YAC Takes on a Christmas Classic
~ The following was published in The Floyd Press on December 10, 2009.
Mankind is my business!” bellowed the Ghost of Jacob Marley, played by Emerson Perry during a Sunday evening performance of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol at the Sun Hall. This classic tale of redemption and Christmas spirit, the latest Young Actors Co-op (YAC) production, enlisted the talents of the largest cast yet, with many parts suited for young first time performers.
Top hats and bonnets, petticoat dresses, shawls, and eerie ghostly cloaks, along with inventive set designs literally set the stage for an engaging 90 minutes of holiday entertainment, played to a full house. 
Period costumes from the nineteenth century were borrowed from Charlotte Atkins’ private vintage collection, sewn by YAC parents Dr. Sue Osborne and Heather Spangler, and found in thrift shops. The Ghost of Christmas Present (Coriander Woodruff) adorned in a wreath of holly loomed large on walking stilts.
The addition of drop microphones by YAC light and sound engineer Woody Woodruff allowed audience members in farthest reaches of the hall to hear first time YAC actor, 7 year old Bert Avellar deliver Tiny Tim’s resounding line “God bless us everyone.” Special tricks of lighting projected Jacob Marley’s haunting face on to Scrooge’s (Cameron Woodruff) door. 
“YAC strives to bring the highest standard of theater excellence to the stage, to provide a creative outlet for youths in the region, and to encourage a love and appreciation for the art of theater in young and old,” the event program reads. Under the direction of Rose McCutchan, the group has proven once again that they are fulfilling that mission. ~ Colleen Redman
Note: Last chance to catch this performance is tonight at the Sun Hall at 7:00. Tickets at the door are $6 for adults and $3 dollars for children. Youtube video clips are HERE and HERE.
December 11th, 2009 1:18 pm
YAC sounds like a wonderful organization and the play looks very entertaining.
Flash Dancing
December 11th, 2009 1:59 pm
I have moved and miss that small town nostalgia. Must get more involved.
December 11th, 2009 6:53 pm
I wish we could go see it now. And yes, “The Christmas Carol” we saw in the movies. I remember so vividly as if it were yesterday being at the Collier’s house talking about how wonderful it was. xo
December 11th, 2009 7:03 pm
You’re memory is better than mine!
December 13th, 2009 3:08 am
TCM played the 1937 (?) Version of A CHRISTMAS CAROL the other day, with Reginald Owen as Scrooge, and I believe is showing it again in this week…..It certainly is a story that gets repeated and repeated, one way or another. This sounds like a lovely production, Colleen—special costumes, and all.
December 13th, 2009 10:18 am
It looks a very inventive production.
NetChick sent me here.
December 13th, 2009 6:09 pm
there is nothing finer than local theater
December 13th, 2009 6:24 pm
the weekend meet n greet needs a nice headstone
December 16th, 2009 4:22 pm
That’s a fun play. I think I’ve only seen it 3 times.
speaking of the dead, and well, http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2008/01/victorian_postmortem_photography.php
March 31st, 2010 1:28 pm
[…] Notes: Watch a video clip of the workshop HERE. Read about YAC’s last play HERE. For more information about Ash’s music and humanitarian clowning visit her Myspace page at […]
April 1st, 2010 3:54 pm
[…] Notes: Watch a video clip of the workshop HERE. Read about YAC’s last play HERE. For more information about Ash’s music and humanitarian clowning visit her Myspace page at […]
December 14th, 2012 4:16 pm
[…] Post note: Watch videos of the performance HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE. Reminisce about the 2009 YAC performance of A Christmas Carol HERE. […]