A
Child's Christmas in Wales!
Circular Congregational Church, 150 Meeting St.
Tuesday, December 23 at 7pm
Tickets: $15
LIMITED TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE AT THE BOX OFFICE BEGINNING AT 6:15PM DEC. 23.
Actors' Theatre of SC and Chamber Music Charleston are collaborating
again this year to bring back to Charleston the popular and engaging
Christmas memoir of famous Welsh poet, Dylan Thomas. A Child's
Christmas In Wales, was Thomas' 1955 beloved radio story, and is an
anecdotal sketch of the festive seasons of delights of long ago. Thomas
recreates the experience of an old fashioned picture book Christmas
meant to be familiar to everyone. Veteran stage and screen actor,
Clarence Felder, will portray the author remembering
his youth. He will be accompanied by flutist Regina Helcher Yost,
violinist Nonoko Okada and cellist
Timothy O'Malley playing arrangements of traditional
carols by Sandra Nikolajevs. Recommended for audiences 10 years and
above.
Synopsis:
The narrator of the piece, Dylan Thomas, relates his Christmas
memories as if to a child who peppers him with questions and directs the
telling to subjects that interest him most. There is no story, as such,
just delightful vignettes and memories of presents, relatives,
neighbors, snowy adventures, walks with friends, meals, postmen, and
more. The events in this prose-poem will be both familiar and yet
charmingly "far away" to today's youth.
Dates:
Tuesday, December 23 at 7pm only.
Tickets: $15 general admission.
Group rates are available.
Tickets are on sale now by calling (843)763-4941.
Please visit
www.ChamberMusicCharleston.org for more information.
About our Guest Artist, actor Clarence Felder
Clarence Felder recently
completed shooting as
the star of
"All For Liberty"
a feature motion picture about
SC American Revolutionary hero, Captain Henry Felder for Moving Images
Group, scheduled for release in 2008. He co-starred in numerous other
films including The Last Boy Scout, Ruthless People, The Hidden,
After Hours, Amazing Grace & Chuck, and Nightmare On Elm St. (Pt
5). Mr. Felder co-starred for two years on the series Hooperman
with John Ritter, as well as LA Law, Crime Story, NYPD Blue,
Kojak, Matlock, Dallas, Hill Street Blues, Baywatch, and others.
He also co-starred in 10 Broadway shows including Queen & The
Rebels (with Colleen Dewhurst), Henry V and Memory Of Two
Mondays (with Meryl Streep), Love For Love (with Glenn
Close), Macbeth (with Christopher Walken) The Suicide
(w/ Derek Jacobi) and as Debbie Harry’s (Blondie) father in
Teaneck Tanzi, The Venus Flytrap. In regional theatre, Mr. Felder
has had leading roles in over 100 plays in major theatres in the U.S. He
received numerous rave reviews for the role of Hermann Goering in
2:Goering At Nuremberg by Romulus Linney in highly successful runs
Off-Broadway, in NC, Georgia, and for ATSC in Camden and at Piccolo
Spoleto. In 2005, Mr. Felder starred in the U.S. Southern premiere
of Julian Green’s South in Savannah and Charleston. He has
directed numerous productions including A Midsummer Night’s Dream,
Our Town, The Crucible, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and
The Dayporch. He is the author of three plays, Captain
Felder's Cannon, Pirates! The Revenge Of Colonel Rhett and Mary
Shelley: Creature Of Fire.
Reviews
From Past Productions
'Child's Christmas' celebrates season
Published on
12/22/07
BY JEFF JOHNSON
Post and Courier Reviewer
The Footlight Players' workshop opened Friday with Dylan Thomas' "A
Child's Christmas in Wales," presented by the Actors' Theatre and
This work is seen through the eyes of a young poet, who, thanks to his
romantic sensibility, enthusiastically describes his family, his chums
and the pack of cats that he would like to snowball.
"A Child's Christmas in
Thomas would record many albums before dying in 1954 of what doctors
called "a massive insult to the brain."
Thomas loved his small Welch village, and Clarence Felder uses his
sonorous voice and his brilliant diction to charm his audience into
understanding just how special these rather mundane events are when
recounted by a great wordsmith.
Supporting Felder's bravura performance are the
The ballads "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," "Greensleeves" and "I Saw
Three Ships" are the best known, but the musical arrangements of Sandra
Nikolajevs give all of the musicians showy cadenzas.
"A Child's Christmas in
My Favorite Gift!
The gift of entertainment always lifts my spirits. Recently, I
attended the production of Dylan Thomas' "A Child's Christmas in Wales"
at the Footlight Theatre. What a treat.
Clarence Felder mesmerized the audience with his Shakespearean style and
stage presence. The words flowed melodically as a picture perfect vision
came to life as charming as a Norman Rockwell Christmas may have been in
the United States.
Mr. Felder was accompanied by a trio of chamber musicians worthy of
mentioning: Regina H. Helcher, flute; Nonoko Okada, violin; and Timothy
O'Malley, cello. Their renditions of Christmas carols enhanced the one
hour production.
I hope Mr. Felder will make this production an annual event and give it
a longer run. More people need to enjoy this gift to the community.
Sandy Katz
2315 Wofford Road
[this review appeared on Dec. 31st in Letters to the Editor, sent by Sandy Katz, free-lance theatre critic, Post & Courier]
MUST SEE! "A Child's Christmas in Wales"
It's a universally delightful play, to appeal to anyone with a heart.
Dylan Thomas is a revered, famous, literary genius and "Welshman," whose
writings are beloved classics. Treat Yourselves. DO NOT MISS IT. This is
one of the most special Christmas traditions ever to top off all the
other ones we cherish in Charleston. You will hear, learn and relive a
child's life during the holiday season, through the drama, humor, and
"Wow" moments by the formidable, Clarence Felder. Trust me, this is some
of the finest theater and acting you will ever encounter in our
beautiful city.
Clarence Felder, costarred in films, TV series and plays on Broadway and
across the US such as: The Last Boy Scout (Bruce Willis), Ruthless
People (Danny Devito & Bette Midler), starred with John Ritter in
Hooperman for two years, did NYPD Blue, Kojak, Matlock, Dallas, Hill
Street Blues, etc. etc.
You will laugh, and you may cry... Clarence carries it off, admirably,
with the same spirit as Dylan. Clarence's sizzling, memorable
interpretation is loud and clear--He's mesmerizing as the young, Mr.
Thomas. It's Christmas all the way. The set is perfect--a nostalgic
throwback to those times, resembling the history and ambiance of the
times and his home life--from the first look of the amply decorated
Christmas tree, to his simple writing desk and chair...you will enter
Dylan's world, will be glad you stayed, and sorry to leave.
Mr. Felder and the chamber's "Silent Night," "Hark the Herald," and
Greensleeves cap it all off, superbly. Go see it.
Tickets are only $15, and truly, a beautiful, and most affordable
Christmas gift!
Free-lance theatre critic, Diane Scher