Six Sartell residents have roles in ‘Christmas Carol’

One of the great Christmas classics – Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” – will be performed by Great River Educational Arts Theatre as a musical at the Paramount Theatre in St. Cloud.
Among the large cast are six actors from Sartell.
The play will open Nov. 24 for 10 public performances. Tickets can be obtained online at www.GreatTheatre.org or by calling the box office at 259-5463.
“A Christmas Carol” features spectacular sets, costumes, music and special effects, including flying.
Directed by Linda McGowan with music director Kevin Stueven and choreographer Molly MacNeil, “A Christmas Carol” boasts a cast of 50 members ranging in age from 7 to adult. The six Sartell residents with roles in the play are Shelby Rahm, a fourth-grader at St. Francis Xavier School, who plays Fan (Scrooge’s sister); Ellie Karasch, a sixth-grader at Sartell Middle School, who is a member of the chorus; Brad Hoelscher, a student at St. Cloud State University, who plays Fred (Scrooge’s nephew), Mackenzie Hansen, a sixth-grader at St. Francis Xavier School, who plays Mary Cratchit, a daughter of Bob Cratchit and the father-daughter duo of Phil and Megan Corbett. Phil plays Dick Wilkins, and Megan is a member of the chorus.
“A Christmas Carol” will be performed from Nov. 24-Dec. 9 at 7:30 p.m. Fridays; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays.
This year, 2012, is the 200th anniversary of Charles Dickens, the great English author of “A Christmas Carol.” The perennially popular short story, first published in 1843, centers around stingy Ebenezer Scrooge, an employer who is one night terrified by dream visions that force him to confront his mean-spirited life.
As a result, Scrooge learns to connect with the people around him and finds a family of sorts in Bob Cratchit’s impoverished family, which includes a little crippled boy named Tiny Tim. By the end of the story, Scrooge has discovered the meaning of kindness, compassion, human connectedness and the true giving spirit of Christmas.
“A Christmas Carol” has been the subject of countless movies, plays, musicals and pageants ever since it was published. The story continues to be a world-wide hit, year after year.