Footlight Players to stage a comedic spoof with the award-winning 'Inspecting Carol'

Jamie Giles

The Footlight Players will present “Inspecting Carol,” a spoof on “A Christmas Carol” starring (from left) Andrea McGinn, Red Rice, Karl Bunch and Carole Moore.

Yes, one more theater company is in dire straits at holiday time.

This time it's a fictional regional troupe in the Midwest called the Soapbox Theatre Company, and the time is the early 1990s.

The company is in trouble, and for good reason.

It really didn't help that the actor who played the role of Scrooge in a performance of "A Christmas Carol" the previous season had recited the entire role in Spanish as a protest against the United States' presence in Central America.

Because of this and other shenanigans enacted by the troublemaking actor named Larry, the theater is turned down for a National Endowment for the Arts grant, and its ticket sales are way down, to boot.

Thus, the stage is set for Tony Award-winning director Daniel Sullivan's comedy, "Inspecting Carol," reportedly a hilarious spoof on "A Christmas Carol," to be staged by the Footlight Players as a holiday treat.

"This show could really be set right now in any theater in Charleston rather than in the early 1990s because it's about a troupe that is in financial difficulty," says veteran actor Karl Bunch, who plays the troublemaking actor.

Almost broke, the Soapbox Theatre Company is having a dickens of a time (pardon the pun) with its annual production of Charles Dickens' story since Tiny Tim is a bit old for the part and Death keeps getting his chains tangled in the scenery.

Added stress occurs when the company's business manager thinks a newly arrived young actor, Wayne, who wants to audition for a role in the show, is actually an "inspector" sent from the NEA to determine whether or not the theater is worthy of a future grant.

"The director of Soapbox Theatre Company wants everything to be just right, and although this Wayne guy is a terrible actor, she casts him anyway as one of the ghosts," explains Bunch.

But then the real NEA inspector shows up to see the play.

Bunch won't reveal the outcome, but mayhem ensues amid the tried-and-true characters of "A Christmas Carol," including Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim, his family and all the ghosts.

Although a comedy, the play also is said to address serious issues concerning government funding of the arts and the pressures that affect programming at regional theaters.

"The show is classified as 'family fare' but it may not be appropriate for really young children, as there is a bit of mild profanity, and there are several comic adult situations," says Bunch.

Having made his stage debut 51 years ago as Tiny Tim in a Footlight Players production, Bunch, a retired high school assistant principal, is happy to have graduated to the role of Scrooge, even an off-kilter one.

"I'm making headway," he jokes.

Directing "Inspecting Carol" is Thomas Keating with technical direction and sets by Richard Heffner. Others in the large cast include Scott Cason, Mark Davis and Jacqualine Helmer.

One of the best-known names in show business, playwright Sullivan won a 2000 Tony Award for directing the Broadway hit "Proof" with Mary-Louise Parker. Sullivan has worked as an actor and director in New York and scores of other places.

During the run of "Inspecting Carol," the Footlight Players will hold a collection drive for the Lowcountry Food Bank. Attendees bringing nonperishable food items will have their names entered to win season tickets to the remainder of the season's plays and to shows in the 2009-10 season.

Reach Dottie Ashley at 937-5704 or dashley@postandcourier.com.