Guest Blogger: Mark Price

When first asked if I had any musical skills for this show, I said I could rock a mean triangle and kick it with the maracas, but after meeting with the gifted and saintly Mary-Mitchell Campbell (check out her organization asteponline.org), I found myself agreeing to learn how to play a large Irish drum called the bodhran. Steve Pacek, who originated the same role in Delaware last year, was kind enough to give me my first official lesson. We played with a children's drumstick in my living room until he sent me a tipper stick a few days later. His first tip was to not watch videos on YouTube for fear I'd become intimidated. I nodded in agreement, but ran to my computer as soon as he left to search for examples. A few minutes of watching these incredible musicians resulted in a deep shame spiral with the gnawing fear being found out as a complete fraud. Luckily, I could carry a handful of rhythms weeks later, thanks to the endless hours of banging out tribal drumbeats at home (apologies to my neighbors and to my cats) and the support of people like Campbell.

Tom Getchell is one patient man, he is also the fantastic creator and visionary behind one of the stars of our show, Tiny Tim. I had about six hours total to make friends with this nine string marionette and Tom was cool as a cucumber in working with me. But rather than tell you about Tiny Tim, I'd thought I'd show you what a day in the life of this magical dude is like.

One of the first theater influences for me as a kid wasn't a play or musical, but a touring company of Alvin Ailey Company that came through Jones Hall in Houston Texas. By the end of the solo piece "Cry," I was in tears, baffled by how I'd just watched a three act play with no words being spoken. The shifts from love and defiance were dizzying at times, but never melodramatic. And the storytelling was rooted in such truth that carried a legacy of history of those who had danced the piece before her. Flash forward to my first trip to New York in Junior Year of High School where I took a very expensive nap during one of my first Broadway shows until a helicopter onstage woke me up. It was no fault of the actors for not holding the interest of an over-stimulated teenager, but in hindsight, I could see how technology and budget robbed the intimacy of the story being told.

Frederick: 'Christmas is a time of love, sir, of giving and forgiving.'