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H-K Players Present A Christmas Carol

Submitted by Marcy Webster.

Come see the H-K Players present A Christmas Carol on Friday, Dec. 13 & Saturday, Dec. 14, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. at the Haddam Killingworth High School Auditorium. Ticket prices are $10 per seat. Tickets can be purchased at the door or by calling 860-345-8541 X3240.

Published 176 years ago, Dickens first conceived of his project as a pamphlet, which he planned on calling, “An Appeal to the People of England on behalf of the Poor Man’s Child.” But in less than a week of thinking about it, he decided instead to encapsulate the idea as a story which was the first time he published a complete book rather than a series found in a periodical. The first 6000 copies that were published on December 19, 1843 sold out just five days later, on Christmas Eve. In his later years, A Christmas Carol would become one of his favorites to read aloud on the literary tours he embarked on in the late 1860s. Since then it has been adapted hundreds of times to nearly every medium possible including the first surviving film version in 1901; Orsen Wells on CBS Radio in 1938; an Opera; a Broadway Musical; and even a Muppets’ movie. (Broich, 2016)

The H-K Players version was adapted by director Marcy Webster after she met with students interested in tackling the project. She created audition material that would allow her to cast based on students’ comfort and skill-level portraying age and unique characterizations. Where doubling was required, students needed time to change into other costumes. Another factor was the size of our student crew and their talents and abilities. Sets needed to be built that would allow for scenes to translate to our audience  that could easily be transformed so that flow was not disrupted.  Finally, great care was taken to keep the iconic and treasured lines that many know by heart to ensure that the spirit of the play would come through as intended.

Starring: Arjun Badami (Ebenezer Scrooge), Devin Coon (Bob Cratchit), Hannah Laird-Hoover (Narrator and Janet Halloway), Payton Kasperzyk (Ghost of Christmas Past), Tyson Glazier (Ghost of Christmas Present), Tori Carlson (Ghost of Jacob Marley and Ghost of Christmas Yet-to-come), Michael Vaughn (Fred Halloway), Amanda Ketchedjian (Belle),  Pooja Badami (Mrs. Dilber and Young Ebenezer),  Katrin Wilson (Mrs. Fezziwig), Julia Thelan (Fan), Valleri Freibauer (Mrs. Cratchit), Charles Petrie (Peter Cratchit), Kateri Sonski (Martha Cratchit), Emma Peterson (Tiny Tim Cratchit,) Luke Haase (Old Joe), and Josh Kulak and Emma Sirignano (Various Townspeople).

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