BRICK – The Christmas season is often filled with comedy and drama, and a debut play being performed locally is no different.
“The Christmas Cardinal” explores relationships between friends and family, set against the backdrop of an epic baseball-themed pilgrimage.
Corey Crawford, a Toms River native, has been acting, directing, and writing for Brick’s Guild Theatreworks for many years. He explained to The Brick Times where he got the idea for his new work.
“It’s inspired by trips I take every year with friends to Cooperstown,” New York for the Baseball Hall of Fame. The three characters taking this trek are versions of Crawford and his two friends.
The one based on him is also dealing with a loss in his family while also searching for the perfect gift for someone.
Crawford hints that “He gets a little help from some Christmas spirit.”
As you could imagine with a road trip with friends, there’s some good-natured ribbing among the buddies. This friendly banter makes up some of the humor of the piece. The two kids also provide some levity, in the form of a teenaged girl’s sass and the innocence of a young boy.
This isn’t the first play Crawford has written and directed for the theater troupe. After they put on “A Christmas Carol,” he started imagining what Ebenezer Scrooge’s life was like after the story ended. Did he really change for good? So, he wrote “A New Scrooge” in 2023. Then, in 2024, he wrote “The Spirit Of Scrooge” which completes a trilogy.
“The Christmas Cardinal” features Windber Brandt as Larry, Herbie Brandt as Joe, Nancy Viola as Jacqueline, Corey Crawford as Gordon, Linda McLaughlin as Gigi, Ally Scribellito as Andi, Christopher Ottman as Donnie, Phil Flangan as Roger, Windber R. Brandt as the Announcer, Gail Sheehan as Dina, Emma Scribellito as Keri for most shows, and Jessica Meszaros will play Keri on December 13.
Production staff includes Crawford as the director, Len Rienzi as production assistant, Ivan Hahn as technical director and Katlyn Glynn as technical engineer.
The play will be put on by The Guild Theatreworks on December 5, 6, 12, 13 at 7 p.m. and December 7 and 14 at 2 p.m. An $8 donation is paid at the door. Reservations are required and can be made by calling 732-552-3930. The final performance is sold out.
Performances are at the Anstett Cultural Arts Center, 515 Herbertsville Road, Brick.
