Go behind the scenes at a radio show as the Main Street Theater closes out its 2019 season with the classic Christmas favorite A Christmas Carol.
“You can’t really beat a classic,” said David Woody, director of the production.
The play is staged just like an old-fashioned radio show and faithfully follows Charles Dickens’s story with no modern twists.
“It’s not your typical play within a play,” Woody said. “I’ll be onstage, cuing actors and cuing sound effects. The play also has underscored music playing beneath the dialogue that was written and orchestrated by the playwright.”
Tony “Sparx” Palermo adapted Dickens’s novel as a radio production and wrote some of the music.
Show music includes authentic orchestral pre-recorded music tracks of Victorian Christmas carols and spooky ghost music played on Victorian-era instruments, including a brass choir, pipe and reed organs, hand bells, church bells, chimes, cymbals, timpani, fiddle, concertina, music box, wine glasses (glass harmonica), choirs and strings.
Manual sound effects will be created onstage during the show. The cast of approximately 17-18 people will include a mix of adults and children. The cast includes Keith Halsten as the narrator, Mike Corley as Ebenezer Scrooge, Marcus Wrede as Bob Cratchit, Cindy Lancaster as Mrs. Cratchit and Caleb Townsend as Scrooge's nephew, Fred. The rest of the cast play an assortment of roles, including the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future. The show will open for a five performance run on Thursday, Dec. 12. Show times are:
- N Thursday, Dec. 12 at 7 p.m.
- N Friday, Dec. 13 at 7 p.m.
- N Saturday, Dec. 14 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
- N Sunday, Dec. 15 at 2 p.m.
To purchase tickets, visit CommunityPlayersInc.com or call 903-885-0107.