NOTE: “Today” and “tonight” refer to Friday, Dec. 11.
PORT ANGELES — For his holiday show, director Ron Graham decided to go straight to the heart of the matter.
With a Spartan set and a slim cast, he is presenting “A Special Christmas,” a double feature of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” and O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi,” starting tonight at the Port Angeles Community Playhouse.
The production runs just 90 minutes including intermission, and for Graham and his fellow actors, it conveys the spirit of Christmas.
In “A Christmas Carol,” Josh McLean portrays Ebenezer Scrooge, the humbug-growling guy who is visited by a woman in white.
This ghost, played by McLean’s real-life wife Sharah Truett, asks Scrooge to look into the future, present and past.
Much is revealed to the man — and to the audience.
Ben Catterson, Ross and BJ Kavanaugh, Zoe Bozich, Maddie Stearns and Graham himself appear in both “Carol” and “Magi,” playing multiple roles on the plain stage. Pianist Geri Zanon is the music director.
Curtain times for “A Special Christmas” are 7:30 tonight, Saturday and Sunday night; matinees are set for 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The five shows will take place at the playhouse, 1235 E. Lauridsen Blvd., with admission by donation.
In “Magi,” a married couple are window shopping at Christmas time. They’re broke, so all they can do is admire the elegant things for sale.
Both spouses decide to give up a particular possession, in order to purchase Christmas gifts for each other.
“I’ve had the honor of performing a variation of these shows many times in the past,” Graham said, “and they have come to mean so much to me.
“The shows are quite short, but they convey so much emotion.”
Graham, an emotive guy, wasn’t afraid to sum up his hope for this production.
May it remind people, he said, “that the greatest gift you can give is your love.”
