For many families, a treasured holiday tradition is getting together for a performance of the classics “A Christmas Carol” or “The Nutcracker.” Plan your outing with this list of Northwest Indiana performances.
‘A Christmas Carol’
In Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” an old miser named Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by ghosts to get him to change his ways before it’s too late.
It’s a seasonal classic for a reason. Even with updates and twists, the meat of the story still rings true today.
The Theatre at the Center in Munster invites audiences to experience a new spin on the holiday classic. “Dickens Christmas Carol Dinner Show” is a fast-paced, entertaining salute to “A Christmas Carol” that runs Dec. 1-11. Philip Potempa of Chicago, who is a Post-Tribune columnist, and Jeannie Rapstad of Hammond will provide the voices for more than two dozen characters featured in the story.
They are joined by WJOB radio personality Tony Panek of East Chicago, who will create all the old-time Foley sounds and effects.
“I’m playing the female parts in addition to the narrator,” Rapstad said. “It includes Scrooge’s niece, the Ghost of Christmas Past, Mrs. Fezziwig and Mrs. Cratchit. It’s a lot of fun.”
A comedian and actress, this is her first year performing in this production. She’s been preparing by studying various accents online.
“I’ve been spending a lot of time working on my accents,” she said. “I play a really funny … woman at the end of the show who robs Scrooge of his nightshirt and his bed curtains and everything, but then he averts that disaster by changing his ways. It’s a very funny scene, so that’s been fun for me, developing my Cockney accent, which is something I don’t use very often.”
She was thrilled to get the role. She’s a fan of the book, personally.
“I’m a fan of Dickens; I think he’s a brilliant writer,” she said. “The things he covered during his lifetime — the poverty, the lack of understanding from the upper classes … I think he made a big contribution socially to the development of programs for people that have an opportunity to change their lives. He put a spotlight on those issues. ‘A Christmas Carol’ also puts a spotlight on people with money like Scrooge not wanting to share when they could with other people that had no money.”
The Foley sound effects are going to be a large part of the performance, she said. “The wind machine, the fog machine, the big bells — all of these wonderful things. It’s going to be a lot of fun for the audience,” she said. “I encourage people to come and start their Christmas season off with this version of ‘A Christmas Carol.'”
‘The Nutcracker’
Set to a glorious score by Russian composer Tchaikovsky, “The Nutcracker” is about a girl named Clara who is given a nutcracker doll by her godfather, Herr Drosselmeyer, at a Christmas Eve party. Her brother Fritz is jealous and breaks the doll. Drosselmeyer bandaged it up and Clara falls asleep with it in her arms under the Christmas tree and when the clock strikes midnight, the Nutcracker comes to life and battles the evil Mouse King.
As Clara helps defeat the mouse, the Nutcracker turns into a prince and leads her in to the Land of Snow, where they are greeted by dancing snowflakes. They meet the Sugar Plum Fairy in the Land of Sweets, where they are rewarded with several dances that represent sweets; including the Arabian Dance, the Mirliton Dance and the Waltz of Flowers. The Sugar Plum Fairy and the Cavalier dance a final Pas De Deux and Clara awakens.
Gloria Tuohy, founding artistic director and CEO of the Indiana Ballet Theatre with locations in Merrillville, DeMott and Valparaiso. Indiana Ballet Theatre has been performing “The Nutcracker” in the region for 25 years, with 20 of those at Merrillville’s former Star Plaza Theatre. Once it came down, they’ve performed it at locations around the region.
This year, all the performances will be at the Indiana University Theatre Northwest in Gary.
“IUN seems to be very open to us being there and really encourages it so we are doing all seven shows there this year,” she said. That includes performances for Gary schoolchildren.
Every year the show is a little different, she said.
“We try to give people something new and exciting to watch,” she said. “We’ve got several dancers coming in, male dancers, from New York and Chicago and (other) areas. Our dancers get to dance with these professional dancers as well.”
This year’s performance will see the return of the traditional Pas De Deux dance after two years of dancing apart, she said.
“We’re excited about that.”
The Pas De Deux is the duet between the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Prince and includes lifts.
“This is the first year back to some of the fabulous dancing that we love,” she said.
She thinks people love “The Nutcracker” because of the tradition.
“It gets everybody excited and ready to go out shopping and have a good time at Christmas,” she said. “It puts a (bow) on the Christmas holidays.”
Here are some performances of “A Christmas Carol” and “The Nutcracker” to help put you in the mood.
“Dickens Christmas Carol Dinner Show”: 2 p.m. Dec. 1-3 and 7-10; 7 p.m. Dec. 3 and 9-10; and 3 p.m. Dec. 4 and 11 at The Center for Visual and Performing Arts, 1040 Ridge Road, Munster. Tickets are $30. 219-836-3255; theatreatthecenter.com. Add a meal for $25 plus tax and gratuity; for reservations call 219-836-1930 ext. 2.
The Theatre at the Center’s exterior and atrium lobby will be decked out for Christmas with the December Festival of Trees Exhibit. The show is presented as a radio performance with three actors doing all the voices and sound effects. Several performances have a dinner option.
M&M Productions presents “Scrooge! The Musical”: 7:30 p.m. Nov. 24, and Dec. 1 -3 and 3 p.m. Dec. 4 at Reinhart Auditorium, 276 E. 68th Place, Merrillville. Tickets are $9-$12. 219-947-4922; m-mproductions.com/Scrooge.
M&M Productions and Ross Music Theatre mount the annual production of the fast-paced, musical version of “A Christmas Carol.” The show was first introduced by Jerauld J. Reinhart in 1982 and set pieces from that first production are still used today.
LaPorte Little Theatre Club “A Christmas Carol”: 7:30 p.m. Dec. 2-3 and 9, 2 p.m. Dec. 4, 10-11 at LaPorte Little Theatre Club, 218 A St., LaPorte. Tickets are $13-$17. 219-362-5113; laportelittletheatreclub.com.
This community theater, which started in 1925, stages the story of a miser who changes his ways after a paranormal experience at Christmastime.
“Scrooge! A Bah Humbug Musical”: 5:30 p.m. Dec. 3, 10 and 17. At Family Christian Center, 340 W. 45th St, Munster. Tickets are $9-$25. 219-922-6500; refugeproductions.com.
An adaptation of “A Christmas Carol” presented as a musical with dancers, actors, animals, pyrotechnics and aerial stunts.
Indiana Ballet Theatre presents “The Nutcracker”: 7 p.m. Dec. 8-9, 1 and 6 p.m. Dec. 10 and 3 p.m. Dec. 11 at the Indiana University Theatre Northwest, 3415 Broadway, Gary. Tickets are $20-$25. ibtnw.org/events.
“A Seussified Christmas Carol”: 7 p.m. Dec. 9-10, 2 p.m. Dec. 11 at Woodland Park, 2100 Willowcreek Road, Portage. Tickets are $10. 219-841-9545; regionalperformingarts.org.
It’s Dr. Seuss meets Dickens in this whimsical reinvention that promises more delightful rhymed couplets and less Victorian London.
Annie Alleman is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
