Actors Theatre’s production of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol runs through Dec. 23.
Indicators that the holiday season is upon us: Halloween costumes have gone half-price, elevator versions of carols serenade us wherever we go, and the talented people at Actors Theatre of Louisville have gathered to begin preparing for another great production of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. In 31 years of staging the production, the theater has seen performers come and go, and on occasion return to reprise a role. But the comebacks are fewer for those who play Tiny Tim, because actors don’t stay tiny very long.
Every few years, a search for the new Tiny Tim ensues. This year casting directors at Actors had to look no further than their own company picnic, where Samuel Blackerby Weible, the son of Actors’ education director, Katie Weible, immediately caught their attention. Of course, eight-year-old Sam (as he is known to his friends and family) still had to audition for the part — something that his mother, who has acted in many plays at Actors herself, including past productions of A Christmas Carol, was careful not to push him into. "I said, ‘I will lay it out there for him. If he wants to audition, OK, but I’m not having any more hand in it than that,’" says Weible.
When Sam showed interest in pursuing the role, his mother helped him piece together a monologue from The Chronicles of Narnia, one of his favorite series of books, and set him free to memorize it, which he did with startling speed. "I never even saw him with the book," she says. Sam went on to win the part of the smallest Cratchit, a role he says leaves him feeling "a little nervous." The guidance of his older Cratchit siblings, A.J. and Joseph Glaser, however, has calmed most of his pre-show jitters. "Joseph has been helping me a lot. He tells me what’s going to happen next in the play and what to expect," Sam says.
Though this is the first time he’s been on the big stage, Sam has theater experience of sorts. The second-grader at Brandeis Elementary has been staging elaborate productions of his own for a couple of years already. Never mind that they take shape mainly on the pages of his notebook and on the playground with a cast of friends. "I like directing because I come up with ideas," Sam says. "It’s fun to figure out how to make things happen on the stage."
A theater career in the making? For now, Sam seems content to balance his love of performing with another equally important passion — his Star Wars Lego collection.
Fifth Third Bank’s A Christmas Carol runs through Dec. 23. For tickets, call the box office at 584-1205 or order online at www.ActorsTheatre.org.
