10A • December 15, 2017 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com
‘Christmas Carol’ tradition
continues at the Coaster
Many versions have been performed under the stage lights
By Nancy McCarthy
For Cannon Beach Gazette
Every time Ebenezer Scrooge steps
on stage at the Coaster Theatre this sea-
son, he continues a tradition that began
in Cannon Beach nearly 45 years ago.
This year, Scrooge is Darren Hull.
He is playing the role for the first time,
backed by a cast of 30 community mem-
bers. Many of those children and adults
in “A Christmas Carol: The Musical”
have never been on the stage before, but
after months of rehearsals, they are re-
telling the 19th century story about the
metamorphosis of a miserly tightwad to
an enlightened, generous uncle.
While this is Hull’s first time as
Scrooge, it’s not his first time partici-
pating in “Christmas Carol.” Like some
of those newbie cast members this year,
Hull, who moved to town in 1989, de-
cided to follow the suggestions of his co-
workers and joined the annual Scrooge
celebration at the Coaster.
“It was a wonderful way to get in-
volved in the community,” Hull said.
“Some of the people I met that first year
are still my dear friends all these years
later. It was really a feeling of communi-
ty and family that I’ve never forgotten.”
That year, the homespun musical was
called “The Dickens Play,” which Hull
described as a “mash-up of ‘Christmas
Carol’ and ‘Oliver.’”
“There were different versions every
year. A lot of times whoever was direct-
ing that year interpreted their own ver-
sion of it,” Hull said. “That year there
were three narrators, and we were on the
stage and kind of moving in and out of
the story.”
Many different ‘Dickenses’
The year after the Coaster opened in
1972, the gas crisis kept visitors away
from Cannon Beach. Vickie Hawkins,
Cannon Beach Gazette owner, suggested
that the town develop a Dickens theme.
Store clerks dressed in Dickens-era cos-
tumes, including bowler hats, aprons and
sleeve bands; window displays hear-
kened back to the mid-19th century; and
waiters and waitresses spoke with cock-
ney 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
community 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, performances have
taken on a variety of interpretations.
There were true Christmas Carol ren-
ditions with and without music, several
“Dickens plays” with a dash of the “Oli-
ver” orphan tale added, and even a New
York gangland 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 Christmas,”
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 in-
volved 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 from profes-
sional, those who helped out drew from
their professional careers for inspiration.
Kay Lee, known for her Kay Lee Puppet
Theater in Portland, wrote scripts. Stan
Glarum, choir director at Lewis & Clark
College, composed music to accompany
Bill’s lyrics, 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. Accord-
ing to a written history of the Coast-
er Theatre, to reproduce the clank of
chains carried by Marley’s ghost, McK-
ennon traveled to the Astoria Column
and recorded the sound of chains being
dragged on the concrete stairs.
Local artists Ken Grant, Frank Lack-
aff and Steve McLeod also assisted.
Metal sculptor and then-Mayor Joe Po-
lice fabricated mechanical heads that
moved inside the toy store on stage. Cast
members sang Bill’s songs, including
“Toy Store Window” and “Christmas in
Our Hometown.”
Theatergoers snacked on hot chest-
nuts from a wagon with a heater in-
stalled. Proceeds paid for the costumes.
NANCY MCCARTHY PHOTO
Bill and Sally Steidel led the
community effort to produce
a version of the ‘Christmas
Carol’ story at the Coast-
er Theatre. The theater has
had a holiday play there
since 1973, and at least 24 of
those plays have been about
Ebenezer Scrooge.
Right, top to bottom: A
Coaster Theatre production
of “The Dickens Play” in
the 1970s; a production
from the 1980s; and in
1989 “The Dickens Play”
featured Darren Hull,
who is playing Scrooge
for the first time in the
2017 production.
Community
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 fol-
lowing decade, and “Christmas Carol”
— or a version of it — wasn’t staged at
the Coaster again until “Scrooge the Mu-
sical” in 2012.
This year’s “A Christmas Carol: The
Musical” is mostly that: music. The plot,
however, follows closely the traditional
Scrooge story, and like dozens of Coast-
er “Christmas Carols” before it, the com-
munity 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 import-
ant thing to do. I think that’s the core of
the story of Scrooge.”
COURTESY COASTER THEATRE
IF YOU GO
WHAT: A Christmas Carol: The Musical
WHERE: Coaster Theater,108 N. Hemlock St., Cannon
Beach
WHEN: Fridays and Saturdays, 7:30 p.m. through Dec.
23; Sunday matinee, Dec. 17, 3 p.m.; and Thursday,
Dec. 21, 7:30 p.m.
Alaina Giguiere
Marty Giguiere
Owner/Principal Broker
c: 503.440.3202
f: 877.812.1126
e: alainagiguiere@mac.com
Owner/Broker
c: 503.440.7676
o: 503.436.1777
e: mr007@pacifi er.com
Coastal Advantage
503.436.1777 • CoastalAdvantage.com
Egrane Brown
Susan Tone
Broker
c: 503.440.1648
e: egranebrown@gmail.com
Broker
c: 503.354.4072
e: susantone@nehalemtel.net
Maryann Sinkler
Andrea Mace
Geri Lane
Broker
c. 503.440.9280
e: maryanns@remax.net
Broker
c. 503-440-4024
e: Andrea.k.mace@remax.net
Broker
c: 503.480.9846
e: gerilane@remax.net
Hilary Herman
Shelley Parker
Broker
c: 503-791-4718
e: HilaryHerman@hotmail.com
Broker
c: 503-739-1977
e: Shelley.Parker@mail.com
NOW WITH 2 LOCATIONS TO SERVE YOU!
219 N. Hemlock in Downtown Cannon Beach 503.436.1777
430 Laneda in Downtown Manzanita 503.368.1777
/REMAXCoastalAdvantage
Member of 2 MLS Systems Each offi ce is independently owned & operated
79070 COVE BEACH RD
82927 HWY 53
79364 RAY BROWN “OCEAN FRONT”
8820 PELICAN
Cannon Beach • $1,339,000
Cove Beach • $999,888
Seaside • $858,000
City • $799,000
Manzanita • $789,000
4040 S HEMLOCK
124 W ORFORD
123 S HEMLOCK #201
307 YUKON
31973 OCEAN VIEW
Cannon Beach • $759,000
Cannon Beach • $695,000
Cannon Beach • $684,000
Cannon Beach • $619,000
Arch Cape • $598,000
279 N HEMLOCK
34480 PINYON
1616 N HOLLADAY
BREAKERS POINT CONDOS #203
Seaside • $499,000
Cannon Beach • $499,000
LI NE
ST W
IN
G
+ S
31 RE
C
A
723 OAK
All brokers listed are licensed in the State of Oregon
SCAN
HERE
to go
to our
website
Zoned Residential/ Commercial
Cannon Beach • $549,999
Manzanita • $519,000
115 NELCINA
1940 COOPER STREET
771 GREENRIDGE
BREAKERS POINT #512
461 UPLAND
Cannon Beach • $495,000
Seaside • $469,000
Manzanita • $462,000
Cannon Beach • $459,000
Manzanita • $455,000
123 S HEMLOCK #204
8924 PELICAN LN
8890 PELICAN
597 NORTH ST
655 BREAKERS POINT CONDO
Cannon Beach • $419,000
Manzanita • $409,000
Manzanita • $399,000
Manzanita • $359,000
Cannon Beach • $347,500
NEW
PRICE
“Real Estate standards for those with ‘Higher’ Expectations.
above the crowd!”