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ARTS & EDUCATION

A Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, was the title of the classic Charles Dickens novella first published in Victorian

England in 1843. To say that the book was a success is an understatement. Who today hasn’t heard the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a bitter, miserly old man who embraces riches while shunning humanity, but finds redemption one Christmas Eve with a little ghostly intervention. Throughout the years, A Christmas Carol has been adapted for theatre, opera, film, radio, and television, but one movie version, the 1970 British musical Scrooge starring Albert Finney, has

Scrooge! The Musicalw ritten by SHERIL BE NNET T TURNER & photographed by KRIS DECKER

become a must-watch Christmas family tradition. This year, instead of renting the movie, why not check out Scrooge! The Musical, performed live on stage by the Greer Children’s Theatre. Based on the 1970 film, the play is directed by Kevin Treu, veteran local actor and director of the Theatre’s immensely popular High School Musical. “I’ve been a fan of the movie Scrooge since I was a pre-teen,” Kevin admits. “Leslie Bricusse, the man who wrote the screenplay and musical score, also wrote the music for Dr. Doolittle and Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, to name just a few. When

I found out there was a stage version of Scrooge, I started bugging Andrea Payment (Executive director of Greer Cultural Arts Council) to get it and to let us do it.” One of the things that sets the Greer Children’s Theatre musical apart from the movie, though, is the ages of the very talented performers. “After High School Musical, I wanted to work with young people again because of their enthusiasm and energy, so 6 to 22 were the age limits,” says Kevin. “A lot of good people tried out, casting was extremely difficult, but I’m just thrilled by what we came out with.” When it came time to cast the coveted lead of Ebenezer Scrooge, Kevin had the unique task of finding someone very young who could play the very old character of Scrooge. “I was lucky to find Corie Smoak, an extremely gifted 18-year-old who attends Greenville Tech. He has to do some really hard stuff.” Corie doesn’t seem fazed, though. “I don’t really think about it. In tenth grade, I was the lead in a play called The Miser, where I played a similar character—an old dude who’s stingy with his money.” Corie, who has appeared in numerous church, school, and theatre plays, does admit that Scrooge! The Musical presents a first for him, though. “I’ve never had to sing before,” he laughs. And if earlier rehearsals are any indication, the actual show

THE GREER CHILDREN’S THEATRE PRESENTS

ARTS & EDUCATION

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should be lots of fun. While blocking out placement onstage of the cast-members, Corie kept everyone in stitches with his impromptu Scrooge-like antics. Another find for Kevin was Will Harris (7), a student from Stone Academy, who plays the pivotal character of Tiny Tim. Undeniably cute, and with that special charisma needed for the role of the lovable lame Cratchit child, Will also brings previous theatre experience to the role. “I played in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for Greer Children’s Theatre and I also was in the South Carolina Children’s Theatre’s production of The Wizard of Oz. I was a Munchkin,” he explains with a grin. “The Lollipop Guild.” Other Cratchit family members include father Bob, played by Ryan Wilson (15, home-schooled/Greenville’s Fine Arts Center), mother Ethel, played by Tessa Janowski (18, home-schooled), older brother Peter, played by Daniel Sokol (14, St. Joseph’s Catholic School), and sister Kathy, played by Cannon Langner (10, Sarah Collins Elementary School). The role of Scrooge’s deceased business partner, Jacob Marley, is played by Mitchell Smith (15, Mauldin High School Fine Arts Center), and the Ghosts of Christmas Present, Past, and Yet to Come are played by Brandon Gaunt (17, Blue Ridge High School), Hannah Clayton

(14, Blue Ridge High School), and Anna Berry (13, Riverside Middle School), respectively. Although Scrooge the movie follows the original story by Dickens, slight changes were made to accommodate the music. “In the book,” says Kevin, “in the future when Scrooge dies, there are a bunch of old women tearing down the sheets around Scrooge’s bed. In the movie version, they wanted to make that part into a big song so they created a character named Tom Jenkins. We changed that to Tess Jenkins so that Kelsey Rigg (17, Wade Hampton High School), who has an amazing voice, could play the part. Tess is the head of a group of merchants who Scrooge is mean to all the time, so when Scrooge dies, all the merchants celebrate, laugh, and pull all the pages out his debt book while singing the song, “Thank You Very Much.” It’s a real up-tempo, up-beat song, but it’s very dark because they’re singing about Scrooge’s death. What makes this version so powerful for me is at the end of the movie, they reprise that song, only this time it’s after Scrooge has changed and it’s genuine. The whole cast marches around with him, and once again, Tess Jenkins is at the lead of that.” Kevin has other surprises in store for us, also. “Marley has his own singing and dancing scene, which in the movie is very

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scary. In this production, we’re playing it for laughs with zombies like from Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” The zombies are actually going to copy some of those moves, much to Marley’s irritation when he catches them goofing around!” If you need any more persuasion to come out and support the Greer Children’s Theatre, here’s one more for you. In addition to the four-day-a-week/three month rehearsals these kids commit to for Scrooge! The Musical, they not only attend school but have other passions that they engage in as well including church, chorus, dancing, martial arts, piano, violin, tumbling, soccer, drums, and even other plays. Tessa Janowski, who comes from a family of eleven, also works full-time as a teacher and part-time teaching horseback riding. With such a talented, energetic cast and director, wonderful music under the direction of Gwen Starling, dazzling choreography by April Schaeffer—all tied-up into the sensory experience of live theatre—Scrooge! The Musical is sure to be truly SPIRITED!

Scrooge! The Musical by the Greer Children’s Theatre will be performed at the J. Harley Bonds Career Center on December 5 at 8 p.m., December 6 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., December 12 at 7 p.m.,

December 13 at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m., and December 14 at 2:00 p.m. For more information or to purchase tickets, please call the Greer Cultural Arts Council at (864) 848-5383, or visit their

website at www.greerculturalarts.com.

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