Origin
Sign In My Cart
Search
alphabetical author index
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

1940s Radio Christmas Carol, A

...a charming crowd-pleaser.

John Moore The Denver Post

The music was the perfect touch that nicely wrapped this pretty package of a show.

David Doyle Edge:New York.com

...far above the usual holiday offerings.

Stacy Nick The Coloradoan

More information

Description

  • Full Length Musical
  • Dramatic Comedy
  • 105 minutes

  • Time Period: 1940s / WWII
  • Target Audience: Appropriate for all audiences
  • Set Requirements: Interior Set
  • Cautions: No Special Cautions
  • Orchestra Size: Piano Only

  • Performance Group:
  • Dinner Theatre, Community Theatre, Jr High/Primary, High School/Secondary, Professional Theatre, College Theatre / Student, Church / Religious Groups
The long-awaited sequel to the popular The 1940's Radio Hour. It's Christmas Eve, 1943, and the Feddington Players are now broadcasting from a hole-in-the-wall studio in Newark, NJ, and set to present their contemporary 'take' on Dickens's A Christmas Carol.

Whether it's the noisy plumbing, missed cues, electrical blackouts, or the over-the-top theatrics of veteran actor, but radio novice, William St. Claire, this radio show is an entertaining excursion into the mayhem and madness of a live radio show. St. Claire's escalating foibles and acting missteps propel the show to a simultaneously comedic and heart-wrenching dramatic climax: St. Claire has an on-air breakdown, and begins to connect his own life with that of the classic Dickens tale.

In order to 'save the show,' the company improvises an ending to Charles Dickens' classic as a film noir mystery, featuring a hardboiled detective, a femme fatale, and an absurd rescue of Tiny Tim (and the Lindbergh baby) from the clutches of a Hitler-esque villain named Rudolf!

High School Musical lyricist Faye Greenberg and composer David Wohl have written four delightful period songs for the Feddington Players, and swing arrangements of many Christmas standards. Seamlessly combining drama and comedy, heartbreak and hope, A 1940's Radio Christmas Carol will sing its way into your heart.

If you enjoyed 1940's Radio Hour, step back in time once again with the Feddington Players, and get into the holiday spirit with A 1940's Radio Christmas Carol.
REVIEWS:

The music was the perfect touch that nicely wrapped this pretty package of a show...A 1940s Radio Christmas Carol was just the thing I needed to stoke the holiday embers of my once-cold Christmas heart. If you’re in the mood for a sweet story, sparkling music, and a bit of nostalgia, go and see this gem before the chance of a little holiday-mood jumpstart passes you by.

David Doyle Edge:New York.com

A 1940s Radio Christmas Carol is a charming crowd-pleaser.

John Moore The Denver Post

A reading that transforms Charles Dickens's classic into a gumshoe mystery...far above the usual holiday offerings.

Stacy Nick The Coloradoan
Premiere Production: A non-musical early draft of A 1940s Radio Christmas Carol was first produced at Bas Bleu Theatre in Fort Collins, Colorado on November 20, 2007. The performance was directed by Terry Dodd and Wendy Ishii. The full musical was first presented in its current form at was first produced at Bas Bleu Theatre in Fort Collins, Colorado on November 15, 2008. The performance was directed by Walton Jones.

Characters

  • Casting: 6M, 3F
  • Casting Attributes: Reduced casting (Doubling Possible), Ensemble cast, Flexible casting, Room for Extras, Parts for Senior Actors, Expandable casting, Color blind casting
  • Casting Notes: ESTHER and HAROLD are optional characters, whose lines can be distributed as noted in the script. The characters of MARGIE and JUDITH could be collapsed into JUDITH, as could FRITZ be absorbed by CLIFTON.
  • Chorus Size: Medium

  • CLIFTON FEDDINGTON - 55 year-old Mutual Announcer, front man for WOV's Nash-Kelvinator Mystery Theatre. Wears wire-frame glasses like Glenn Miller. Known for being cheap. Has a crush on Judith.

  • WILLIAM ST. CLAIRE - 70 year-old, retired star of stage and screen. With a great mane of dramatic white hair, William is a bit of a curmudgeon and looks down on radio as one of the bastard children of the stage. William's 31 year-old son David was killed in the Air Force in France in June 1943. A guest performer in tonight's show, Mr. St. Claire plays Scrooge.

  • CHARLES "CHOLLY" BUTTS - 35 year-old funny man. Has a day job as a baker at Weequahic Diner (where his specialty is the nesselrode pie). A little stout. Lives in Jersey City, with his wife, Midge, has no kids, and has a hopeless and unrequited crush on Margie.

  • FRITZ CANIGLIARO - Once an east-coast Florsheim Shoe salesman (and still plugs them whenever he gets an opportunity for a little commission), now a WOV regular. The resident Masher, cynic and wise-guy, Fritz plays Frank Nelson cameos in comedy sketches. In his early 40s.

  • "LITTLE" JACKIE SPARKS - Not actually "little," but young. A tenor with a high speaking voice. Having just graduated from high school, Jackie, only 17, lives with his mom in suburban Newark. Calls home probably a dozen times a day. Teased a lot. Still has a Sunday paper route.

  • JUDITH DAVENPORT - Although quite the cutup herself, Judith is the resident "leading lady" playing all such roles as a regular. Has two kids and two ex's and wants no more of either. Determined and stubborn. Considers herself a "legit" actress. Day job working as a switchboard operator. In her 30s.

  • MARGIE O'BRIEN - Brassy, flippant, with a voice to match (think Ginger Rogers in "Stage Door"). As a show regular, plays the comic roles. This 30 year-old Irish-American comedienne lives with her two sisters, Zazu and Vi, in a two-room apartment in Queens. She works days as a bookkeeper/typist/stenographer/receptionist.

  • SALLY SIMPSON - 20 year-old Sally seems sweet and gentle, but is a tough lady. Lives on the lower east side of Manhattan. As a show regular, plays all the animals, babies, insects, little kids. Makes the long train ride to Babylon, Long Island, three days a week, to contribute to the war effort by working for Republic Aviation operating drill presses and riveting guns. Always trying to recruit the other WOV women to join "the cause."

  • ISADORE "BUZZ" CRENSHAW - His life is his work. The 24 year-old "sound effectician" at WOV. Has a sharp wit and is always agreeable, whistling, and in a good mood. Born and raised in Bayonne by his Aunts Lulu and Gilly. Wears an FDR button. Spends a lot of time with Sally Simpson. Buzz lives alone.

  • TOOTS NAVARRE - Musical director, composer and pianist/organist for the Mystery Theatre. (Could be a man or woman.) Besides his/her usual musical chores for WOV, he/she and his/her wife/husband Faith/Frank provide both underscoring to the radio drama as well as their new and old holiday songs for the broadcast.

  • ESTHER LEWIS PIRNIE - Backstage audio engineer and transmitter supervisor for WOV radio.

  • HAROLD J. MULLINS - Concierge of the Hotel Aberdeen in Newark.

    • Related Works