LAKEPORT – Come share the spirit of the holiday season with a free live radio broadcast of “A Christmas Carol” performed on the stage of the Soper-Reese Community Theater on Dec. 20 at 5:30 p.m.

Just about everyone is very familiar with one version or another of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” but have you ever had the story read to you? This “Ghost Story of Christmas” is particularly well suited to the medium of radio — where your imagination provides unlimited special effects.

By the way, did you know it was an English custom in the 1800s to tell ghost stories on Christmas Eve? This came from the old pagan Yule celebrations of Saturnalia and the Winter Solstice.

When Tony Palermo wrote his radio adaptation of “A Christmas Carol” he meant to take the audience back to Charles Dickens’ original purpose for writing the story some 165 years ago. His version is based on the production done by Orson Wells in 1939, staring Lionel Barrymore.

Palermo’s radio tale seeks to play up the ghostly aspects of the story — but in the context of the 19th century Christian beliefs.

Ebenezer Scrooge holds terrible, anti-social attitudes. His character is based upon Charles Dickens’ regrets for his own personal behavior — in not being kind enough to his fellow man, in not being charitable enough to unfortunates; in fact, Scrooge’s history is a reflection upon Dickens’ early life.

Dickens’s major literary themes were memory and forgiveness. He believed that through experiencing the joy and sorrow of memory, you could learn to live properly in this world; hence, Ebenezer Scrooge’s redemption is carried out by memory, example, and fear.

On the stage, before the actual reading, demonstrations will be given showing how the sound effects are made and there will be a little background about how radio dramas are produced. The artists will be reading the script and technicians will be producing on stage sound effects.

A cast of 12, directed by the Soper-Reese Artistic Director Bert Hutt will present the live radio broadcast of this classic tale of redemption performed live on stage of the Soper-Reese Community Theater and broadcast on KPFZ 88.1 FM, Community Supported Radio for Lake County.

This program is underwritten by the generous donations of CPS-County Air Properties and BitSculptor and is free for everyone who comes to the theater or has a radio.

The Lake County Arts Council and KPFZ radio thanks you, the community, for your support. Please join us for this free presentation on Dec. 20 at 5:30 p.m.

 

Visit KPFZ 88.1 FM online at www.kpfz.org.

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