College gets into holiday spirit with fall show

BARSTOW • It may not even be Thanksgiving yet, but Barstow Community College’s latest stage production is aiming to get folks into the Christmas spirit.

“A Christmas Carol,” an adaptation of Charles Dickens’ tale of famed miser Ebenezer Scrooge and the four ghosts who pay him a visit on Christmas Eve, premieres Friday.

The play, which isn’t a musical but incorporates several songs, said director Amy Ross, is a relatively shorter version of the traditional holiday story, which Ross said she likes about the adaptation.

“I just felt that it was bright,” she said. “It doesn’t take you on a really heavy journey of the story.”

“The scenes are shorter but you still meet a lot of people along the way,” Ross added.

College student Dorothy Espinoza is among the 34 cast members, which makes for a larger than average college production, said Ross. For Espinoza, who plays housekeeper Mrs. Dilber, it’s a chance for the 60-year-old to return to her acting passion and also be on stage for the first time with her two teenage granddaughters.

“I couldn’t believe that after 30 years I got a part that actually required memorization of lines,” said Espinoza.
Dale Jensen, a BCC English professor, fills the story’s central character as Scrooge. Jensen said audience members will see his character go through a range of personalities. The professor said he tapped into the personalities of people he knows to help him portray behaviors from “extreme nastiness” to silliness.

“It’s just sort of a mixed bag of people I’ve met,” he said. For Jensen, his favorite part of the play is the redemptive story line.

“I like the idea of people being able to change — that we’re not all the same all the time,” he said.

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“A Christmas Carol”
When: Nov. 13-15, and Nov. 20-21. Friday and Saturday shows begin at 7:30 p.m. Sunday shows are at 2 p.m.
Where: Interim performing arts center, Barstow Community College, 2700 Barstow Road.
Cost: General admission $7. Students, children and seniors $5.
Contact: Tickets can be reserved by calling (760) 252-6702.