'The Christmas Carol' Comes to River Dell

Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" is one of the most famous and well-known stories during the holidays. And at River Dell, a version of Dickens' tale, "The Christmas Carol" by Julian Lee, will be performed tonight, 8pm. Lee's version takes the classic story and modernizes it.

This year, drama club advisor Desiree Ferrandi is taking a step back and allowing students Annie Arjarasumpun, Madison Sylvester, and Matt Rivas to run the show. Arjarasumpun and Sylvester have taken over the roles of co-director with Rivas serving as the assistant director.

This is also the first year in a while that the group is taking on a serious play. The past two years, the fall performance has highlighted the comic routines of Carol Burnett and a hilarious version of the Grimms Brothers fairytales.

"This is the first serious show we've done in the past few years," Rivas said.

"It's more challenging because there is a larger group this year," Arjarasumpun added."We're going from running 5 people to closer to 18."

With the added number of actors and crew members, are the extra responsibilities of running rehearsals for several hours each week, making decisions on casting, marketing and the props, according to Sylvester.

But even with the extra responsibilities, the trio of directors have found three stars to rely on: Jan Siess as Ebenezer Scrooge, Tom Hanrahan as the Ghost of Christmas Past and Dan Salerno as Bob Cratchet.

"There have been so many reproductions and to play a part is something I never thought I would do," Siess said.

Hanrahan added that "it's fun and different from what we normally do because its more serious."

"I'm like the father of the cast," Salerno said. "It's a big role playing the dad because there are so many freshman involved, who I can help."

If the actors thought they had their work cut out for them this year, the stage crew, led by Cassy Gilbert, had even more to do than usual. In the past, the productions have featured a single backdrop, but now the crew has tackled the need for several backgrounds.

"The Christmas Carol" will be performed at 8 p.m. tonight in the high school auditorium. Tickets are $10 at the door.