Photo Flash: First Look at Maryland Ensemble Theatre's A CHRISTMAS CAROL

Charles Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol is returning to Frederick for the nineteenth straight year with Maryland Ensemble Theatre's production December 14 through 16 at the Weinberg Center for the Arts. The cast of over two dozen actors, the two-story set, the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, Future and Tiny Tim will transport audiences to Victorian England as the penny-pinching Ebenezer Scrooge learns the error of his miserly ways and embraces the true spirit of Christmas. Get a first look at the production in the photos below!

A Christmas Carol is a heartwarming tale that has endured and delighted since being greeted with critical and popular acclaim upon its publication in 1843. Dickens himself was the first to add a performance element to the story personally performing 127 public readings of A Christmas Carol. Since then it has been adapted hundreds of times to nearly every medium possible including the first surviving film version in 1901, Orsen Wells on CBS Radio in 1938, a BBC mime production starring Marcel Marceau, both opera and ballet adaptations, a Muppets' movie and a Broadway musical.

Maryland Ensemble Theatre's version was adapted by Theatricks, a theater company co-founded by the show's director Julie Herber. Theatricks first produced the show at Frederick Community College and then The Fun Company (MET's Family Theatre, also founded by Julie Herber) began producing the show at the Weinberg Center in 1996. The Fun Company became part of Maryland Ensemble Theatre in 2003.

For whatever changes the show goes through each year there will be plenty of familiar faces on the stage. This will be Tad Janes, MET's Artistic Director, tenth straight year portraying Scrooge while other long time veterans of the production have out grown their parts. Karli Cole who had been in the production since she was eight years, including five years as Tiny Tim, will see the show for the first time as an audience member this December when she returns from college where she is studying theatre. In addition to Tad Janes returning as Scrooge, Gené Fouché is returning for her ninth year as the ghost of Christmas Past and Bill Stitely who plays the young Ebenezer was in the very first cast nineteen years ago. Other veteran cast members include James McGarvey, Jack Evans, Karen Paone, Lisa Burl and Ashley Hall. Also familair to returning audience goers will be the fantastic music by composer John Walker that underscores the show.

For audiences looking for more festive holiday entertainment the Maryland Ensemble Theatre will also be presenting It's A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play. The show is an award-winning adaptation that brings Bedford Falls to life by way of an on stage 1940s radio broadcast and will run December 6 through 30 on the MET stage located in the historic FSK Hotel at 31 W Patrick. Sharing the stage at MET will be the Fun Company's production of Commedia Puss In Boots. That show runs November 24 through January 6 and includes a laundry list of laughs, especially when Puss in Boots duels the great laundry giant!

For over a decade, Maryland Ensemble Theatre has been producing thought-provoking theatre, fun family entertainment, artist residency programs for public schools, challenging classes and the side-splitting Comedy Pigs.. The MET is an artistic leader in the region and at the forefront of the creation of Frederick's Theater District.

Starring: Tad Janes* (Ebenezer Scrooge), Gené Fouché* (Ghost of Christmas Past, Belle), Jack Evans (Bob Cratchit, Dick Wilkins), Bill Stitely (Nephew, Young Ebenezer), James McGarvey (Ghost of Jacob Marley, Fezziwig), Karen Paone (Mrs. Fezziwig, Ghost of Christmas Present), Lisa Burl* (Mrs. Cratchit), Ashley Hall* (Belle), Rhani Huff & Cali Cammarata (Tiny Tim Cratchit), Noah Stitely & Sam Trapp (Boy Scrooge); and also featuring Sola Beers-Arthur, Sophie Beers-Arthur, Jackie Brinkmann, Faith Butler, Katie Dallimore, Michelle Galovic, Sawyer Kalbaugh, Lena Janes, Elena Johnston, Julia Iapicca, Grant Morningstar, Amelia Olsen, Kristen Proffitt, Jemma Przybocki, Wilson Seltzer, Siobhan Stewart, Alec Stitely, Sophie Stratyner.

Director and Designers: Julie Herber* (Director), John Walker (Original Music), Ira Domser (Set Design), Carey Rausch* (Lighting Design), Julie Herber* (Costume Design) Devin Gaither* (Stage Manager) * Maryland Ensemble Company Members

The show will run December 14 and 15 at 7:30pm and December 15 and 16 at 2pm at the Weinberg Center for Arts (20 West Patrick Street, Frederick). Tickets are $12 through $20 and can be purchased at the Weinberg Box Office, at 301-600-2828 or online at weinbergcenter.org. The show will also be presented at the Carroll County Arts Center the weekend of December 21 (carrollcountyartscouncil.org).

Photo Credit: Misti Morningstar