamecocks could win.

The night before, on December 4, one of my good friends, Robin Bowers, and her husband had invited Captain and me to join them for a performance of “A Christmas Carol.”  This particular production of Charles Dickens’ classic was directed by Ira David Wood, III, as part of the Theater in the Park in Raleigh, NC.  Every year, they brought the show to Columbia and tickets were always at a premium.  Wood himself played Scrooge and the trademark of his interpretation was always inserting current events in the script at subtle moments – it could be politics, or famous people or the weather.  The charm of it was that you never knew when it was coming.

By and large, though, the play followed the story with the volatile interactions between Scrooge and everybody, including the Cratchetts, and then the supernatural visits to him from the ghosts of Christmases past, present and future and finally from his dead former business partner, Jacob Marley.

Late into Act Three, Scrooge’s resistance to the spirit of Christmas began to collapse.  Christmas Future’s bleak picture of his demise had jolted the old curmudgeon into a malaise of doubt and confusion.  He huddled in his bed hoping that the sun would soon rise and stop the battery of ghostly apparitions he had encountered during the night. 

A knock came to the door.  Scrooge sat up with a shock.

The door squeaked open and Jacob Marley, wrapped in his burdensome chains of wrongly-made life decisions, enters the stage.

“Scrooge…….,” he drawls.  “Ebenezer Scrooge……”

“Is….is….that…you, Jacob?”

“Yes, Ebenezer.  It is I, Ebenezer.  And I have come as your friend to warn you, Ebenezer……DO NOT…..do as I did.  DO NOT ignore the warning that you’ve been given tonight.  DO NOT ignore the spirit of Christmas, or……….(he rattles his chains)….you will end up eternally like ME!”

The two characters continued their dialogue for a few more minutes.  As they did so, the lights dimmed and a single spotlight narrowed until the only thing captured on the stage was Scrooge’s face beneath his night cap. 

In the background Marley’s voice presented Scrooge with all of the miracles of life that could be his if only he would believe in Christmas.  At a poignant moment he asked the question –

“Scrooge……can you imagine anything more wonderful than that?”

Scrooge, his face captured by the radiant spot, dramatically paused in intense ponder.  The moment was so moving, not a sound could be heard as the audience watched in sort of a rapture.

“Yes……Yes…..Marley, I can,” he said.  “I truly can……yes…..yes…I can….beating the hell out of Miami tomorrow night!”

The auditorium erupted in a collective whiplash as everyone went from a total wrench of the heart to “Go Cocks!” in a matter of a second.

Unfortunately, the Gamecocks did not win the game the next night on my birthday – but they played great, losing only 20 – 16.  It was an unforgettable night, though…….can’t believe it’s been 27 years.

(The most amazing thing is that Theater in the Park with Ira David Wood, III, playing Scrooge in “A Christmas Carol” continues even today.  For anyone in the Raleigh, NC, area who might want to go, information is available at this link.  Just copy and paste it into your browser -  http://www.dpacnc.com/events/detail/a-christmas-carol-2.)