I would like to start off with a confession. When I interviewed with Alley Artistic Director Rob Melrose to work on this show a couple of years ago, he had no idea he was talking to someone who starts watching the Hallmark Channel on September 1st…not even October 1st, I am looking for those fall movie selections starting the first day of the “er” months.
So needless to say, I had to try really hard to calm my eyes and excitement down during the interview so that I would have a shot at this opportunity.
This remounted morality play is adapted and originally directed by our very own Rob Melrose. He really highlights Charles Dickens’ original language in this piece and our narrators drive the storyline from start to finish.
The set design floods the stage with elaborate Victorian homes, which gives the audience the feeling of looking directly into a wintery holiday storybook.
The narrators open our story, and we instantly see an overworked Bob Cratchit getting major flack for wanting to take off on Christmas…how dare he! Scrooge is then visited by 4 ghosts that try to turn Scrooge’s fate around. Some have a kinder approach than others. You will have to come and see the show in order to see if the apparitions were successful.
We visit over 20 locations during our play, interspersed with traditional carols from that time, sung acapella by our talented cast! We have seamless movement sequences paired with some of those beautifully orchestrated and selected pieces. Let us not forget we are cordially invited to join in at the hottest party of the holiday season “The Fezziwigs”. Where the choreography is so spot on it gives our audience a huge burst of energy, and makes us all want to join in every single time! We also have the brilliant costumes that give us splashes of color throughout, the many intricate props including the puppets, and the lighting that really gives us that perfect London hue. It really is a true Christmas spectacle, and it lends to this novella adaptation in a truly memorable and heartfelt way.
About Amber D. Gray
Amber D. Gray is a theatre Producer, Director, Performer, and Administrator. She received a BFA in Musical Theater at Rockford University. Her first major performances began at a very young age performing around Houston including the Opening of the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, Superbowl XXXVIII Pre-game show with Josh Groban, for previous Presidents, and much more. Amber previously performed in the Chicago area receiving her Equity Membership Candidacy. Amber then returned to Houston and began directing, choreographing, teaching Musical Theatre, and later becoming a Dance Studio Director. Amber’s career led her to Washington DC where she was the Company Manager at Arena Stage Theater. Following DC, Amber found herself in NYC as the Assistant Line Producer at The Public Theater. She has now returned to Houston Assistant Directing (Alley Theatre’s High School Play, A Nostalgia Fest; Stages Repertory Theatre: upcoming, cullud wattah) and recently performed in Stages Repertory Theatre’s Putnam County Spelling Bee as Marcy. She is currently the Associate Artistic Director for New York’s Reading Series BlackBoard Plays, Artistic Producer for the national Black Motherhood and Parenting New Play Festival, General Manager for Detroit’s Obsidian Theatre Festival, and the Senior Producer for GhostLight Productions, Inc. For more information about Amber, please visit her website at amberdgray.com.
