Well, this begins The Christmas Carol Diaries here on Life on The Wicked Stage: Act 2 as we get down to work on the show at Wayside Theatre. We start staging the show tonight and staging A Christmas Carol is unlike anything else we do. The entire show is double cast in order to accommodate the large number of performances we do. We also had a small army of children into the cast to play Cratchit children, Turkey Boys and the like.
Due to our cramped quarters that usually means we all get sick at some point as we bring every germ from every school in our area into the the theatre at some point. That’s starting early this year as it appears at least 5 of our cast members are already sick and won’t make the rehearsal tonight. Something tells me our journey is going to feel more like a forced march than a period of discovery.
This year’s version is a new musical version by myself and my collaborator Steve Przybylski. We feel pretty good about the piece, but are anxious to see it get on its feet to find out what works and what doesn’t.
Given the economic woes we are all facing (and we are feeling keenly at the theatre) telling Mr. Dickens’ story is something that I hope proves somewhat cathartic, but also uplifting. Our community needs that right now. Goodness knows out theatre does.
Here goes nothing as we try to get this timely and timeless story on its feet. Or is that here goes everything?
