There’s a new theater company in town.
.
This year, the Waterloo Bridge Theatre Company will present its
production of "Scrooge: A Christmas Carol," directed
by J. Brandon Hill, at the Impact Theatre in Prospect Heights.
The play was previously staged at the 8-year-old company’s former
home at West 38th Street at Seventh Avenue in Manhattan as well
as at the Port Authority Bus Terminal two years ago.
Then their landlord raised their rent.
"He raised the rent to astronomical levels," Hill told
GO Brooklyn, which forced the off-off-Broadway troupe way off
Broadway and into Fort Greene. They came to Brooklyn’s ART/NY
Space on South Oxford Street to perform for the past year, but
were still without a home.
Tim Lewis, artistic director of the Impact Theatre, took Waterloo
in.
"I’ve known Tim for a long time," said Hill, the founder
and artistic director of Waterloo. "I acted in his theater
company in Manhattan. Right before we got our own theater in
Manhattan, we shared his in Manhattan. [Waterloo’s] mega-long
range goal, however, is to get our own theater, but rent is just
so expensive."
The Impact Theatre space allows Waterloo to do more mainstage
productions, such as "Scrooge" now and a "Science-fiction
epic version of ’The Tempest’ in March," explained Hill.
"Moving to the Impact Theatre is an exciting step for the
Waterloo Bridge Theatre Company because it gives us the opportunity
to become a permanent fixture in the burgeoning arts community
in Brooklyn," said Hill, a Park Slope resident.
The Impact Theatre currently hosts a theater company of the same
name, under the artistic direction of Lewis. The Impact Theatre
company, also a displaced Midtown Manhattan troupe, arrived in
December 2000, and Teatro Experimental Blue Amigos (TEBA), a
bilingual theater company, joined Impact in June 2001. (Since
then, TEBA has changed from Impact’s partner to only renting
the theater for performances.)
The theater was formerly occupied by the Boundtospeak Theatre
Inc. The theater survived under the name Underhill 190 for just
one year before Boundtospeak threw in the towel and Lewis took
over.
"[Waterloo] does really good work, like TEBA," said
Lewis. "They have a few things going like an improv group
and a comedy improv group. They are very aggressive. I’m very
happy to have them."
Hill is confident that his company’s interactive approach to
staging classic and new works will enable Waterloo to have more
success and longevity than its predecessors, while keeping tickets
at affordable, off-off-Broadway prices.
"It’s always a bit of a gamble, short of bringing a few
Hollywood stars into your show," said Hill. "But we
put theatricality back into theater. We try to figure out what
theater can offer that the other arts can’t and, hopefully, that
will excite the people.
"We really want to be part of the community. We really want
to bring down the fourth wall, to talk to the community and hear
what they want to see," he emphatically said.
Hill wants to take it a step further; he’ll invite "Scrooge"
audiences to sing along and to come on stage during the play’s
party scene.
"We took Charles Dickens’ classic novel of Yuletide redemption
and adapted it for the theater by combining his original language
and our commitment to making the audience an integral part of
the production," explained Hill.
"It’s great that ’A Christmas Carol’ is at Madison Square
Garden and can have a real, live snowstorm," said Hill.
"But we would like people to come to this show and walk
away feeling connected to the characters.
"They’ll be able to say, ’We got on stage and danced with
the Fezziwigs.’ It’s more touching that way."
The Waterloo Bridge Theatre Company’s production of "Scrooge:
A Christmas Carol" will be performed at the Impact Theatre
[190 Underhill Ave. at St. Johns Place, (212) 502-0796] Dec.
5-22, Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 3 pm.
All tickets are $12. On Sat., Dec. 21, the company will hold
a benefit party following the performance. Tickets for the show
and party are $20. For more information, visit their Web site
at www.waterloobridge.4t.com.
