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a review bu Yves Morrissette

Pk Ides Re ése 
TOTALLY SCROOGED

Benefit Show Raises Fund for the Vermont Foodbank

is

dam Reese, aka
. “Pickles,” gave new
eaning to A Christmas

Carol. Layers upon layers of
new meaning.

You might have thought
the classics were written in
stone, but Pickles took a sharp
wit and chiseled some slight
changes in this wonderful ren-
dition of the Dickens tale. Sir
Reese asked that all thoughts
of Clinton, Lewinsky, Tripp,
and Starr be left at the door,
started his whirling imagina-
tion, and took a willing audi-
ence on a wild ride.

Totally Scrooged might
have been a one-person show,
but the whole original cast of
characters was represented —
slightly Pickled, of course.
Try to picture Monica from
Touched by an Angel as the
ghost of Christmas past,
Bernie Sanders filling in for
the ghost of Christmas pre-
sent, Freddie Prince as the
voice of God or Marlon
Brando as the ghost of
Marley. Imagine Bob Cratchit
with a passive-aggressive
streak and a penchant for
show tunes.

Actually, you should imag-
ine all of the characters with a
thing for show tunes.
Throughout the program,
Reese delighted with his ren-
ditions of many classic songs
from stage and screen includ-
ing ‘Don’t Cry for Me,
Ebeneezer,’ ‘I Could Have
Danced All Night,’ a holiday
version of ‘The Candy Man,’
the theme from Jaws, and sev-
eral selections from The
Wizard of 02. E

A number of unexpected
characters popped into the
story as well. The Phantom of
the Opera, Oliver, Sammy
Davis, Jr, and Agnes, the
nosey neighbor from
Bewitched — or reasonable
facsimiles —— were among the
dozens of cameos Reese threw
in throughout the evening.

If you’re with the program
so far, then you’ll also appre-
ciate the roles of Dick Clark,
Rosie O’Donnell, Ben and
Jerry, Robin Williams, The
Beatles, Shirley Temple, Bette
Davis, Elmer Fudd, Laura
Petrie, Julia Child, Billy
Crystal, Joan Crawford,
Donny and Marie,» the Olsen
Twins, Tiny Tim, Tiny
Bubbles, Tiny Louise and ice
skater Tiny Harding (the rea-
son Tiny Tim is in leg irons).
That is, if you can contain
your laughter long enough to
catch them all.

There were jokes tucked
into every line, gesture and

with a passive-
aggressive streak
and a nenchanttor

 

prop, from Scrooge’s meal of
Bubble and Squeak to a chick-
en-choking scene to a unique

Pickles-made ornament.
What’s more, Pickles’ asides
and transparent transitions
made the ride even more side-
splitting.

But despite the guffaws
and belly laughs, Adam Reese
showed a great deal of respect
for the original Dickens tale.
He did it in spirit, by making
the performances a benefit for
the Vermont Foodbank, and in
word, by reminding the audi-

ence of the lesson that is still
relevant today: keeping the
holiday spirit throughout the
year is the goal, and letting
others into our hearts the key.

Employees of Scrump-
tious donated their time to
serve goodies provided by the
restaurant’s owner, Barbara
Cook. The audience for the
December 19 performance
was treated to Caroling by A
Vocal Minority, Vermont’s
own gay men’s choir, before
and after the show. V

O»

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