Acting troupe puts a rush on ‘A Christmas Carol’

By Becky Bosshart

Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008 | 3 p.m.

Canon Price would've broken up with Ebenezer Scrooge a lot sooner than her character, Belle, in "A Christmas Carol."

"After only a month," said the 14-year-old Henderson actress. "But I'm not really the relationship type."

Canon lifted her long, gauzy blue dress, revealing a ratty pair of blue Chuck Taylors in which she ran over for dress rehearsal. In this traditional holiday production, everyone is in a hurry.

The cast of 20 was assembled quickly after the company hired for the annual production pulled out about a month ago.

After only 16 rehearsals, Theatre in the Valley will present the condensed one-hour production at 4:30 and 6:30 p.m. Dec. 13 at the Henderson amphitheater. This is the first year Theatre in the Valley has staged the production.

It's been a community effort to get everything working on such a close deadline, said director Theron LaFountain.

"It's been very hard," he said. "But we've had some great folks putting together the costumes and sets."

Charles Dickens' classic "A Christmas Carol" is the finale of WinterFest, the annual celebration at the Henderson Events Plaza, on Dec. 11-13.

This year's performance is different because it will feature a narrator, LaFountain said. He wrote the part into the script to shorten the play.

And the director chose 14-year-old actor Brendyn Bell, a Las Vegas Academy student, as the narrator.

At such a young age, Brendyn has taken on a few challenging roles, most recently as Buddy in a school production of "The Diviners." His first film work was as the cabin boy in the opening scene of the 2007 "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," where he sang "Hoist the Colours." Memorization on such short notice is just one of the obstacles.

"I'm still working on my character personally," he said. "But I think in the essence of the play, he's going to bring a more enlightened view to the audience."

The narrator must keep the story flowing, which doesn't seem to be a problem for Brendyn. He reads his lines with an English accent while stepping in and out of the action. His brown shag haircut is capped by a large top hat.

Canon realizes her importance in the play. She said her character is the catalyst: Scrooge turns cold after Belle leaves him. The Foothill High School freshman described the break-up like this:

"He is too absorbed in himself and his money. If he would've given her more attention, she would've stayed.

"I think she probably went home afterward, ate some ice cream and moved on."

Becky Bosshart can be reached at 990-7748 or [email protected].