Pasco News
Variety show at Richey Suncoast Theatre starts Nov. 23
By Carl Orth | Suncoast News
Published: November 21, 2012
NEW PORT RICHEY - The show must go on, Charlie Skelton would tell his protégés at Richey Suncoast Theatre.Published: November 21, 2012
They intend to do just that: Carry on the legacy of Skelton, their fallen leader and the theater's guiding light, who died July 4.
The "Pasco Christmas" musical will open Friday at the downtown theater at 6237 Grand Blvd. Performances will continue Saturday, Sunday, Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 and 2.
If Skelton had been penning his typical, parody holiday show, he might have written himself a juicy, Dickensian role as the ghost of Christmas present, since his influence reverberates throughout the theater.
Time this year did not permit writing an original holiday play in Charlie's style, his widow, Marie Skelton, said. The theater troupe already has two productions under its belt this season: the musical "She Loves Me" and the comedy "The Sensuous Senator."
"We're just having a variety show this year," Marie Skelton said of the Christmas production. Many successors, however, have volunteered to write an original play for the Christmas season in 2013.
The two-hour shows include dancers, guitarists, youth groups, harmony singers and a deaf interpretation of "A Christmas Carol."
Marie Skelton has settled quite comfortably into the role of director. She barked out instructions during rehearsal Thursday and beamed a wide smile at her young charges.
"Smile!" she yelled to the performers as they grew too concentrated on mastering their cues, lyrics or dance steps.
After the Christmas show, the community theater group then will tackle the comedy "Hot Bed Hotel" in January and then the musical "Thoroughly Modern Millie" in February and March. Auditions are set for Dec. 2 and 3 for "Thoroughly Modern Millie," after the Christmas show wraps.
Back in August, a standing-room-only crowd packed the theater for a tearful and light-hearted Celebration of Life for the jovial, charismatic Charlie Skelton.
The theater had been teetering on the brink of closing down in the 1990s when Charlie Skelton came onto the stage by 1998, several local leaders recalled.
He and wife Marie led a renaissance of the theater. The theater building gained its distinctive trademark gold dome during Skelton's tenure.
His most enduring legacy, though, are the child actors he mentored through youth productions and summer camps.
At the August tribute, Marie Skelton had fought back tears as she smiled about some of her late husband's advice. "You'll never be alone. He said you have your theater family. And he was so right. I'm not alone. I have a very, very big family."
corth@suncoastnews.com (727) 815-1068