It’s hard to believe that we have only been in rehearsals for six days and already our company is growing close. Perhaps it is because many are returning to the production for the second, third, fourth or even fifth run, perhaps its the true magic of the story itself. Personally, I believe its the latter. A Christmas Carol has always been a very precious story to me. I think it is purely because absolute Humanity is central in it. It is a tale that all can relate to, and that all can benefit from. Dickens forces us to re-focus on what is truly important in life: love and the way we live in this world in relation to others. It's about giving yourself, wholly, to others. And it's magical, and moving and there are ghosts for crying out loud! My only other exposure to this story comes from Mickey's Christmas Carol and Muppet Christmas Carol, both of which have exciting takes with very different (even aside from the inherently obvious (Muppets v. Disney)) means of telling the same wondrous story.
I am fortunate to be playing the character of Belle, Ebenezer Scrooge’s lost love. We see them when they are both very young and possess a deep love for one another. One of the best things about these two characters that we see in Scrooge's (Dale Place*) journey with the Ghost of Christmas Past (played by the lovely Tori Heinlein*) is how youthful and happy they were together. Especially in the Fezziwig Party scene! We get to see Young Ebenezer have fun and dance and show-off and get nervous! It's warm, bright and happy. But then, in deep contrast, we next have the scene where Belle has to leave him. We've worked on that scene once so far, and already Troy (our brilliant director) is helping me discover it's emotional depth (It also helps to have a great scene partner: Tyler Bellmon* as Young Ebenezer). I am having a great time carving each line and finding the thoughts and feelings behind them. Instead of playing the end of the scene, I am trying to let the changing circumstances effect me to bring me to that place, and wherever I end up is the truth Belle experiences. One of the most important things, to me, in acting is to be having fun and to want to work more. This is absolutely true of this scene and everything we've done so far. I’m finding that the emotions of the scene come so easily just purely through the words and through the circumstances of the story. That Dickens, he's a talented fellow there. Now, I need to work on my accent for tonight's rehearsal!
We are working quickly and as a first-time cast member, this is both exhilarating and refreshingly challenging!
Well, first of all, the cast is amazing: singing, acting, dancing: we got it! I feel so honored to be working alongside each and every member and I am learning so much from them. The level of commitment to the music, text and choreography is tops, and in turn leaves no room for slacking (which is good, we have only a few more weeks until we open)! It's interesting, a lot of these carols I know very well --- or so I thought. I'm on the soprano line for all the singing I do, and it's mainly melody. But there are a lot of small details, shifts, and changes that I am (slowly but surely) learning. Example: (as seen in the title of this post) in our carol, it is "Deck the hall with boughs of holly...Fa la la la la - fa la la la." See? Subtle differences, again, keeping me on my toes! I don't think I'll ever sing "Deck the halls..." again. Since the first music rehearsal, various Christmas Carols have become the soundtrack in my brain (especially "Wassail"). And I love it!
There is just so much joy in singing these songs and doing these dances that it makes it a wonderful time just coming to rehearsal! Even though we sometimes have to deal with traffic and that's always stressful, I always notice my mood lighten when I sign in and get ready to work. Christmas Carol is proving such a beautiful rehearsal process -- I am always looking forward to rehearsal and can't wait to see where we go!
-Micah Tougas, Cast member
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