Photo Flash: Lakewood Theatre Company Presents INSPECTING CAROL November 1 - December 8, 2013

Lakewood Theatre Company continues its 61st season on November 1, 2013 with Inspecting Carol. Check out the first promo photos below!

Behind the scenes of a struggling theatre's annual slapdash production of A Christmas Carol, rehearsals are at a standstill. Tim is no longer Tiny, Scrooge wants to do the play in Spanish (Feliz Navidad), and their funding is on hold pending an inspection. This laugh out loud spoof makes for a night at the theatre that is anything but show business as usual. Parental advisory: the show is recommended for ages 13 and up, contains some mild profanity.

With stage direction by Don Alder (Noises Off, Spider's Web, Laughter on the 23rd Floor), LTC's production features Margie Boulé, Scott Parker, Sarah Lucht, Gary Powell, Grant Byington, Garfield Wedderburn, Blake Peebles, David Sargent, Lori Ferraro, Patricia J. Rohrbach, Caleb Adderley and Alan King as members of the ensemble.

Performances continue through December 8 with the following schedule: Thursdays - Saturdays at 7:30 PM; Sundays at 7:00 PM (November 3, 10 & 17) and Sunday matinees at 2:00 PM (November 10, 24 and December 1 & 8). There is no performance on Thanksgiving but there are two Wednesday performances at 7:30 PM on November 20 and December 4. The show sponsor is DEUR Counsel, LLC.

At the Wednesday November 20 performance the theatre is continuing a new program this year called WOW: 25-35. For people 35 and under tickets are priced at $25 each. One hour prior to performance there will be a complimentary wine tasting hosted by World Class Wines. Come enjoyWine on Wednesday (WOW) paired with discounted show tickets.

The theatre is located at Lakewood Center for the Arts, 368 S. State Street in Lake Oswego. Ticket prices are $32/adults and $30/seniors. Other discounts are available for students and groups. For additional information and tickets, call the Lakewood Box Office at (503) 635-3901 or order online atwww.lakewood-center.org.

The Story: The Soapbox Theatre Company is led by Zorah (Margie Boulé), a feisty Lithuanian beauty, who runs the company alone after her husband hanged himself as the result of a bad review. The troupe is starting four days of rehearsals for their holiday cash cow, A Christmas Carol, when she learns the National Endowment for the Arts won't be renewing the $30,000 grant her theatre needs to stay open and that she and the other founding members may be personally liable for all outstanding debts.

One hope remains: The NEA is sending an inspector to render a last-minute judgement that could restore the grant. So when hapless Wayne Wellacre (Alan King) shows up, says he has an audition appointment, and proves horribly inept as an actor, Zorah and stage manager Kevin (David Sargent) judge this sad sack so unlikely to be a budding thespian that he must be the inspector.

Further complicating matters is eccentric Larry (Gary Powell), the company's Scrooge, who performed the entire role in Spanish last year to protest the U.S. role in South America. Needless to say, the troupe is not thrilled to have him back - especially when he says he has new ideas for the show. (One of them includes questioning Tiny Tim's sexuality.)

As the show rehearses, Wayne, the new actor, begins to offer suggestions. What Wayne wants, Wayne gets. When he expresses a tentative opinion on staging, Zorah grits her teeth and agrees. It isn't long before the left-of-liberal Larry maneuvers Wayne into doing a free-wheeling rewrite of the script. Groveling in several delicious ways to please him, the troupe ends up putting on a dress-rehearsal performance of A Christmas Carol so disastrous that it could have been imagined only by veteran stagehands.

Inspecting Carol was written by Daniel Sullivan and the Seattle Repertory Company in 1991. LTC's production of Inspecting Carol is directed by Don Alder. Stage design is by Jeff Seats, Lighting design is by Kurt Herman, and costume design is by Patricia J. Rohrbach. The stage manager isMichael DeMaio and the producer is Kay Vega.

For more information, visit www.lakewood-center.org

Photos by Triumph Photography

Alan King and Grant Byington

Alan King and Gary Powell

Alan King and Grant Byington