.I've seen the original American film version
(done in 1938), with Reginald Owen as Scrooge (it was supposed to go to Lionel Barrymore, who used to do an annual radio version of the book, but he was scratched because of an injury), the classic British film version
(about 1951 or so), with Alastair Sim as Scrooge, and an American TV version
with George C. Scott as Scrooge. All are excellent.More...
I'm embarassed to admit that I haven't actually read the Dickens' novel, but I hope to be rectifying that some time soon.
The Radio Broadcast
However, a friend of my husband and I has a radio show (it's an all-volunteer station in the area), and he invited us to be part of his annual Christmas deliverance of A Christmas Carol (like Lionel Barrymore's)...and, yes, your not-so-humble, er, writer here did indeed partake of it, playing three roles, that of a girl in mourning, Fred's wife (Fred is the nephew of Scrooge), and a servant girl.
Our friend took the part of Scrooge, since it's his show...and he did a marvelous job of it.
Who, Me Nervous?
We're not talking a national broadcasting station, but our friend's show is heard in the northwestern counties of NJ and some eastern counties of PA (think: Easton). Anyhoo, I read through the script (which changes every year), thinking about the people whom I had to portray...their stations in life...and the fact that I had to do all three with a British accent.
The first one was a little hard, as the young girl is in mourning, and gives a sort of intense speech. I had the most verbiage with this role. The next one, I decided to give a sort of dour but sprightliness to my accent, while the last one, I was trying to give a sort of Cockney ring to it (this is right after Scrooge changes).
Amazing
All eight or so of us were standing around the mics, as the studio is pretty small, and fitting all those chairs in made our friend feel a bit claustrophobic. One of our friend's friends, who typed up the script, gave me a big thumb's up after reading through the first role.
And then everyone was complimenting me on my readings! :-) Let me tell you: IT WAS A BLAST!! I had so much fun, I talked about it for a long time afterwards. Of course, my husband complimented me as well, and as he always fancied himself the actor type, it took my breath away.
Oh, it was fun, fun, FUN!! I wanna do it again! I don't know if I'll be able to next year, depending on the work situation, but I hope I'll be able to take off that Friday before Christmas.
Love and kisses,
~Nancy Beck
