A CHRISTMAS CAROL, THE MUSICAL Plays Dickson's Renaissance Center for 12/2-18 run

Featuring a cast of actors from throughout Middle Tennessee, The Renaissance Players will present the musicalized version of a holiday classic, A Christmas Carol, The Musical, December 2- 18 in the Anne Deason Performance Hall at The Renaissance Center in Dickson. The Charles Dickens classic gets the full Broadway treatment with music by Alan Menken (Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid) and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens (Ragtime, Seussical).

Greg Frey leads the cast as Ebenezer Scrooge, with Bryan J. Wlas as Bob Cratchit. Arica Ward, Jon Kopischke and Vickie Songer are featured as the “ghosts.”

Under the direction by the late Mike Ockrent, with choreography by Susan Stroman, the musical ran for ten years at Madison Square Garden, from 1994 through 2003. The many Scrooges have included F. Murray Abraham, Walter Charles, Tim Curry, Tony Randall, Hal Linden, Roddy McDowell, Frank Langella, Tony Roberts, Jim Dale and Roger Daltry. A 2004 television version of the musical starred Kelsey Grammer as Scrooge.

Based on the 1843 novella by Charles Dickens, the musical version includes the familiar characters of Ebenezer Scrooge, Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim Cratchit, Mrs. Cratchit, Jacob Marley, Mr and Mrs. Fezziwig, The Ghost of Christmas Past, The Ghost of Christmas Present, and The Ghost of Christmas Future, plus a large ensemble cast and full musical production numbers. The Menken/Ahrens-penned songs include “Jolly Good Time,” “You Mean More to Me,” “A Place Called Home,” “Link By Link,” “Lights of Long Ago,” “God Bless Us Everyone,” Abundance and Charity,” “Yesterday, Tomorrow and Today” and “Christmas Together.”

The show runs through December 2- 18 with performances every Friday and Saturday evenings at 7 p.m. and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. Tickets are: $15 (adults), $12 (seniors), and $8 (children 12 and under). A 20% discount is offered for groups of 15 or more. A special Matinee Lunch Show is slated for Saturday, December 10 at noon. Lunch ticket prices are: $25 (adults), $22 (seniors) and $18 (children 12 and under) and include salad, full lunch buffet + dessert + show. Gratuity is not included.

The Renaissance Players Community Theatre production of A Christmas Carol, The Musical is directed by Nathan W. Brown, who also serves as the Musical Director, with Choreography by Bryan J. Wlas. Wlas also offered a special “British Dialect” workshop in preparation for the production, which included both the standard British and Cockney accents used in A Christmas Carol, The Musical. Rachel Gallup has taken on the huge responsibility of wardrobe for the nineteenth century period musical. Nathan Allen Ray provides lighting and technical production and Annie Catherine Wright is the Stage Manager.

Auditions for A Christmas Carol, The Musical were held October 8 and 11, and attracted 78 actors from the Nashville-Dickson area. Forty-four actors were cast including eight new cast members who are in a Renaissance Players production for the first time: Linda Blain, Gavin Fitch, Ella Mann, Hannah McGinley, Sierra Prue, Robert Richardson, Nathan Skky Rodriguez and Shane Young.

The Renaissance Players Community Theatre is often a family affair and this production features many family members including: Andy and Tory Gunn (brother and sister); siblings Arianna, Adam, Cameron and Kaila Wooten; Greg, Ashton and Kedzie Frey (father and daughters); brothers Jed and Zane Jordan; Jon, Valerie and Shane Kopischke (father, mother and son); Josh and Gracie McClurkan (father and daughter); Tate and Taylor Blunt (brother and sister); David and Dylan Hodges and Kaylee Thorp (father, son and daughter); Carey and Jean Thompson (husband and wife); Rachel and Megan Gallup (mother and daughter).