JUDY GISH, WILLIAM LOGAN and Scott Keister in “Inspecting Carol.”

By Thom deMartino/Orange County Tribune

A perfect introduction to the Christmas season, Golden West College and director Tom Amen present their newest production at the GWC Mainstage Theater, “Inspecting Carol.” Rather than a rehash of the Charles Dickens holiday classic, “Carol” weaves the story of the trials and tribulations of an acting troupe staging the beloved work … with a few, er, minor tweaks.

The story opens in the meager little Soapbox Playhouse in Lincoln, Nebraska to the roaring guitar licks of Jimi Hendrix’s “Purple Haze”, as the sound engineer rocks out in the minutes before rehearsal, while exasperated stage manager M.J. McMann (Michelle Terrill) implores him to dial it down a notch.

In stumbles Wayne Wallace (William Logan), saying he’s an actor (non-union), just travelling the country to “follow his bliss!”, and looking to find a place with the company. Unimpressed, M.J. summarily dismisses him as the colorful director (and founding member of the theater) Zorah Bloch (Carrie Vinikow) and other cast members meander in for the rehearsal.

There’s the lively young Luther Beatty (Harrison Terrill), playing Tiny Tim; the affable husband and wife team of Sidney Carton (Scott Keister) and Dorothy Hapgood (Judy Gish), cast as the ghost of Jacob Marley and Mrs. Cratchit respectively; the infatuated Phil Hewlitt (Jack Clark), fixated on Zorah as he plays Bob Cratchit; Bart Francis (Nicholas Elder), performing in multiple roles; Walter E. Parsons (Eric Davis), as the company’s first African-American actor, dismayed at playing the three Christmas ghosts (“Why’s it got to be a *white* hand?” he asks, regarding the bony, skeletal hand of the ghost of Christmas future); and Larry Vauxhall (Lawrence Hemingway), the prima donna actor playing Ebenezer Scrooge, who constantly wants to re-interpret the scripts to put his own – generally unwanted – spin on the characters he portrays.

The histrionic Zorah already has enough challenges to contend with – her husband passing away the previous year, moody actors to deal with, the show opening in four days – but when Kevin Emery (Matt Koutroulis), the company’s financial director tells her they’ve fallen well short of the 4000 subscribers the theater needs to keep head above water, she’s in a panic. For the last 12 years it’s been this holiday show that’s kept them in the black, and with finances drying up, they’re almost flat broke.

Add to this that the National Endowment for the Arts has pulled its funding, leaving the group is in even more dire straits: the only bright spot being that the NEA will be sending an evaluator to review their production – and if convinced by the show, will release their funding. If only they could finesse the evaluator, if only they knew who it was!

When in walks the ill-timed Wayne again… and so the hijinks begin.
While GWC director Tom Amen may be renowned for the dramatic works he’s staged at the Mainstage Theater – “Dracula,” “The Pillowman,” “Hamlet” and “On the Exhale,” for instance – it’s refreshing to see some of the familiar faces from previous shows working their magic in a comedic production… especially one as fantastic and side-splittingly entertaining as this.

Vinikow’s vivacious, frenetic (“I’m Lithuanian!”) Zorah, Michelle Terrill’s entertaining, high-strung M.J., and the duo of Keister and Gish as the eager Sidney and Dorothy all enchant the audience, as does the young Mr. Terrill as Luther and Logan’s bumbling, inspired Wayne; Clark’s smitten, jealous Phil, Koutroulis’s anxious Kevin and Davis’s frustrated Walter, charm; and Hemingway’s brilliant turn as the over-the-top, bombastic Larry (after so many dramatic roles at the Mainstage Theater) all bring the show to a hysterical, comedic crescendo for the viewer (and bonus points to Amanda MacDonald and her regal turn as Betty Andrews in the latter half of the show.

A phenomenal comedy gem, reflecting the ins-and-outs of the actors’ trade, “Inspecting Carol” is a must-see: and with only one weekend left to see it, it’s one to catch and inspect, yourself – and might just become your newest holiday favorite.

“Inspecting Carol”: Carrie Vinikow, Lawrence Hemingway and William Logan star in this hysterical tale of an acting troupe in crisis, and the Christmas show that might just save their theater. Now playing through November 17 at the Golden West College Mainstage Theater, 15751 Gothard St., Huntington Beach, CA 92647. Tickets available through the box office at 714-895-8150, x1 or at http://www.gwctheater.com.