The audience was transported back to 19th century London during this year’s choir and orchestra winter production. Revolving around the timeless tale known as A Christmas Carol the performance exhibited ideas of morality, charity, family, joy, and corruption through the lives of Ebenezer Scrooge and Bob Cratchit.
Senior John Hennelly played the main role of Ebenezer Scrooge. Through hours of work and preparation, he and the other cast members were able to pull off a rendition of the classic play.
When asked about how he thought the performance went, Hennelly said, “For what we had, the fact that we had Thanksgiving break off, I’d say it went very well… This year was the first time we had a first semester [play], so it did prove to be a challenge.”
As Saint Ignatius’ annual choir and orchestra play, normally in the spring, was to take place this winter, the cast and crew members found themselves in a time crunch. According to Hennelly, the biggest challenge in regards to the play was line memorization. Due to the challenges of Thanksgiving break, cast and crew members had one fewer week to rehearse… and one more week to forget their lines. Due to the limited amount of time that the cast and crew members had, the successful result of the play was a great feat and a testament of the resilience of the cast and crew members.
Along with the astounding efforts of the cast and crew, the play was also made possible by Ms. Schneider along with the help of Mr. Bellie, Alvaro Ledesma, Steve O’Donnell, Ms. Micelli, and Ms. Grant along with a handful of parent volunteers. Ms. Schneider, who directed and coordinated the entire production, said, “It was a great show. I thought it went really really well. It bore a lot of challenges…with different kinds of pieces like the operatic piece.”
In the end, the Scrooge light opera and its success was made possible by the work of the cast, crew, directors, coordinators, and volunteers. Offering to sacrifice hours of their time, these people gave Saint Ignatius a wonderful experience for the holidays.
