Four Inane Questions with A Christmas Carol’s Nedra Dixon
Photo by Don Ipock
Not unlike the arrival of Mariah Carey, the holidays aren’t the holidays without KCRep’s annual performance of the beloved holiday classic, Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol.
Over the decades, the play—which runs through Dec. 28 at Spencer Theatre—has become an iconic KC tradition.
If you’ve been living under a rock, the show tells the tale of the grumpy Ebenezer Scrooge, who requires the intervention of a few ghostly guides to find the true meaning of Christmas—and life itself.
Keeping the audience up to speed (and in check) is Nedra Dixon, who plays the show’s stalwart storyteller. Dixon’s accolades have accolades. She’s received critical acclaim in venues ranging from Broadway and Off-Broadway to national tours and regional theatres.
And, yup, in case you were wondering, that’s Dixon starring in Tech N9ne’s hip-hop music video “Fear,” which has over 2.7 million hits on YouTube.
We caught up with the actor/singer/dancer/director/choreographer in between performances to inundate her with our wackadoo questionnaire.
Photo by Don Ipock
The Pitch: What’s your all-time favorite television comedy sketch? (e.g. SNL, MadTV, etc.)
Nedra Dixon: Well, ’tis the season! I’ll say SNL’s 2006 “D*ck In a Box” sketch featuring Justin Timberlake, Andy Samberg, Kristin Wiig, and the brilliant Maya Rudolph. (Have you seen her Kamala Harris?) I think it’s comedic genius! It is fantastically and wickedly inappropriate. It’s so raucously and joyously funny.
You’re getting a pizza named after you. What’s on The Nedra?
I love a good pizza, but I don’t like lots of stuff on it. So, “The Nedra” would be topped with sweet Italian sausage, roasted red peppers, and caramelized onions. (Preferably red.) Delicioso!
What’s the single worst piece of décor you’ve ever seen?
I was appearing in a production of Jesus Christ Superstar in Houston, and several of the cast members went out together to dine at some recommended restaurant. (I don’t recall the name of it, and it’s probably just as well.)
Mounted on the walls… around the entire room… above our heads… as decoration… were stuffed mountain cats, coyotes, and several other regional specimens. Wall-to-wall taxidermy. I just looked up in awe, and I couldn’t order anything off the menu. My appetite was completely squashed!
You get to have dinner with your fave comedian. Who is it, and where are you going?
While I don’t have a favorite comedian, I do have an ongoing mad crush on Brad Pitt—Ever since his star-turn in the ’90s film Legends of the Fall and everything following. Pitt would be my chosen one!
I think he’s a very fine actor with great range. He’s been hysterically funny and wry as heck in several of his film roles—thinking of his quirky characters in Burn After Reading and Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. Since both of us are Missouri-born and bred, how could we not do KC barbecue? Either Gates or Q-39!
