'An Egmondville Christmas Carol' to take Egmondville United Church stage

BY SHAWN LOUGHLIN

Next month, Egmondville United Church will continue its successful tradition of live, community theatre with two performances of An Egmondville Christmas Carol, written by Walton’s Gloria Wilbee, based on the Charles Dickens classic.

 

On Saturday, Dec. 7 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 8 at 2 p.m. at the church, the show will go on - all for a free-will offering to the church. And while Wilbee is the author of the show, it was Glen and Deb Haney who conceived of the show and brought the idea to Wilbee.

 

Deb, in an interview with The Citizen, said she had been kicking the idea around for a number of years, thinking that local Brian Nuhn would make a good Scrooge if Egmondville were to tell its own A Christmas Carol story as the total package of a local business owner who can act and sing.

 

This was the year that she finally decided to pull the trigger and move forward with the project. She said she reached out to Wilbee, who had written plays for the church before, and she was immediately interested as a long-time admirer of the original Dickens work and its 1951 film adaptation starring Alistair Sim. So, it didn’t take much convincing for Wilbee to climb aboard the project. She said she watched the film every Christmas, and has for as long as she can remember, so she was familiar with the story and had some ideas.

 

Conversations began back in May and Wilbee quickly got to work, adapting what she feels is a very faithful adaptation of the classic book, while spinning it into a tale about Egmondville that will appeal to local audiences.

 

She also thought that, as a licensed lay worship leader, this would be yet another great opportunity to attract young families and children to the church for an activity that might show them all that the church can do for them and within their community. 

Wilbee and Haney will both perform in the play as well, with Barrett Engel set to be this story’s Tiny Tim. Wilbee said that the entire cast is perfect, but that Engel has been a really heartening inclusion that has brought the production to the next level.

The cast of 19 has been rehearsing for months now and people like Haney and others have also been working diligently behind the scenes to create costumes, sets, props and everything else that a proper stage production demands.

 

The show will hit the stage on Saturday, Dec. 7 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 8 at 2 p.m. at the church - only a free-will offering is asked for entry.