Christmas is over four months away, but Footlighters Theatre Society is already getting in the Christmas spirit by holding auditions for its upcoming production of A Christmas Carol.
Adults and children (over age 10) are needed to fill more than two dozen roles in the production, which will run Nov. 30-Dec. 2, including a Sunday matinee. Children will try out at St. Stephen’s Presbyterian Church starting at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 28, followed by adults at 7:30.
Rather than the usual cold readings from the script, Atha is asking potential cast members to present a prepared one-minute monologue at the auditions. Many of the performers will do some carol singing and play more than one minor role, with some actors taking on larger parts, such as Ebenezer Scrooge, which has over 200 lines.
“The smaller the cast, the more lines you have and more characters you play,” says director Gary Atha, who most recently directed the 2017 thriller And Then There Were None.
Among the expected roles available—such as Bob Cratchit and his family, Tiny Tim, Jacob Marley, ghosts and Mr. Fezziwig—are a fiddler and that of Charles Dickens himself, a major role Atha played in an Abbotsford production several years ago.
“Having Dickens there, narrating and participating in the story, is a lot of fun,” he says.
A Christmas Carol will be the second production of Footlighters’ 24th season—between the locally written plays Some Fools and Their Money and Two Wrongs Don’t Make a Play Wright—and is one that Atha expects the cast to enjoy taking part in.
“It’s a timeless story,” he says. “Every year, we watch a couple on TV. It’s a story that never loses its appeal and speaks to all generations.”
To learn more, contact Gary Atha at 778-800-9355 or ge9174atha@gmail.com.