Story of Christmas redemption to make annual run in North Bend
November 26, 2008
By Ryan Piersol
The organizers for Valley Center Stage’s holiday production are pretty sure they can get citizens of the Snoqualmie Valley into the Christmas spirit.
After all, if Ebenezer Scrooge can do it, anyone should be able to.
Gary Schwartz, left, plays Ebenezer Scrooge in “A Christmas Carol,” which is scheduled to play at Valley Center Stage throughout December.
Starting Dec. 5, the theatre will run four productions of “A Christmas Carol,” the famous holiday story that revolves around Scrooge. Tickets are already on sale for the show, which is an annual event at Valley Center Stage.
“It’s a fun play. We have great costumes and our set continues to get better every year,” said Gary Schwartz, the show’s producer and director. “It really gets you in the spirit.”
The story was first published as a novella by Charles Dickens in 1843. Its popularity has been credited with a rebirth of the importance of Christmas.
Throughout the years, the story has been adapted for the theatre in a variety of ways. Valley Center Stage’s adaptation is one written by Paul Sills, who is the son of Viola Spolin, a famous drama teacher and author who died in 1994. Spolin once taught Schwartz, who runs the theatre in North Bend.
“It’s a great way to showcase what a wonderful acting technique Viola Spolin created,” Schwartz said. “Plus, it’s a wonderful telling of the story. It’s using only all of Dickens’ prose. Actors tell the story to the audience as narrators and also act out the scene.”
One of the most famous characters of American literature, Scrooge is introduced at the start of the story as a yearly critic of Christmas. He responds to seasonal greetings with the phrase, “Bah! Humbug!,” and proclaims that Christmas is a fraud.
Through a series of visits from spirits, however, Scrooge sees the error of his ways and eventually gets into the Christmas spirit. He learns to see Christmas as an opportunity to give and goes out of his way to help those less fortunate than him.
All of the actors — approximately 25 — involved in Valley Center Stage’s production of the play are from the Snoqualmie Valley. They range in ages from 9-65. Schwartz, as usual, will play Scrooge, in addition to his producing and directing duties.
“Each year, there are several new faces and then returning faces. Each year, we have to get a new Tiny Tim, because the old one keeps growing,” Schwartz said. “It’s easy to direct, because Scrooge only spends time with the ghosts mostly. It’s very easy for me to just rehearse myself with the ghosts and then direct all the other scenes in the play. And I sort of have it down after five years.”
George’s Bakery & Deli in North Bend will supply holiday baked goods for intermissions this year.
“The kids love being in the show. We have little carolers and Scrooge as a young boy and others. We have lots of parents do the show together with their children, too,” Schwartz said.
“It’s a perfect show for a family. They say it’s the most popular, secular Christmas story ever written.”
The show will run Dec. 5, 6, 12 and 13 at Valley Center Stage in downtown North Bend. In previous years, it has sold out.
Tickets are $15 for adults and $12.50 for seniors and children. To purchase tickets online, go to www.valleycenterstage.org. For more information, call 831-5667.
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