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Actor morphs into king of 'Bah, humbug'
Becoming Scrooge
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Photo by Jason Redmond
In the midst of backstage bustle, Edd Hall adds gray to his eyebrows and hair as he prepares to play the role of Scrooge. He says the lesson of the role, one of his two favorites, is "treat people how you want to be treated."
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More from County NewsEdd Hall is aging rapidly, from a 49-year-old actor to a 70-something Ebenezer Scrooge, all in about 45 minutes. As he sits in front of a mirror backstage, Hall uses makeup and costume to transform himself into the lead character in Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol."
"This is one of my two dream roles, this and the wizard in The Wizard of Oz,'" said Hall, who is best known for his time as the announcer on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." Hall played the wizard in the 2005 Cabrillo Music Theatre's production and again in 2006 at the Starlight Theatre in San Diego.
After the physical transformation, the rest is done using Hall's acting and voice skills. "I'm a voice guy first," Hall said. "Once I have the voice, it's like an actor who becomes the character with the costume and the makeup."
Hall said he has fun playing older characters — "anything that's an old guy, especially if he's befuddled, mean or goofy."
This is Allan Hunt's ninth year directing The Thousand Oaks Repertory Company's production of "A Christmas Carol." Over that time, Hunt has noticed some obvious transformations in the actors.
"It's quite wonderful to see the children (in the production) grow up and play different characters," Hunt said. "Everyone starts out as Tiny Tim and over the summer they grow up and move to a member of the Cratchit family."
The first step in Hall's process is changing his hair to gray, using spray-on color. Then comes a lighter base, some white to his eyebrows and a shadow pencil for more wrinkles. He finishes it off with a layer of powder to avoid sweating off the makeup.
Of the lesson learned from the character of Scrooge, Hall said it's a simple one: "Treat people how you want to be treated." According to Hunt, Hall is a great person to work with, even while fighting off a flu bug during the opening day of the production.
"The company loves him and has embraced him as Scrooge," Hunt said. "He's great with kids and has some wonderful telling moments that the audience will love."
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