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Continued from Page 4
waiters and waitresses spoke
with cockney accents.
“We had two trunks of
costumes,” said Paul Dueber,
whose family operated stores
in Cannon Beach. “Every
year we would get them out,
launder them up and wear
them. It was pretty fantastic
when it happened. Christmas
was really a strong communi-
ty theme.”
With a theater in a town
full of writers and artists,
naturally someone suggested
a Dickens play.
Local artist and songwriter
Bill Steidel and dozens of
other Cannon Beach residents
collaborated on the scripts,
sets and songs of the Scrooge
story. Since then, performanc-
es have taken on a variety of
interpretations.
There were true Christmas
Carol renditions with and
without music, several “Dick-
ens plays” with a dash of the
“Oliver” orphan tale added,
and even a New York gang-
land version where Scrooge
was shot by mobsters.
Drama teacher D.K. Smith
wrote the first Dickens play,
and Steidel played the first
Scrooge. As “Father Christ-
mas,” Smith narrated the story
while sitting on a wingback
chair atop a narrow 4-foot
by 4-foot post 12 feet high
at the side of the stage. He
reached the chair by climbing
a ladder, which, Steidel said,
often caused the audience to
hold its collective breath as
the husky Smith, dressed as a
gnome, eased himself on the
shaky chair.
‘It was so much fun’
The early Christmas plays
captured the imagination of
local residents trying to get
through the dark winter days
when there was not much else
to do.
“We had over 100 people
involved at one time. They just
wanted to be involved because
it was so much fun,” said Sally
Steidel, who usually brought a
pot of stew for the volunteers
and worked backstage.
While the plays were far
COURTESY COASTER THEATRE
A sketch in “A Dickens Christ-
mas in Cannon Beach,” from “A
Portfolio by Bill Steidel”
“TOY STORE
WINDOW”
(Lyrics by Bill Steidel)
We’re the toys in the
Christmas windows
Once again we have
come to thank you
For your faith in dreams.
Other children are
fortunate
Opportunity, it seems,
has let them
Have their dreams while
yours are set aside
See, children, once a year
we will stop the clock
in between a tick and a
tock
Your faith in dreams will
unlock
The magic in our world….
from professional, those who
helped out drew from their
professional careers for inspi-
ration. Kay Lee, known for
her Kay Lee Puppet Theater
in Portland, wrote scripts. Stan
Glarum, choir director at Lew-
is & Clark College, composed
music to accompany Bill’s lyr-
ics, and Victoria Parker Pohl, a
Portland actor, also wrote and
directed some plays.
Former television and
voice-over actor Dallas
McKennon, who appeared
regularly in the Daniel Boone
television series, provided
sound effects. According to a
written history of the Coaster
Theatre, to reproduce the
clank of chains carried by
Marley’s ghost, McKennon
traveled to the Astoria Col-
umn and recorded the sound
of chains being dragged on
the concrete stairs.
Local artists Ken Grant,
Frank Lackaff and Steve
McLeod also assisted. Metal
sculptor and then-Mayor Joe
Police fabricated mechani-
cal heads that moved inside
the toy store on stage. Cast
members sang Bill’s songs,
including “Toy Store Win-
dow” and “Christmas in Our
Hometown.”
Theatergoers snacked
on hot chestnuts from a
wagon with a heater installed.
Proceeds paid for the cos-
tumes.
Community
is the heart
Bill played Scrooge for
four years. When Paul Dueber
moved to Cannon Beach in
1983, he first played an Irish-
man and an English Cockney.
Then he became Scrooge for
several years.
“The cast didn’t change
that often,” Dueber said.
But the plays changed
during the following decade,
and “Christmas Carol” — or
a version of it — wasn’t
staged at the Coaster again
until “Scrooge the Musical”
in 2012.
This year’s “A Christ-
mas Carol: The Musical” is
mostly that: music. The plot,
however, follows closely the
traditional Scrooge story,
and like dozens of Coaster
“Christmas Carols” before it,
the community is the heart of
the production.
“Ultimately, the message
of the Scrooge story is that
kindness and the Christmas
spirit is what uplifts people,”
Hull said. “It’s about reaching
out a hand to help each other
up. And when people are
having a hard time, that’s an
important thing to do. I think
that’s the core of the story of
Scrooge.” CW