Rosebud students perform Christmas Carol

Laureen F. Guenther
Times Contributor

 

Rosebud School of the Arts students will perform Frank Dickens’ Christmas Carol at Rosebud’s BMO Studio Stage, opening Nov. 26.
This version of Charles Dickens’ classic story was written by Jay Russell, with music by Marie Russell, and set in Canada’s Yukon during the Gold Rush years. The Russells envisioned that Charles Dickens’ son Frank, who was a Northwest Mounted Police Officer in the 1870s and 1880s, witnessed the story and wrote it in letters to his father.
In this story, “Scrooge runs a trading post in a settlement in the Alberta district of the Northwest Territories,” said Matthew Oliver van Diepen, who plays Scrooge.
The three ghosts are historical Canadian figures: Laura Secord, played by Mikayla Whitehouse, is the ghost of Christmas past; Martha Black, a successful gold panner and Yukon MP, is the ghost of Christmas present, played by Heidi MacDonald; Prime Minister Sir Wilfred Laurier, played by Zach Running Coyote, is the ghost of Christmas yet to come.
A Metis man named Robert Crachette, played by Emily Cambridge, is Scrooge’s assistant. Crachette’s son Ti Jean, played by Anna Dalgliesh, ends the play with the famous line, “God bless us, everyone!” Narrator Frank Dickens is played by Maggie Mackenzie.
Most of the performers are second-year students, and for them, Frank Dickens’ Christmas Carol is their first full-fledged production at Rosebud School of the Arts.
“We’re all having fun and messing around with this show, which is really light-hearted,” van Diepen said. “The jokes that we pull, and the different ways we figure out how to make the scenes come together, and the absurdity of some of the movements that we do – it’s just a lot of fun.”
Finding the subtleties of Scrooge’s character is challenging but also enjoyable, he said.
“He starts off as this mean grouchy old fur trader, who thinks he’s just the best businessman and all you need to do is care about business,” he said. “Christmas and joy and family are just bothersome things that you would rather do without.”
“Then throughout the night, with the three different ghosts showing him different events, and just sort of reminding him of his humanity and his love, he sort of reawakens his love for life and his love for people,” added van Diepen. “And it’s really fun to play with that and just find his humanity, even with his grouchy exterior.”
Audiences will also enjoy the show, said van Diepen.
“They’ll love the laughter that comes with it, the story that’s behind it, and the love and grace that’s throughout this show,” he said. “It’s full of quirkiness and uniqueness and all these little characters popping in and out. They’ll enjoy the playfulness of it, as well as the heart behind it. This show is about family and discovering love during the holidays.”
Frank Dickens’ Christmas Carol runs on Rosebud’s BMO Studio Stage at 4:30 p.m., Nov. 26 to Dec. 17. Get tickets at 1-800-267-7553 or tickets.rosebudcentreofthearts.com.