Newnan Theatre Company's A CHRISTMAS CAROL Opens Tonight

Newnan Theatre Company's production of A Christmas Carol, by Dale Lyles, opens tonight, December 10, and runs through Sunday, December 20, at NTC's home at 24 First Avenue. Tickets are available at the box office and online at newnantheatre.org.

NTC revived their version of Charles Dickens' classic last year, and this year composer/lyricist Dale Lyles returns as director. Lyles was artistic director of the company from 1977-2002, retiring with Mozart's Marriage of Figaro in 2002. This is his first time at NTC as a director since his retirement.

"I was honored and delighted when my old theatre company asked if they might revive the show last year," Lyles said, "and this year I'm having a blast getting the show back up on its feet."

A Christmas Carol is perfect family holiday entertainment, according current NTC artistic director Tony Daniel, lasting only about an hour and fifteen minutes.

This year, the role of Ebenezer Scrooge will be played by John Caldwell, a regular at NTC. He played Marley's Ghost in last year's production and is enjoying the challenge of his "promotion" to the living this year.

As is usual with Christmas Carol, there are a great many younger actors in the cast. Lyles shared a story about a recent rehearsal. "I was afraid that we were going to have a lot of difficulty with regional accents, too much Southern and all that. But when I asked the youngsters who were working on the narration parts to try a British accent, they were all almost flawless! I congratulated them on their ability, and one of them said that I could thank Harry Potter for that. I need to write J. K. Rowling and Warner Bros a thank you note!"

Lyles noted that although he had recreated the score last year for a live small ensemble, that proved difficult to achieve, and so he has completely revamped it this year as a digitized full orchestra, much as it was the last time NTC regularly performed the work. He explained that because of this further revamping, "we can restore a lot of the underscoring and the dance music that eluded us last year."

Other cast members include Rich Aagesen (Fezziwig); Joseph Belford (Ghost of Christmas Present); Melissa Clipp (Mrs. Cratchit); Meranda Cyr (Fred's Wife); Leah Dalrymple (Ghost of Christmas Past); Kennedy Hollis (Martha Cratchit); Alex Johns (Philanthropic Lady); Ayden Lewis (Young Ebenezer); Jason Lindsey (Bob Cratchit); Brinda Martin (Mrs. Fezziwig, Snagsby); Rachel Ortega (Belle, Dilber); Ryan Reeves (Tiny Tim); Lance Smith (Marley's Ghost); John Patrick VanSant (Topper, Ebenezer); David Waller (Bob Cratchit); NancyClaire Wood (Ghost of Christmas Past); and Kallie Yenney (Fred's Wife's Sister).

Also in the cast in various roles are Kyra Aycock, Miranda Aycock, Brianna Clipp, Piper Clipp, Kyle Coombs, Paige Isbell, Isabella Ribeiro-Sonera, Sarah Van Amberg, Ethanan Vasconcelles, and Paisley Waller