Photo by Cory Wyman ’16 – Jack Rose ’16 (left) and Erick Deyden ’17 (right) practice the first act of “A Christmas Carol” Nov. 10.
By Jose Cardenas ’16
THE ROUNDUP
“A Christmas Carol,” the classic story about a miser and his change of heart through a life journey during Christmas, is set to take the Brophy stage Nov. 19.
While the tale has been told and retold throughout the years, play director Mrs. Maureen Dias said that now is the perfect time to give “A Christmas Carol” a unique Brophy spin.
“[‘A Christmas Carol’] has never been done before at Brophy and we thought that it would be kind of neat to move the show to a later date where it was seasonal. ‘A Christmas Carol’ is a wonderful story and I know we have the talent to pull it off,” Mrs. Dias said.
In addition to talent, the playmakers have become creative in the way the play is set with different uses of sets and special effects. The student director Daniel Weinberger ’17 made the extra effort to make this play specific to Brophy.
“It is definitely not your traditional set or a traditional stage at all,” Weinberger said. “The set is broken into four parts and each part is shaped different in height and size, definitely a Brophy creative touch.”
The production is even unique in its approach to certain aspects of the story with more focus being placed on the ghosts and spirits. The team is using technical aspects such as sound effects, eerie lighting and fog machines to augment the haunting atmosphere this adaptation is aiming for.
“It’s a ghost story at its heart. That’s really what ‘A Christmas Carol’ is so you need all these types of effects to be spooky,” Mrs. Dias said.
Even music and singing will be incorporated into the play.
“We are singing acapella, which is always really nice and kind of moving with certain carols or songs being haunting with very talented vocalists in the cast,” Mrs. Dias said.
The cast assembled for this production includes students of different years from Brophy and Xavier.
“To make [‘A Christmas Carol’] your own is basically dependent upon your actors and the talents they bring to the table,” Mrs. Dias said.
First, there is the main character Ebenezer Scrooge, the greedy miser who became caring for his fellow man by confronting the mistakes of his past, present and future.
Jack Rose ’16 will play the role of Scrooge.
“When we were looking for Scrooge we were looking for a strong male presence on stage, an older male presence, someone that can take the look of an old man,” Weinberger said.
Then there are the Christmas spirits, an aspect of the play that is considered by the directors just as important as Scrooge.
“We were just looking for really strong stage presences, really intimidating people, because they are the people in the end that transform Scrooge and take him on his journey,” Weinberger said.
Bailey Smith ’16, Patrick McGovern ’16 and Delaney Tobin ’16 will play the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future respectively.
Besides making a great play, the production team is also concerned with having an emotional impact on the campus and students, especially as the school moves into the Christmas holiday.
“The issue with Christmas at Brophy is that people have this assumption that everyone who goes to Brophy is Christian or Catholic when in reality that’s not true,” Weinberger said. “So I think this is a really hard hitting play for Brophy students because you don’t have to be Catholic to celebrate Christmas.”
Weinberger said everyone involved in “A Christmas Carol” wants to inspire students to become more involved in the Brophy community beyond academics.
“There are students who come to school at 7:45 a.m. and leave at 2:45 p.m. and have a bad day overall, wanting to get home. So I think that this play definitely applies because this story is about getting out of your comfort zone and making yourself happy in a way that doesn’t mean just punching the clock everyday,” Weinberger said.
Weinberger also hopes that the play will attract new students wanting to be involved in Brophy’s music and acting program.
“I hope people watch this show and think, ‘You know it would be super cool if I was up there,'” Weinberger said.
“A Christmas Carol” will premiere Nov 19 in the Blackbox Theater.
