“He’s one of my constants. So anything that he does, I’m just immediately drawn to,” says Steve Pacek, the Philly actor, playwright, and director — regarding his creative partnership with acclaimed playwright and actor, Mark Shanahan. It’s late on an unseasonably warm Thursday, and Steve, along with actor Scott Wichmann, have called me to chat about A Sherlock Carol, the highly inventive holiday play being produced by Virginia Stage Company, and performing in rep with their annual holiday classic, A Merry Little Christmas Carol. Steve is directing A Sherlock Carol and is one of the actors starring in this year’s Christmas Carol, both of which are penned by Mark Shanahan, whom Steve has built both a long-running friendship and artistic partnership with.
It’s quite fitting then, that this hit Shanahan holiday show, marks Steve’s mainstage directorial debut at the Wells Theatre, following his lauded work as an actor in a number of prior VSC productions, including last season’s Dial M for Murder and The Legend of Georgia McBride, which was a stand-out in season 41. Scott, previously of Richmond fame as both an actor and musical performer, is now based in Hampton Roads with his wife, who is also an actor. Scott plays the lead role of Sherlock Holmes in A Sherlock Carol. Today is the second day of staging for the show, and these two artistic gentlemen are chatting with me during an evening break in rehearsal. And though they haven’t known each other for a very long time, Steve and Scott clearly have the chemistry of brothers, who share the same creative passions. I ask the director how he came to this project, and what A Sherlock Carol, is really about.
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WANT TO GO?
A Sherlock Carol, December 4 – 29
A Merry Little Christmas Carol, December 8 – 23
Presented by Virginia Stage Company
Wells Theatre
vastage.org
Jerome L. Langston is a widely published arts and culture writer, who has written for Port Folio Weekly, The Virginian-Pilot, Style Weekly, and the Washington City Paper. Currently he covers theatre and music for Veer Magazine.
