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One Christmas Carol back on stage

He’s back. Yes, the cantankerous old curmudgeon made famous by Charles Dickens will once again be on stage, all bluster and bombast, at the Canmore Miners’ Hall, Dec. 16-17.

He’s back.

Yes, the cantankerous old curmudgeon made famous by Charles Dickens will once again be on stage, all bluster and bombast, at the Canmore Miners’ Hall, Dec. 16-17.

So too, of course, will be the lovable Cratchits, Fezziwigs and old Jacob Marley.

One Christmas Carol, produced by J.P. Thibodeau and featuring Joe Morris as all of the characters in Dickens’ famous work, is back for its third annual holiday performance. Gina Power will provide technical expertise for the one-man show.

“I’m very excited to do it again,” said Morris, a staple of productions at Cornerstone Theatre and Restaurant, as well as local theatre and musical productions.

“It’s a new venue with a new feel to it and a slightly different crowd. It will be the same script, but what we bring to the production is that there is something different every year.

“As an actor, you adjust to new circumstances and situations, and there’s a good chance for something new to come out of this. It’s nice to have the same team together.”

With One Christmas Carol, Morris plays all 33 parts, with minimal stage dressing. Actually, minimal is understating the set – it will feature just three chairs.

In staging One Christmas Carol, Morris has taken on his most challenging theatrical endeavour, but only after Thibodeau asked if he’d be interested in accepting the challenge.

“I cried with fear, then said ‘sure’,” said Morris. “J.P. ordered the script, read it, then handed it to me. I started in on the script and realized it was by far the biggest project I’d done.

“It’s the most difficult thing I’ve done, by far, theatrically, and the most physical and emotionally draining. At the end of a show, I’m drained.”

Taking on the playing of Dickens’ characters is a real challenge, he said.

“The thing is, the play is so well known and popular and still loved today that the concern is if you can do it justice. There is a hysterical undercurrent and the sadness of the Cratchits, the ghosts and the history of Scrooge and Marley.”

The show has been a popular one for the last two holiday seasons. “J.P. is a man of vision and he wanted to make this happen again,” said Morris.

“It’s 100 per cent credit to him for his drive and creativity.”

Tickets are available online at www.onechristmascarol.com or at Second Story Books in Canmore.


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