FREMONT – The drama club at St. Joseph’s Central Catholic High School returns to the stage this weekend with a show that puts a unique twist on a Charles Dickens holiday classic.
SJCC’s winter play, “A Christmas Carol: A Live Radio Play”, will be held from 7 to 9 pm Friday and Saturday in the school gymnasium.
Bethany Wethington, counselor at Bishop Hoffman Catholic School Drama Club and director of the show, said writer Joe Landry adapted the Dickens classic to the stage as a live radio show 1940s.
Wethington said SJCC had not put on any plays or musicals last year due to security concerns related to COVID-19.
This weekend’s production features a cast and crew of 15 students who began rehearsals in mid-October.
New voices for Tiny Tim, Scrooge and all the others
Wethington said the play stars Tiny Tim, Scrooge, and all the other famous characters from the Dickensian classic.
“These students had to find different voices for the characters they have,” Wethington told SJCC Tuesday.
Cast members Tony Baez, Aiden Steinmetz, Paige Russell, Maria Reinhart, and Student Production Director Madi Michael are all SJCC Drama Letter winners, with each student appearing in two or more shows during their time at school.
Wethington said members of the SJCC drama club held workshops last year as they waited for time to return to the stage.
Baez said that for the theatrical adaptation of “A Christmas Carol,” he had to create six different voices for the play.
Hard work for a quality show
“Sometimes it takes 10 seconds. Sometimes it takes a week,” Baez said.
Michael said she and the cast have been doing a lot of work on SJCC’s winter play since October.
“You can certainly tell in practice,” said Michael.
SJCC’s drama club secured vintage 1940s clothing for this weekend’s production, Wethington said.
She said the Fremont Community Theater also let the theater club borrow props.
Wethington has stated that SJCC’s 2022 spring musical will be Disney’s “Newsies”. The musical will take place the first weekend in March.
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