Commedia Christmas Carol
Take your improv to the next level! Students receive expert training in physical comedy, improvisation, and group playwriting, to create a wholly unique play based on Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
For current 8th-12th graders
- Auditions:
- September 18, 5:30 – 8:30 pm
- September 28, 7:00 – 9:00 pm
- Rehearsals: Oct 8 – Dec 1; Wednesdays 7 – 9 pm & Saturdays 4:30 – 6:30 pm
- There will be no rehearsal Thanksgiving week
- Performances: Dec 2-4 & 9-11
Commedia Christmas Carol
Ebenezer Scrooge cares a lot about money – but very little for his fellow man. This miserly banker categorically shuns charity, compassion, cheer, and even Christmas! Jacob Marley, Scrooge’s business partner, visits Scrooge on Christmas Eve, which is odd since he’s been dead for 7 years. Marley’s ghost has returned to warn Scrooge: Change your ways or suffer forever!
Three spirits take Scrooge on an unforgettable journey into his Past, Present, and Future, laying out his life in front of him. Can Scrooge change his ways for the better and alter the course of his fate? Perhaps Tiny Tim, the ill son of his poor clerk, will heal his heart.
Our Fall Performances require an audition to enroll. There’s a $20 audition fee.
There is nothing to memorize in advance of the audition, but we do encourage you to familiarize yourself with the story. The more you know about the play and characters, the more quickly you’ll distinguish between characters at the audition, so feel free to do research, if you have the time.
We create a fun and supportive environment where returning Traveling Players can reconnect with friends and newcomers can be welcomed to our community. Over the course of the audition, you will take part in improvisations and discussions. Our community develops acting skills in an environment noted for its work ethic, creativity and kindness.
We’ve been told that Traveling Players auditions are the most fun auditions our students have ever attended. We intend to keep it that way.
Auditions are binding, meaning if you are accepted, then you must enroll. If you attend auditions and discover Traveling Players is not the ensemble for you, then please email us within 24 hours after the audition to withdraw your audition.
Audition decisions are generally emailed out a week after the auditions. We can’t wait to meet you!
Our rehearsals will prepare us well, with movement workshops and improvisational games that explore the world of the play. The class is appropriate for experienced actors, as well as for those just being introduced to the style.
Traveling Players summer camps and classes always offer expert training in acting, character creation, physical comedy, stage combat, improvisation, and text analysis. We also value the spirit of the ensemble. Our ensemble- and team-building activities create a strong, supportive cast and friendships that will last a lifetime.
Our kids have taken classes year round. We have not found a better acting program. Our kids have built lasting friendships with the staff and fellow campers.
— Parent
Performance Schedule:
Friday, December 2 at 8 pm
Saturday, December 3 at 8 pm
Sunday, December 4 at 3 pm
Friday, December 9 at 8 pm
Saturday, December 10 at 8 pm
Sunday, December 11 at 3 pm
Performances will take place in our Studio in Tysons Corner Center.
- Classes are in-person.
- Temperature is checked upon arrival.
- All staff are fully vaccinated.
- All students are required to be vaccinated.
- High-touch surfaces are disinfected between classes.
- Our Studio is fully compliant with CDC recommended safety standards, guidelines, and practices, in addition to Tysons Corner Center, Fairfax County and Virginia Department of Health (VDH).
- For the performances, our actors will perform unmasked, wearing safety masks backstage. Our audience will be masked and required to show proof of vaccination or a negative Covid test within 48 hours of the performance. To ensure social distancing, we will reduce the audience to 60% capacity.
- We are continuing to monitor local community transmission levels. If appropriate, we are prepared to move rehearsals and the performances online to Zoom (as we successfully did last year). We doubt this will be necessary.
In 2021, Traveling Players welcomed 90+ students and 25+ staff for 6 weeks of in-person residential camp without a single case of COVID-19. Our community’s vaccination rate greatly exceeds the local average (between 85% and 95%).
In 2020, Traveling Players’ programs were held online. We produced five highly successful play festivals over Zoom, ranging from ridiculous farces to stark tragedies.
Needless to say, we’re prepared for whatever the future holds!
Cast Size: 12 – 14
Director, Choreographer, & Sound Designer: Jeanne Harrison, MA, MFA
Tuition: $800 ($850 after the Early Bird Discount flies away September 5 at midnight)
To get the Early Bird discount, you must audition on September 9
We were totally blown away. My husband could not believe that your kids were high school kids and not college kids.
-Audience Member