The Cornerstone Theatre group came together for Dickens to put on a Christmas musical. This production of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" was put together by Samantha Twietmeyer. Using dialogue directly from Dickens' book Twietmeyer and combining modern songs into the performance for a unique take on a classic, it was well received by the audience.
Taking on the iconic role of Ebenezer Scrooge was the very talented David Slykhuis, who had been wandering the streets earlier spreading Christmas drear. Dianne Twietmeyer (Christmas Future), Samantha Twietmeyer (Christmas Past), and Naomi Twietmeyer (Christmas Present) were the three ghosts who visited Scrooge on Christmas Eve.
Fred Perry took on the role of Bob Cratchit, while Mrs. Cratchit was played by Margaret Bell. Their children were played by Megan McAuley, Kyle Bye, Jenna McAuley, Kieran Stewart, Erin Stewart, Sophia Clark, and Kendra Schultz as Tiny Tim.
Jesse Twietmeyer took on the roles of Nephew Fred and the Undertaker.
Lane Easton was a crowd favourite playing Jacob Marley, young man Scrooge, and a sailor. His voice was greatly enjoyed by those in the audience in the songs he sang. Nicole Gervais took on the role of Mary, young man Scrooge's love interest.
Boy Scrooge was played by Megan McAuley and Jenna McAuley took on the role of Fan Scrooge.
During Scrooge's trip to the future he came across Old Joe (Paul Twietmeyer), the Laundress (Michele Amy), and the Charwoman (Joretta King) were joined by others to celebrate the death of Scrooge. A young fiddler was played by Kiernan Stewart.
Businessmen included Doug Waldner and Garth Herman. A party at Fezziwig's Pub was attended by Linda Coffey, Kyle Bye, Nicole Gervais, and Linda Shim.
The embodiments of Ignorance and Want were performed by Sophia Clark and Kyle Bye.
The disembodied voice was none other than Will Elliott, who was also in charge of sound for the duration of the weekend's performances. Ashton Lisitza was on lighting. Set design was imagined by Samantha Twietmeyer with the help of Paul Twietmeyer and Marion Biram.
Lori Brown was on the piano, Gerry Stewart played the keyboards, Claude Poirier was on percussion, Ben Dubois played the guitar, Paul Twietmeyer took on the sax, flute, and percussion, while Michele Amy played both the cello and the fiddle and Joretta King played the mandolin.
The performance was directed by Doug Waldner, able to bring Samantha Twietmeyer's vision to life.
Craig Saville is credited as the Fantastic Stage Hand, Dennis Coffey was on videography, make-up was done by Connie Gervais and Marion Biram, while the bar coordinators were Shannon Klatt and Joan Bue.
The play was well received and couldn't have been done without a number of volunteers including those performing as well as those behind the scenes. Though there were a few stumbles with lines, the play was still greatly enjoyed by the crowd shown through a standing ovation as the cast took their bows.
Very impressive were the extremely talented musicians and singers in the play. The crowd erupted in applause following each time the cast broke out into song.
