A CHRISTMAS CAROL - Milwaukee Repertory Theater

MILWAUKEE REPERTORY THEATER • Winter 2010 • 13
THE REP’S CHRISTMAS FAMILY TRADITION
This holiday season marks the 35th year that Milwaukee Repertory Theater has staged a
performance of A CHRISTMAS CAROL at the Pabst Theater. For the past 16 years, this holiday classic
has included a post-performance tradition that has touched the lives of hundreds of local families
who may never have visited the Pabst, nor seen a show at The Rep.
For six seasons (1991 – 1996), the role of the Ghost
of Christmas Present was played by an actor named
Michael Nash. Michael was born to play this role – he’s
a big guy with a big heart. Back in those days we were
doing Amlin Gray’s adaptation of A CHRISTMAS CAROL,
and the costume for the Ghost of Christmas Present
was very “Christmas-y:” green velvet with white trim
and Michael’s beard was dyed red. He sort of looked like
Santa’s brother. His appearance in Scrooge’s bedroom
was a bit of theater magic, and as Scrooge cowered in
disbelief at the apparition before him, Michael would
begin laughing, a booming, hearty laugh, for no reason
at all. And soon the entire Pabst audience would be Michael Nash and James Pickering. Photo by Jay Westhauser.
laughing as well – it would start in the front rows and ripple back to the upper gallery, 1,300
people sharing joyous laughter just because Michael was laughing. Magic, indeed.
In 1994 Michael decided that he wanted to share this joy in a more tangible manner. One of the
servers in the Stackner Cabaret also worked for Rosalie Manor, a Milwaukee social service agency,
and a conversation she and Michael had one night led to the start of a wonderful idea. She selected
a few families in need, and Michael began going to the lobby of the Pabst after each show to
ask for donations. He’d then come up to my office in the Cabaret and count the collection. It was
mostly loose change as I recall; he’d have stacks of pennies and nickels on my desk. We didn’t have
computers in our offices back then, and I have lost the ledger book that Michael and I used to
record the nightly collections, but I’d guess it was about $2,000 that first year.
For the next couple of years, Michael enlisted a couple of the acting interns to assist him in the
lobby after the shows, and the amount collected each season grew to perhaps $5,000. Michael
would use this money to buy gifts for the families and would take deliveries to their homes
in his Christmas Present costume. The Cabaret server went with him to her clients’ homes and
remembers, “I do recall the look of wonder on both the faces of the kids as well as their mothers
when Michael showed up in full costume! The regal nature of his costume and the energy of his
charismatic personality was such a stark contrast to the humble homes of our clients.”
In 1997, we had a different Ghost of Christmas Present – and a decision to make. In three short
years Michael had created an important tradition here at The Rep, and so the entire cast of A
CHRISTMAS CAROL stepped in to fill his shoes. So now the actors and stage managers create a
sign-up chart each year, and the cast takes turns going to the lobby of the Pabst after the show
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