A Christmas classic

Lakeland Players presents “A Dickens of a Christmas

Donna Lenz Wright/The Week

(Published Nov. 14, 2007, 11:07 a.m.)

Mrs. Cratchit, standing left, played by Mackenzie Shelton, leads the family in singing God Bless Us Everyone as Scrooge, played by Mike Habrel and The Ghost of Christmas Present, played by Jocely Collins, looks on. Seated are the Cratchet family, played by Autumn Schauer, Morgan Sullivan and Madison Palenshus.

It was such a hit a year ago that The Lakeland Players are performing “A Dickens of a Christmas” again this year this holiday season.

“Our cast has 27 young people from six area communities,” said Terry Ketchpaw, director and choreographer. “They really enjoy having their own holiday show and do such a good job learning everything we need to do to make it work.”

Cast members range in age from 8 to 18 and perform a shortened, less complicated version of the Christmas classic, “A Christmas Carol,” by Charles Dickens, rewritten just for the younger generations.

The classic tale is told of miser Ebenezer Scrooge being visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future. Each in their own way, they force him to see the coldness of his humbug ways and teach him to honor Christmas in his own heart.

The Lakeland Players Theater (formerly the Sprague Theater) is the perfect place to perform such a time-tested classic as it’s easy to visualize the joy and charm of an old-fashioned Victorian Christmas in a 19th century English village within the walls of the theater built in 1928.

Jacob Marley, Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim will all be there, along with a special guest.

“Santa will be visiting us during the performances just before intermission and sticking around to hand out candy canes,” Ketchpaw said.

“A Dickens of a Christmas” runs Nov. 24-25 and Dec. 1-2, with all shows at 4 p.m. at the Lakeland Players Theater (former Sprague Theater), 15 W. Walworth St., Elkhorn. Tickets are $7. For more information, call Ketchpaw at 723-3013 or visit lakelandplayers.org.

Front row: Mr. Fezziwig, played by Nicholas Merry, and Mrs. Fezziwig, played by Jennifer French. Second row: Rachel White and Rachel Glass. Back row: Carolyn Griswold and Tatum Stoller.

Cast
Narrators: Gabby Halupka (Pell Lake) and Sara Fries (Williams Bay)
Scrooge: Mike Habrel (Lake Geneva)
Bob Cratchit: Eli Burtard (Elkhorn)
Fred: David Haling (Elkhorn)
Volunteers: Jennifer Mitchell (Elkhorn), Madison Neinfeldt (Elkhorn) and Kaitlyn Guzman (Delavan)
Carolers: Mackenzie Sax (Elkhorn), Abby Belich (Vernon) and Sophia Merry (Williams Bay)
Jacob Marley: J P Griswold (Elkhorn)
Ghost Past: Emily Clement (Elkhorn)
Mr. Fezzwig: Nicholas Merry (Williams Bay)
Mrs. Fezzwig: Jennifer French (Elkhorn)
Fezziwig daughters: Krystal Jacobs (Elkhorn), Rachel White (Elkhorn) and Rachel Glass (Lake Geneva)
Ghost Present: Jocelyn Collins (Elkhorn)
Mrs. Cratchit: Mackenzie Shelton (Elkhorn)
Tiny Tim: Autumn Schauer (Elkhorn)
Cratchit children: Madison Palenshus (Elkhorn), Morgan Sullivan (Twin Lakes) and Lexi Tomasello (Williams Bay)
Sarah: Tatum Stoller (Twin Lakes)
Ghost Future: Amanda Gregornik (Williams Bay)
Youngster: Carolyn Griswold (Elkhorn)

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