I did not make the notable list of Fs

According to Fussy.org, dedicated reader Rashenbo is wading through the alphabet of blogs participating in NaBloPoMo to highlighting the ones that tickle her fancy, for one reason or another. Oh well, what can I say? I've tried to think of a "theme" for my postings, but I can't even decide on a favorite color. How could I possibly dedicate myself to one topic of discussion? No matter how wide of an interpretation could be taken on it.

For some reason, I just thought about going to see "A Christmas Carol" as performed by our local city theater group back in December of 2003. I think it was the mention of "wide interpretation".

I always enjoy scanning the television channels to try and catch as many versions of A Christmas Carol as possible. One of my favorite scenes from "A Prayer for Owen Meany" by John Irving is when Owen (a boy of small stature) takes on the role of the ghost of Christmas future and actually makes an audience member faint simply from his presence on stage. (That is one favorite I can pick, by the way. If you haven't read APfOM I suggest you rush over to your closest bookseller and DEMAND they sell it to you right away. Give them 60 seconds to meet your demands, I find that always works in a quite charming way.)

So I am open to the various interpretations of the timeless mid-winter ghost story.

And then, I saw the local production. It was some mad mash-up of The Nutcracker, A Christmas Carol, the dastardly Jim Carey release of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, a Victorian carol review (by some very talented singers I might add), and a high school production of fly by the seat of your pants special effects.

In short, is was a mess.

But still, at the end of too much smog during the graveyard scene and the only decent character being Jim - the man who buys and sells items from the deceased's household - the audience stood and applauded. Cheered. I think some of them even called for more.

Perhaps I was misinformed about who was really supposed to be putting on the play. Maybe it wasn't the local city group who I'd heard had garnered such praise for other productions. Maybe I'd been duped.

And then I listened to the episode of "This American Life" titled Fiasco. A man tells the story of a local production of Peter Pan gone horribly awry. Things went SO horribly wrong the audience actually started cheering and calling for the next disaster. The actors tried to carry on nobly, but the audience just wanted blood. Even the little old ladies apparently.

Traditionally, the story teller said, local audiences can be very forgiving of local productions. They know people on the stage. Don't want the players to feel unappreciated for their effort. Know that they will most likely run into them on the street tomorrow, or in the grocery store next to a pile of slightly mushy tomatoes. Very ironic. So perhaps I wasn't misinformed about the group, but I was simply an outsider to the community that supports the local city group.

Either way, I couldn't stand and applaud. I think I actually left as soon as I could, and apologized obsessively to my husband for bringing him to such a slaughter of one of our favorite holiday stories. Sometimes, an interpretation is too wide.

So I won't try to butcher one topic on a regular basis. Why make you feel like you have to stand up and applaud?