Holiday hilarity

The cast, crew, and creative team of “A Tuna Christmas” at Ocala Civic Theatre, with actors Scott Fitzgerald and John Allsopp in center. [Photos by Dave Schlenker, courtesy OCT]

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Posted December 4, 2024 | By Jamie Berube, Special to the Gazette

Four years ago, John Allsopp landed back in Ocala after he built a 30-year career as a working actor in Los Angeles, where he performed in more than 20 national commercials and many films and television shows. His claims to theatrical fame include acting in “CSI,” “General Hospital,” “All My Children,” “Lizzie McGuire” and “Murder, She Wrote.” An Ocala native, Allsopp is glad to be back.

“I loved LA, but the pace here is so much less stress-inducing and, quite frankly, there’s just as much fun stuff to do here, such incredible community, and it’s a heck of a lot easier to do it,” Allsopp said.

With a toolbox of talent that has come with time, Allsopp will grace the Ocala Civic Theatre stage this month as he makes his OCT debut starring in “A Tuna Christmas.” Allsopp is thrilled to get his stage feet wet again with this play and is both grateful and petrified, according to officials with OCT.

From Dec. 4-15, “A Tuna Christmas” is live for the first time at OCT, where the talents of two actors will bring life to 20 characters on one stage. The setting is Christmastime and the location is Tuna, the third-smallest town in Texas. The plot hinges on the town’s annual Christmas yard display contest and an elusive phantom who threatens to ruin the contest for all. With side-splittingly funny subplots sprinkled throughout the show, it is not necessary to follow any one theme to get a laugh.

Scott Fitzgerald stars alongside Allsopp as the duo tackles the hilarity and complexity of each character with personalities as big and wide as the Lonestar state itself. Fitzgerald is returning to the OCT stage, where he previously played Chris in “The Velocity of Autumn” and Anthony Reilly in “Outside Mullingar.” The show opens with Fitzgerald playing radio station personality Arles Struvie, of fictional radio station KTNA. With quick wit and striking stage command, Fitzgerald sets the satirical tone early on. Allsopp plays radio announcer Thurston Wheelis, who sits alongside Fitzgerald in the radio’s control room as the two read from a fake news report and mime hand props.

The show runs around two hours in length, with one intermission. In the first act, Allsopp sweeps the stage with the swagger of a seasoned actor as he takes on the character of Bertha Bumiller, a proud Baptist housewife, mother and member of the Smut Snatchers of the New Order club. Allsopp identifies with Bertha because she struggles, as we all do, to make everything as perfect as possible.

“She is constantly making lemonade out of lemons but is powerless to hide the cracks in her veneer,” Allsopp said.
A funny subplot of the play is that of Didi Snavely, owner of a used weapons store, whose slogan is, “If we can’t kill it, it’s immortal.” Dressed in a camouflage top that appropriately clashes with a sheer coat and disheveled wig, Fitzgerald rocks the role of Snavely.

Allsopp says it is the brotherhood shared with Fitzgerald that has made this play special.

“Scott is the absolute best,” Allsopp said.

Fitzgerald and Allsopp complement each other on stage with their treatment of all 20 characters. This comedic yet realistic treatment will leave the audience wondering if they are watching a play or a reality series based on the lives of each person captured by the cast of two.

According to OCT personnel, Fitzgerald is thrilled to be reunited with “A Tuna Christmas” director Eric Nightengale, with whom he has previously worked. Nightengale does not think he has ever laughed so much at work. “A Tuna Christmas” is the first OCT play directed by Nightengale. New to Ocala, he is a member of New Circle Theatre Company, Concrete Temple Theatre, Anthropological Theatricals in New York City and The Acme Corporation in Baltimore. Nightengale has a deep affection for the world portrayed in “A Tuna Christmas” and a personal understanding of the pros and cons of small-town living.

“I grew up in a small town in Indiana where everybody knew everybody and you were considered a visitor unless your family had been in the area for more than three generations,” Nightengale said.

“A Tuna Christmas” is a satirical comedy that mimics and mocks the trappings of living in a tiny town where tradition trumps progress. Written by Jaston Williams, Joe Sears and Ed Howard, this satirical play qualifies as Texas-sized with personalities that are as big as they are boisterously funny.

Melody Murphy, director of marketing and public relations for OCT, said this show is the theatre’s first true comedy of this mainstage season. With a PG rating, Murphy assures that while the play may not be ideal for children, teens might enjoy it.

“Some of the humor might be a little saucy for kids. I think teens would enjoy it. The comedy is broad, and the pace is fast,” Murphy said.

A variety of country Christmas songs are spread throughout the many transitions as Allsopp and Fitzgerald tackle the task of multiple personalities and their accompanying costume changes. Allsopp says that the real stars of the show are the women behind the scenes.

“The real stars of the show are the incredible women who have the impossible task of making our many quick changes possible,” Allsopp said. “‘Quick’ is insulting when you take into account everything they make happen. ‘Magic‘ would be more appropriate,” he continued.

Despite the magic of the lightning speed costume and wig changes, Allsopp insists there is nothing fancy or pretentious about this show.

“It’s just truth, with loving embellishment and a strong sense of familiarity,” Allsopp said.

According to OCT Executive and Artistic Director Greg Thompson, satire serves a purpose on the stage.

“From Mark Twain to ‘Saturday Night Live,’ satire is one of the few places in society where we can still speak truth to power and get a good laugh, or cringe, out of it,” Thompson said.

The quirky characters, quick costume changes and clever dialogue create a winning formula for fun and farce, according to Thompson.

Throughout their many rapid-fire costume changes, the actors perfectly capture the caricature of southern personalities with their pantomime gestures, gaudy wigs and syrupy southern drawls. Whether male or female, young or old, Fitzgerald and Allsopp do not simply play characters, they embody them with ease. When it comes to wearing high heels on stage, however, Fitzgerald says he won’t miss it.

“I have been so excited about this production of ‘A Tuna Christmas,’ but if I never wear high heels again it will be too soon,” Fitzgerald said.

Of the many characters Fitzgerald plays, Vera Carp, the snobbish winner of the Christmas yard display contest for 14 years in a row, is sure to elicit a laugh. Fitzgerald’s portrayal of her is among his most flamboyant.

The show’s second act is clever, quick-witted and hilarious enough to snap the most stubborn funny bone as two “Tastee Kreme” waitresses learn they have overtaken Carp and won the Christmas yard display contest.

In the final scene, Allsopp and Fitzgerald are in costume as Bertha Bumiller and Arles Struvie, alone at the radio station Christmas party, with Arles offering Bertha several snorts of liquor as they talk. Despite her Baptist convictions, Bertha downs the alcohol. The boozy conversation leads to an awkward slow dance and a slick surprise that perfectly punctuates the slapstick performance.

Murphy says viewers may recognize a lot of the characters played by the duo within their own family and that they may love a lot of these characters, often in spite of themselves.

“Our two actors are playing a host of eccentric but lovable souls, and I think everyone will relate to the sometimes-wild lengths they all go to in trying to have or give others a merry Christmas, because don’t we often do the same,” Murphy stated. “There are moments of sweetness, but mostly it’s just no-holds-barred holiday hilarity.”

The Ocala Civic Theatre is located at 4337 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala. Tickets for “A Tuna Christmas” are $35 for adults and $17 for ages 18 and younger. This show is rated PG. Buy tickets online at ocalacivictheatre.com. To get tickets through the OCT box office, call (352) 236-2274 or visit 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday.