To say that AW’s Victoria Wyndham and Charles Keating(ex-Carl) are pleased to be sharing the spotlight again is like remarking that Keating’s luscious locks are just a little on the long side. Understatement supreme.
Not only did Rachel Hutchins lose her silver-maned spouse when Keating was dismissed suddenly from AW earlier this, Wyndham lost her beloved co-star as well, but as Rachel copes with her first Carl-less Christmas years, Wyndham atleast has Keating back for the holidays. The two veteran thespians are reuniting for their latest theatrical production Christmas Voices, a potpourri of holiday poetry and prose. It runs Dec.3-13 at Fleetwood Stage in New Rochelle, N.Y. During a break from rehearsing at Wyndham’s suburban New York home, the charming and close knit actors conducted an interview with the same verve they bring to their work speaking of their love of language and the spoken word. It’s that same fervor that also lit their previous stage ventures, Couplets, a Valentine to love, and Between Ourselves, an homage to actors, critics and fans. “Telling stories is time travel,” Wyndham enthuses “after we did a read-through, I felt like I had been to different times and places. I felt like we had been sitting there for hours, and it was just barely 75 minutes. Reading is as close to time-travel as you will probably ever get because you’re using your imagination.” Their presentation style may be modest - they’ll be sitting on stools, reading - but their material is far from it. As with their previous shows, Wyndham and Keating have selected an ample assortment of writings and will lend their rich voices to oral interpretations. “Charles had come up with an idea to see what Christmas has been like in other eras” Wyndham says, “and in doing that kind of research, we discovered that the contemporary American idea about celebrating this holiday really started in the Victorian era.” The actors were reluctant to reveal too many details about the show , but in offing are pieces by authors like Washington Irving, George Bernard Shaw, Sir Walter Scott, and William Wordsworth as well as selected letters and even some old-fashioned Christmas recipes. “One of them is a recipe for plum pudding from Queen Victoria’s kitchen staff,” Wyndham reports. “The amounts are just unbelievable.” Although they tried to stay away from Charles Dickens’ more well-known pieces, Scrooge does make a cameo. Included too, are classics like “Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus”, and Dylan Thomas’ “A Child’s Christmas in Wales”, which Wyndham’s father used to read to the family every Christmas Eve. Its that spirit of revelry and togetherness that Keating and Wyndham want to convey, rather than the religious aspect of the holiday. “We’re focusing on the celebration of family and connections with other people,” Keating explains. “A huge amount of these (selections) revolve around seeing the event through childlike eyes, and it would be fabulous to see some children out there with their parents.” Wyndham and Keating even worked some of their own Christmas memories into the show. Speaking of the family, there’s another AW connection to the production. Fleetwood Stage’s artistic director, Lewis Arlt, used to play David Thatcher and Ken Jordan, who once romanced Rachel. Arlt was recently a writer and a director for the soap, and Wyndham serves on the board of his theatre where “Couplets” premiered. Sometimes after the run the actors will be heading to the studio to assemble a CD of the show, as they did with “Couplets”, and hope to stage a production of Christmas voices in New York City, next year, when the CD is due to be released. Despite rampant rumors don’t expect Keating back in Bay City when Christmas ‘99 rolls around. “I’ve been hearing certain rumors, but I don’t think AW is interested in what I have to offer,” he laments. “So the rumors are just that.” To satisfy any Keating cravings, fans will have to look elsewhere. Since leaving AW, Keating has starred in an off-broadway production of Shaw’s “You Never Can Tell” and made a memorable appearance on the HBO series “Sex in the City” as a renowned artist obsessed with painting a particular female sexual organ. More recently he made a cameo in the upcoming Paul Sorvino/Damon Wayans film “Harlem Aria” which features another member of Wyndham’s family, Victoria’s son, Christian Camargo. “I play a miserable, but fun to be with Julliard type professor,” says Keating, “who’s very pissed off with this young scallywag (Camargo) who interrupts his classroom.” In the New Year, Keating will be heading to his native England, where he’s exploring a couple of projects. Then he’s planning to pursue work in California. Wyndham will be eagerly awaiting his return to the East Coast, since they’re planning more projects, including “a very major one we’re looking at now,” she hints.