Jesus, The Devil and The Worst Play In Canton, Georgia: The Daily Nooner (EST)!

By:: Ross Wolinsky

December 12, 2007

Awesome Video Of The Day Dr. Gene Scott Is Angry, Loud Sometimes I feel like I'm not passionate enough about anything. I don't have a heartfelt belief in any sort of supreme being, I eat factory-farmed animals, I don't recycle... when someone asks me if I want to donate a dollar to the blah-blah-blah foundation I usually say "Nah - I'm good." TV preacher Dr. Gene Scott (star of Werner Herzog's God's Angry Man), on the other hand, might have had TOO MUCH passion. From the looks of it, it made him ornery.

"Delivering long, sometimes rambling, sermons and biblical scholarship, Scott became known for his quirky stage persona as much as his preaching skills. He frequently employed comical props -- including an ever-changing assortment of headgear and hats -- chomped on cigars, occasionally swore, and played clips of pretty young women dancing during breaks in his presentation."

I'm not going to pretend to understand what it's like to be a lunatic televangelist (something I doubt I will ever experience firsthand), but it seems to me that Dr. Scott did it with about as much style & finesse as you possibly can. It's like he was channeling Jesus, the Devil and your violent, brain-damaged, alcoholic uncle all at the same time. Only louder and angrier and more focused. Oh - and way more terrifying.

Scrooge: The Stingiest Man In Town Apparently this production of A Christmas Carol really bit the big one. The reviews are in, and they are NOT favorable by any stretch of the imagination. Who knew that the people of Canton, Georgia (estimated population: 17,685) had such a high standard for their local community theatre?! A few samples: "Scrooge was mediocre. He seemed a little fruity and was off key the majority of the show. Fred sounded like he had something clogged in his throat. Sounds like a smoker to me." - weknowdrama22 "I thought this would be a spectacular show!!! When I paid the 22.50, I thought I would be seeing a show by professionals. WAS I WRONG!" - Da_Bomb_0202 "In the Cratchit scene, they used plastic cups and paper plates. This was not good." - i_like_theater And so on. I don't know if these people are being too hard on this production (I have yet to make my way down to Canton to see it), but my guess is that they're spot on. Which is to say if you're in Canton and thinking about going to see some theater, skip Scrooge and go check out something else. Maybe Hickory Log Creek or the historic Canton Cotton Mills. On second thought, maybe you should just skip Canton altogether.