Randall takes turn as Dickens
by ELIZABETH TAUFA Reporter
Most people know Mike Randall for his Mark Twain show, which has been showcased throughout Western New York for years, but this Christmas season, Randall will perform another one-man show titled "Charles Dickens Presents: A Christmas Carol" at MusicalFare Theatre on Daemen College's campus, 4380 Main St.

Mike Randall as Charles Dickens in "Charles Dickens Presents: A Christmas Carol" at MusicalFare Theatre.

The show will be presented at 8 p.m. Fridays, 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Sundays, from Friday, Dec. 14 through Sunday, Dec. 23. Tickets are $30. Subscriber and student discounts are available.

The show is based on Dickens' America Reading Tour, which stopped in Buffalo in March 1868. More than 3,000 people in two days saw Dickens perform.

Randall's performances will be a re-creation of Dickens' reading of "A Christmas Carol."

"I spent a year working on this show," said Randall, noting that preparations included finding a costume and wig and building a replica of Dickens' reading stand. "The most interesting thing to me is that by the time he got to this country, he was not reading but performing all of the characters."

Randall has also memorized the 90-minute, spoken-word version of the book, which he says is the only Dickens sanctioned theatrical version of the book.

"This is the only approved version," Randall said. "All others never came from Dickens."

Unlike Randall's Twain show, the memorization took the better part of the past year.

"I was still memorizing the last 10 pages or so in September," he said. "Twain was more of a stand-up comic, so there's time to think, and I can edit in my head if I need to. This can only go one way, and you can't leave anything out."

While the performances at Musical- Fare will be the first official ones for Randall, he has stayed busy with promotional and benefit performances of the piece, which have also served as dress rehearsals.

"I didn't know if it would be entertaining or if there would be any laughs in it," he said. "But there are, and people seem to be enjoying it."

Randall has also enjoyed working on the piece, and he hopes that its seasonal nature and well-known story will provide an entertaining experience for audiences.

"It's a story we never get tired of," he said. "It's the ultimate story of a guy getting a second chance, and we love it when human beings are given a shot at redemption."

For more information or tickets, call the theater at 839-8540 or visit www.musicalfare.com or Randall's Web site at www.CharlesDick ensLive.com.