Scrooge – The Musical showcases local talent

It’s perfect holiday entertainment for the entire family. The musical adaptation of Dickens’ classic tale, A Christmas Carol, Scrooge – The Musical showcases CCBC Essex students of ages past, present and future with its intergenerational cast of seniors, students and children. Most of the children and the seniors are veterans of local theatre productions.

Directed by Kathryn Smith, adjunct faculty in the Fine, Performing and Communication Arts department, with musical direction by Arne Lindquist, who directs CCBC Senior Studies program, the production is a collaboration between Baltimore County's musical theatre troupe for senior citizens, Senior Star Showcase, and the Theatre discipline at CCBC Essex. The cast includes more than 30 area seniors, more than 20 CCBC students and several young performers.

This music-filled production follows the Christmas Eve awakening of the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge as he is visited by the Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present and Yet to Come. As Scrooge reflects on his life and relationships with his nephew Fred and clerk Bob Cratchit, he learns the value of generosity and compassion and awakens to both a new Christmas and a new zest for life.

For this collaborative, intergenerational production, senior citizens fill the roles of the older characters, CCBC matriculating students play the young adults, and community members play the children.

CCBC's Senior Star Showcase provides performance opportunities for senior citizens through musicals and musical revues. The group has gained national attention as a leader in the Senior Theatre field, performing in New York, N.Y., Washington, D.C. and Las Vegas, Nev., as well as spearheading an international festival at Disney World in 1999.

Led by CCBC Music Professor Arne Lindquist, the Senior Star Showcase returns to Las Vegas in January for the 2004 Senior Theatre USA Performance Festival. Under the direction of Professor F. Scott Black, the CCBC Theatre discipline is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Theatre, and is the only community college in Maryland and one of only three nationwide to hold this accreditation.

All performances of Scrooge will take place on the Mainstage at CCBC Essex. Tickets are $9 general admission, $8 for senior citizens, students and CCBC faculty and staff, and are available by calling the Box Office at 443-840-1369, or at the door. See the Events listing in this edition of Live@CCBC for performance dates and times. The Mainstage theatre is fully wheelchair accessible and offers listening assistance devices for the hearing impaired. For a brochure detailing handicapped parking availability and wheelchair drop-off zones, please call the Box Office.