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When Middletown’s Rick Pulling performed on stage five years ago, it was his first time in front of a live audience.
The retired Delaware State Police Captain and former M.O.T. Little League coach was cast as Ebenezer Scrooge for this year’s “Bah Humbug,” which was presented by the God’s Power & Light Company earlier this month.
But behind the makeup, Pulling does not resemble the child hating, holiday loathing character he played.
The nicest Scrooge
Wearing a tall top hat and pajamas, Pulling knelt down next to a frightened three-year-old boy in the audience to comfort him.
The ghosts on the stage at the Everett Theatre scared him.
Pulling said that the toddler’s grandmother wasn’t sure if they could stay.
“Isn’t it fun?” actress and president of God’s Power & Light Company, Donna Cavender said to the boy. “It’s just like Halloween.”
Based off of the popular story, “A Christmas Carol,” “Bah Humbug” follows the character of Scrooge as ghosts take him through time to revisit his past and see his future.
The show, which was performed five times at the Main Street theater, attracted more than 450 spectators the weekend of Nov. 17.
Pulling, who sits on board of several non-profits in the area, took the three-year-old friend’s grandson backstage to meet the child actors and to show him that every thing was OK.
Even though actors were in makeup, rags and some wrapped in chains, Pulling said that the boy overcame his fears and made it through the rest of the performance.
“There were some scary things for kids who don’t know the story,” he said.
This wasn’t the first time that Pulling helped a child overcome their fears.
“[Pulling] goes beyond his job as a coach,” said Middletown resident Dominic Balascio, whose son Pulling has coached.
A 9-year-old boy who played on one of Pulling’s teams was violently assaulted by a large, adult man at a beach house in Sussex County.
“The child was strangled, thrown to the ground and the perpetrator attempted to take the child’s life by forcing an object into [his mouth to choke him],” Balascio said.
After this, the boy was afraid of men and became withdrawn.
“I took the boy and said that some people are like that, but it’s not everybody,” Pulling said.
When Middletown’s Rick Pulling performed on stage five years ago, it was his first time in front of a live audience.
The retired Delaware State Police Captain and former M.O.T. Little League coach was cast as Ebenezer Scrooge for this year’s “Bah Humbug,” which was presented by the God’s Power & Light Company earlier this month.
But behind the makeup, Pulling does not resemble the child hating, holiday loathing character he played.
The nicest Scrooge
Wearing a tall top hat and pajamas, Pulling knelt down next to a frightened three-year-old boy in the audience to comfort him.
The ghosts on the stage at the Everett Theatre scared him.
Pulling said that the toddler’s grandmother wasn’t sure if they could stay.
“Isn’t it fun?” actress and president of God’s Power & Light Company, Donna Cavender said to the boy. “It’s just like Halloween.”
Based off of the popular story, “A Christmas Carol,” “Bah Humbug” follows the character of Scrooge as ghosts take him through time to revisit his past and see his future.
The show, which was performed five times at the Main Street theater, attracted more than 450 spectators the weekend of Nov. 17.
Pulling, who sits on board of several non-profits in the area, took the three-year-old friend’s grandson backstage to meet the child actors and to show him that every thing was OK.
Even though actors were in makeup, rags and some wrapped in chains, Pulling said that the boy overcame his fears and made it through the rest of the performance.
“There were some scary things for kids who don’t know the story,” he said.
This wasn’t the first time that Pulling helped a child overcome their fears.
“[Pulling] goes beyond his job as a coach,” said Middletown resident Dominic Balascio, whose son Pulling has coached.
A 9-year-old boy who played on one of Pulling’s teams was violently assaulted by a large, adult man at a beach house in Sussex County.
“The child was strangled, thrown to the ground and the perpetrator attempted to take the child’s life by forcing an object into [his mouth to choke him],” Balascio said.
After this, the boy was afraid of men and became withdrawn.
“I took the boy and said that some people are like that, but it’s not everybody,” Pulling said.
[Rick] reached out to him, Balascio said. He apologized to the child for what happened to him and helped him renew his faith in man.
The show
Every year at the Everett Theatre, God’s Power & Light Company puts on two shows, one in the spring, and the other around Christmas time.
“We’re always searching for Christmas shows,” Cavender said. “We’re a Christian theater group and it’s hard to find a good, two-hour show to put on in theater.”
This year, “Bah Humbug” was the pick.
“It’s a good show with a large cast,” Pulling said.
Forty people, spanning three generations, took part in the production.
For Pulling, learning how to be Ebenezer Scrooge was difficult.
“I was a very cranky Scrooge,” he said. “I made one kid jump into his mother’s lap.”
Part of his role was to snap at children who were cast as beggars, as Scrooge does in “A Christmas Carol.”
“I would just stare holes at them,” he said. “Even when the kids knew I would do something, they would jump.”
One scene even gave insight to why Scrooge is so cranky.
Cavender, playing the ghost of Christmas past, took Pulling’s character back in time during a dreams sequence to a moment where a younger version of Scrooge was interacting with his sister.
“[Scrooge’s] sister died at a young age,” Cavender said. “His father was harsh with young Ebenezer Scrooge, and that’s why he turned out this way.”
Auditions for “Bah Humbug” began in July and the rehearsal was one night a week through the summer.
In September, it became two nights a week.
“We worked on it for a long time,” Cavender said.
Entire families joined the all-inclusive cast so that they could spend time together. Rehearsal can be time consuming, so it allows families to be together, she said.
“The show was wonderful,” Pulling said. “It was fun to do and present.”
The company
God’s Power & Light came into existence in 1988.
And Cavender has been with them since almost the beginning. She said she has seen children of original members come back as adults to perform.
“It originated from Emmanuel Church in Townsend in 1987,” Cavender said. “They did the show ‘The Witness’ at the church. Then the next year, they wanted to expand the group and decided to do shows at the Everett Theatre.”
Even inexperienced actors and singers can join.
No one is turned away.
And even though the company is a Christian theater group, people of all religions are welcome.
“We tell everyone upfront that we pray at every rehearsal,” Cavender said.
This year, a Jewish couple joined the cast.
Pulling was encouraged to join by a choir member at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Odessa in 2008.
That year, he starred in “Four Tickets to Christmas.”
People from as far north as Hockessin and as far south as Smyrna participate too.
“The dynamics of the group are very welcoming,” Pulling said. “Everyone’s encouraging and positive.”
The theater
The Everett Theatre on Main Street celebrated its 89th anniversary in November.
Even though it burned down a couple of times and had it’s roof collapse, the Everett is still among the oldest existing places in town, Cavender, who is a former member of the theater’s board of trustees said.
