Brownsville’s Camille Playhouse to present ‘A Christmas Carol’

1 month ago 43

The Camille Playhouse will welcome the holiday season with “A Christmas Carol.” The production features actors from across the Rio Grande Valley, youth and adult ensembles, and all the characters from the classic Charles Dickens story.

“A Christmas Carol” will be presented at the Camille in Dean Porter Park on successive weekends Dec. 6-8 and 13-15. Tickets are available online and at the box office.

“The version we’re doing is completely based off of the original text, with a little bit of adaptation for the stage. It’s going to include a huge cast of all different ages. There’s going to be some Christmas carols, of course, ending the show,” Artistic Director Brandon Binder said earlier this week.

“We had our auditions between the two weekends of “The Crucible,” so we’ve been working on this since the end of October. A large group of people came in and auditioned because we knew we were going to have a youth ensemble and an adult ensemble in part of the cast. So, we had a lot of people coming from across the Valley,” he said.

Here are some of the characters in the Dickens classic, as retold in this year’s Camille Playhouse version:

EBENEEZER SCROOGE

Harlingen resident Jorge Luis Gonzalez plays Scrooge. “His wife was in ‘Into the Woods’ with us at the beginning of the season, and both of them were in the summer show at the Harlingen Community Theater, so I got to meet them there and see them perform in ‘Grease,’” Binder said.

“They’ve been coming to our shows. … He’s an incredible character actor. He’s physicalized the character of Ebeneezer Scrooge so far, and he’s excited to age-up his performance style,” the director added.

GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST

“Daniella Ortiz is 10 years old and she is our Ghost of Christmas Past. She has done one summer of our summer youth workshop here. She did an incredible job. She’s also a part of the theater group at St. Mary’s (Catholic School in Brownsville), where we helped. She is very articulate, very loud, really enjoys the stage. She came out and auditioned, and I knew that she would be perfect for a role like that,” he said.

BOB CRACHIT

Aaron Bravo was last seen as the baker in “Into the Woods.” “He is really excited because he hasn’t done a play since “Over the Rainbow” in 2017 or 2018. He always does musicals, so he was excited to come in and do a play,” Binder said.

LOVE INTEREST

“As well we have Sophia Flores, who was in ‘Into the Woods,’ and she is playing a spotlight character who a lot of people don’t know by the name of Belle. It’s the woman that Ebeneezer was engaged to, and then when Scrooge started becoming the Scrooge that he is, the engagement broke off. So, in the scene when they go into the past, you get to see that final interaction. She’s doing that spotlight woman. It is a very dramatic part of the show,” he said.

Binder added that “A Christmas Carol” will allow The Camille to offer shows to schools around Brownsville and beyond. Individual schools come to the theater and get to see the play performed exclusively for them.

“It’s just a very classic tale, and because of that, this is the show where we’re offering school shows, so there will be field trip opportunities for students to come in and see the show during the week. We’ve already sold over 1,000 tickets for those shows. I think most of the schools are from Brownsville. I know for sure that Port Isabel has reserved some seats. … It’s an opportunity for them to come in and experience theater with their classes, especially the younger ones,” Binder said.

The Camille is in the midst of its 61st anniversary season. Martie DiGregorio, board president, said as a community theater The Camille looks for opportunities to reach beyond Brownsville.

“One of our goals when we select seasons, is to reach Valleywide, and so a cast like this allows us to fulfill that because you bring in people from all over the Valley, and believe it or not, that really helps us when we’re applying for grants because they want to see that you are reaching out. Plus, we believe greatly in giving an opportunity to anybody that wants to be on that stage,” she said.

CHRISTMAS CABARET

Scheduled Dec. 19, the fundraising event is an intimate performance set in the DiStefano Room, where a group of performers do different songs for the holiday season.

“We’ve auditioned and curated a group of performers, who are going to be singing solos, duets, group songs with live musicians and with tracks, I believe. We will be hosting the appropriate number of people for that room,” Binder said.

The DiStefano Room, a large lobby outside the theater, has a capacity of about 120, but the event will be sold for 85 or 90 participants. Tickets go on sale next week.

“We will have a stage in there. We will have catered food. It’s a really nice event to send us off into the holiday season, because we try to do it right before the holiday break begins for most schools and when people leave for Christmas,” he said.

“It’s very intimate and that’s what our guests have expressed, that they like it because it’s a smallish group, it’s very intimate, it’s cozy, and because it’s in the DiStefano they feel like they’re performing just for them,” DiGregorio said.

CHRISTMAS TOY DRIVE

The Camille has partnered with the Brownsville Fire Department, and for the past two years has been a designated drop off spot for people to donate toys to the department’s annual toy giveaway.

“They already have a big box here, where people can drop off toys. The Saturday before, it’s usually about the 13^th, that’s where we come in. We do what we call the Firehouse/Playhouse Toy Drive. People can drive by. We’re set up, and Santa’s outside, and there’s a big old fire truck outside, too,” David Salinas, a Camille volunteer and media liaison, said.

“We really did it because we want to contribute to the community somehow. What better organization to partner with than the Brownsville Fire Department? We provide Santa and we provide the venue for people to drop off toys. And free pictures with Santa, too,” said Salinas, who always plays Santa.

HOLIDAY VILLAGE

Lighting of the Holiday Village, which is adjacent to the theater in Dean Porter Park, is going to come from Camille this year, on Nov. 24. “They’re going to officially thank the house owners and then they’re going to throw the switch,” DiGregorio said.

Also, on Dec. 9, they’re going to have an appreciation ceremony for the people that donated to the effort to bring the Amelia Earhart statue to the park. That’s also going to happen at the Camille.

“We just don’t do plays. We’re here for the community, and we want to be involved, especially in the Mitte Cultural District. We have neighbors, and so, we participate, and we collaborate as best we can. … If we can accommodate, happy to accommodate,” she said.

The post Brownsville’s Camille Playhouse to present ‘A Christmas Carol’ appeared first on MyRGV.com.

Read Entire Article