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home / Entertainment
Bah, Humbug!
Alice Shoaf
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Yes, the Scrooge was back for Maricopa High School Drama Department’s rendition of the classic Charles Dickens story aptly named The After Christmas Carol. Directed by Lori VanScyoc and Mario Bandin, the group produced an outstanding performance on Friday, January 23rd.
The opening scene is a janitor cleaning up after a New Year’s Eve party and grumbling loudly about life in general. He finds a bum wearing his old coat, who runs off as he goes for security. When he returns he finds the coat has been left behind, along with a note and a gift. The note is from his fifteen-year-old niece, who states that she has run away as she knows he never wanted her and begrudges the money spent on her. The gift is a copy of the Charles Dickens book. As he sits to the side and begins to read, the curtains open to the famous Mr. Scrooge and his faithful employee Bob Cratchit and the old familiar play begins.
At the end, the curtain closes on Scrooge -- a changed man -- shaking Cratchit’s hand. The janitor comes back on stage to find his niece has come back and wants to come home. It is obvious the story of old Scrooge has touched and won him, and he welcomes her back with open arms.
Decker Rainey gave a commanding performance of old Ebenezer, right down to his mismatched socks. Carson Rose portrayed a grand Bob Cratchit with a blanket around his bowed shoulders and glasses perched on his nose. It was an energetic and endearing performance all around, and all members of the cast and crew are to be highly commended.
Lori heads the Drama Department, teaches the Drama classes, and leads the Drama Club, which meets, after school every Tuesday but the plays they produce are a collaborative effort. According to Lori, this is the second of three performances this year, each of a different genre, and tryouts are open to the entire school. She says participation has been encouraging. “The last play only sixteen kids showed up for tryouts,” she said. “This time there were almost fifty.”
Everything for the play was done in-house. The kids made the props, recorded the sound effects, and created their costumes. Posters and programs were produced by one of the Vocational Ed classes. There was a door fee charged, but Lewis Loucks, one of the crewmembers who ran the projector for the play, explained its need. “All the money goes in the Drama kitty,” he said. “It pays for the rights to (produce a copyrighted play) and all the copies we need. Things like that.”
Lindsay Litteken, who played Belle, spoke about the next play, which is called Once on This Island. “It’s kind of a Caribbean Little Mermaid,” she said. Lori added to the description, “This is a musical…. There are no props, the kids and music and dancing will create all the scenes.” This intriguing drama is scheduled to perform the first weekend in April. I, for one, am looking forward to it.
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Alice Shoaf
The Maricopa High School Drama Department performed "The After Christmas Carol."
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