by Michele Newbern Gillis
Staff Writer
One man equals four ghosts — that’s what you’ll see at the Alhambra Dinner Theatre this Christmas season.
The Alhambra is showing “Christmas Carole,” the musical adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic, and the play features four ghosts.
But, only one character: actor Kenneth Uibel plays them all. That means four different costumes, and some quick footwork to get from one to another.
“That’s the charm of doing all these roles,” said Uibel. “As an actor you get to portray a variety of characters all within the same show. It’s a challenge, but that is what makes it so refreshing.”
Uibel has all evening to prepare for his first role of Jacob Marley — Ebenezer Scrooge’s old business partner— which is certainly the most difficult to get in and out of: it consists of a gray tail coat tuxedo with rags sewn onto it, black and white facial makeup and heavy chains.
After Marley warns Scrooge of the impending ghosts to come, he has the intermission to prepare for his next role, the Ghost of Christmas Past.
“I have intermission, about 20-25 minutes, to take it all off, start fresh and prepare for the next role,” said “The stage manager can adjust the time of intermission should I be running late.”
The makeup for Marley is so heavy that it all has to be removed before he can prepare for his next role.
“The makeup has to come off down to bare skin,” said Uibel. “Then we put on high color, including red blush and lipstick on my face.”
The costume of the Ghost of Christmas Past includes a silver long coat with lace on the collar and cuffs, tights, lace garters on the legs and bows on the shoes.
“The style was very flamboyant,” he said. “Many people today would say it was very feminine, but it was typical of the style in the 17th century.”
After he’s finished with that performance, he has about 45 seconds to prepare for the the Ghost of Christmas Present, which has a Santa Claus look.
“I have a dresser, actress Kelly Atkins, backstage who has the costume ready so all I have to do is come back, take off the jacket, shoes, hat, wig and step into the next costume and shoes,” said Uibel. “She zips me up and assists me with the beard and hat.”
He doesn’t have to remove the makeup from the Ghost of Christmas Past because the beard and hat helps cover part of his face.
“It helps mask that I am the same person as Christmas Past and Present,” he said.
After his performance of the Ghost of Christmas Present, he has another 45 seconds to come backstage, take off the robe, beard, gloves and step into the long black robe and helmet for the Ghost of Christmas Future costume, a Grim Reaper costume.
“My assistant helps me with the helmet and gloves and I step back onto the stage,” said Uibel. “Sometimes they [helmet and beard] are a little cockeyed because of the small amount of time I have to change.”
His deep resonating natural bass voice is perfect for all four characters.
“I have a wide range in my voice, but it is better market for me to use the bottom part of register, because I have something few people have.”
And, he hopes, that the theatergoers have, in the words of the play’s most famous line, “To all a good night.”