A Christmas Carol for Michael and Don
They first met in 2010 in Bangkok when Don produced The Fantasticks for IWC, and have been close friends since. But it was only in 2016 when Michael Allman and Don Harrelson joined forces and became an inseparable team at the Bangkok Community Theatre (BCT), Michael holds the director wand and Don sits on the producer chair. A Christmas Carol, an entertaining musical to be staged this December, is their 4th production together.
After their successful productions for BCT – Art (2016), Midsummer’s Night Dream (2017) and Spelling Bee (2017), to highlight this festive season – Michael and Don present A Christmas Carol, a play adapted from the book by Charles Dickens.
We took the opportunity to sit and chat on theatre, team work and their Thailand experience.
Don Harrelson, 70, 14 years in Thailand, comes from sunny California. Michael Allman (Mike), 63, 8 years in Thailand, comes from cold Michigan and Wisconsin. Both claim they are in Thailand by mistake.
Michael got his BA, majoring in Theatre Arts at the University of Michigan, and earned his Master of Arts at University of Denver.
Don’s professional background includes working for a hospital and a long career in travel and conventions. But his main pride goes for the the children’s theatre he founded back in 1968 for NOR Recreation and Park District, California. The theatre celebrates its 50th season now.
What brought you to Thailand?
Mike: My first trip to Asia took me to Korea. While I was there I came to Thailand on a vacation. It was winter in Korea, so sitting on the beach in Pattaya, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I thought ‘This is the Asia I meant to come to’ and here I am. I grew up in the US in very cold states, so anytime I am tempted to think that Thailand is too hot I think, well, I could be shovelling snow. Don: I Never had any plans to live anywhere but the US, but by a coincidence, in 2003, I found myself in Bangkok, and now call it home.
What was your first experience with the Bangkok Community Theatre and what productions you were involved with along the years?
Don: When I first arrived in Bangkok, a friend worked on the musical Annie and told me all about BCT. Since I had some theatre experience, I thought it would be a good place for me.
My first show to produce at the BCT was Aladdin in 2003. I’ve also directed a few plays, and have done lights and sound for several shows. A Christmas Carol marks my 15th production I have produced for the BCT.
Mike: The first BCT show I was involved with was Lysistrata in 2010 as an actor. That was a show set in a spa so most of it we were wearing towels and little else, though I did manage to get into a dress in the later part of the play (I have a history of wearing dresses in BCT shows). I later acted in The Country Wife and acted and directed for the BCT fringe shows in 2011, 2012 and 2013. In 2012 I directed the musical Nunsense. I then took a break to experience Chiang Mai and returned to Bangkok in 2016. Since then I was quite busy directing 4 plays for the BCT, working closely with Don.
It seems you are a good match for running stage productions together. Why does it work? What is your secret?
Don: We both know how each other work and have respected each other’s area of responsibility. I trust Mike as the director. We do have our disagreements but always work around them and make sure the show is the best we can make it and also support the cast and crew. This is a team “sport” and we all have to work for the common good and that is the audience walking away with “wow! Wasn’t that great!” feeling.
Tell me a little about A Christmas Carol from your perspective as director/producer.
Don: A Christmas Carol is the all time Christmas classic! When Dickens wrote the book, it changed how Christmas was celebrated. It is Christmas and provides 2 things: First it has a story that everyone knows, and second – it is a challenge to our actors! I think that is the most important thing any theatre group should strive for ….. a good story and a challenge to our actors. I’ve directed A Christmas Carol twice in the past with a cast of 23. In our current production Mike has chosen a script that calls for 6 actors to play a number of roles, which makes it quite different.
Mike: I like to work with a smaller number of actors and ask them to do more – it’s just my preference and I think it’s interesting for the actors. It certainly stretches them a lot. My take on the show is that we all have an inner light that we carry inside of us. The main character’s – Scrooge – light is in danger of going out so the spirits have to redeem him, they have to reignite his inner light. It’s all about connection and community.
Main reason why people should come to watch it?
Mike: Those two reasons mentioned earlier – connection and community. Theatre seems to be one of the few things left that demands that you stay in in one place and take in what’s presented before you, that you make yourself available to the actors and the rest of the audience for the duration of the performance. I think that attention is valuable and it’s getting lost in our electronic helter skelter world.
Theatre work is exciting but stressful and tiring at times. How do you handle it?
Mike: I do EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) every morning and I find it to be helpful, calming and invigorating practice. I do meditation and watch a lot of spiritual teaching videos.
I also love to read and I always have a book at hand to read on the BTS. Then I have two cats – Thelma and Louise – and they are endlessly entertaining.
Don: Theatre can be stressful but it also needs to be fun. For our actors and crew, I hope they walk away from each theatre experience with a good feeling. Every show that I’ve produced, I have walked away knowing that we’ve done our best and the audience has left with a smile.
A Christmas Carol
The story: Stingy businessman Ebeneezer Scrooge is known as the meanest miser in Victorian London. He overworks and underpays his humble clerk, Bob Cratchit, whose little son, Tiny Tim, is crippled and may soon die. He also has nothing to do with his nephew, Fred, because he disapproves of his marriage. He has no use for Christmas and condemns it as a ‘Humbug’.
On Christmas Eve, Scrooge is haunted by the ghost of his business partner, Jacob Marley. Later he is visited by three ghosts and is given one last chance to change his ways and save himself from the grim fate that befell Marley. The ghosts show Scrooge the deeper meaning of Christmas and how to live with charity and compassion towards his fellow men.
A Christmas Carol
Directed by Michael Allman; Produced by Don Harrelson 7:30pm, December 1, 2, 8, 9; Matinee 2pm, December 2, 9 Creative industries, M Theatre, New Petchburi Rd., Bangkok Tickets: 800B at bangkokcommunitytheatre.com [email protected]
Audience: age 10+
