A CHRISTMAS CAROL TIMES TWO LOWELL MA

Media Contacts:
Al LePage, Actor/Producer / Great Stories Alive! / 503-335-3876 / Al.LePage@SpireTech.com
Dr. Diana Archibald, Associate Professor / University of Massachusetts Lowell / 978-934-4199 / Diana_Archibald@uml.edu

"Dickens in Lowell" Christmas Carol event
to benefit UMass Lowell student scholarship
"Englishman Thomas Hutchinson invites you to A Christmas Carol Times Two!

"Englishman Thomas Hutchinson invites you to A Christmas Carol Times Two!

Photo Credit: David Krapes

"Victorian Englishman" portrayed by an actor and former UMass Lowell alum
wraps up events honoring author's 200th birthday to help students pay for college

"A Christmas Carol Times Two!", a dramatic reading performance of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" combined with traditional 19th-century English Christmas carols will happen on Sunday, Dec. 9 at 2:30PM at St. Anne's Episcopal Church, 8 Kirk Street in Lowell, Massachusetts. Actor Al LePage will become "Englishman Thomas Hutchinson, Traveling Thespian" complete with English accent, clothing of the period and other accoutrements for the dramatic reading part. Organist Beth Parsons will weave organ music between various scenes to set the tone for what's to come and entertain. This is a special Dickens in Lowell benefit event sponsored by the University of Massachusetts Lowell and hosted by St. Anne's Episcopal Church with all proceeds to benefit the UMass Lowell Charles Dickens Scholarship. Admission is $10 per person at the door or through BrownPaperTickets.com either online or by calling 1-800-838-3006. The performance is best appreciated both by adults and children 10 years of age and older, doors open at 2 PM, the fun begins at 2:10 PM, and seating is general admission.

"It's a double feature," begins LePage," since you not only get to experience a dramatic reading of 'A Christmas Carol,' but also enjoy traditional English Christmas carol music, too! That's what makes it a Christmas Carol times two, you see. But wait, since it's Christmas 1876, there's been a lot of local developments since Lowell had been incorporated in 1823, and there's other American history to bring alive, too! I guess that really makes the whole thing a kind of triple feature, doesn't it?"
Photo Credit: David Krapes

"Englishman Thomas Hutchinson" will sing and dance his way into your heart!

LePage entertains appreciative audiences with his one-man "solo" of Dickens' "Christmas Carol" as Victorian-era "Englishman Thomas Hutchinson." His abbreviated performance is not only based upon Dickens' own historic public reading version, but are also done just like Dickens did simply by using his voice, facial expressions, gestures and movement to create all 18 characters -- accents and all -- plus sound effects, too! From Scrooge to Tiny Tim, from Marley's Ghost to Mrs. Cratchit, there's howls and growls, bangs and bongs, a dance with a song, lively laughter and heartfelt tears. Since he's playful, likes to experiment and believes in seizing the moment, even he doesn't always know what's going to happen next. And, before each reading, he's definitely got what could aptly be called “his stories” to tell both in “the year” and the place he's performing to connect, interpret, and share history with the audience. He loves to play to -- and with -- audience members to bring history alive, which will quickly become evident when you first encounter him. He's sure to bring you lively laughter, and hopefully some tears, during his dramatic reading of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol.'

"Besides the fact my great grandparents apparently moved here to find work as French Canadians in the giant mill city of nineteenth century Lowell," begins LePage, "there's another personal connection to its history, today's UMass Lowell."

"When the time came to think about going to college choosing one was an easy task because I wanted to major in chemical engineering and at that time there were few choices. My grades were excellent enough to go to MIT, but the reality was I came from a middle-income family. Tuition at MIT in 1972 was $2,000 a year, at Lowell Technical Institute -- today's UMass Lowell -- it was only $200. So, I lived at home, commuted from Framinghan roundtrip everyday for four years, and graduated with a B.S. in Biology in 1976 as a member of the first graduating class of the University of Lowell. I liked to call it the 'poor man's MIT' at the time, by the way, because my research seemed to suggest that the staff, library and other resources at 'Lowell Tech' were of the same caliber as the other school. MIT even used our school's Van de Graaff accelerator, so I heard."

"What's my motivation, asks LePage." "That's something directors and actors often ask about the character being portrayed, but what's my own personal motivation for doing this show in Lowell? Primarily it's about giving back. It's about helping the institution that helped me earn my first college degree. And it's about helping current and future students financially through scholarships. I myself had a scholarship, though not from the school itself, another one I had applied for and received. It amounted to $1,000 over the four years I was there, and incredibly, that was the total cost of my tuition for my degree back then. How things have changed! But one thing that hasn't changed is that many students still need financial help, so come enjoy the show, add to the Dickens scholarship fund, and help some students get their education."

Beth Parsons started banging on piano keys when she was just 4 years old! After two more years she had impressed her parents enough to think "maybe this kid should be taking piano lessons," and so it happened. At age 12 it was organ lessons with the church organist and performing preludes and postludes at church services. When she was old enough to drive at 16 and a half she headed off once a week from Acton in the family VW camper to study with Jack Fisher, professor of organ performance at Boston University.

The next stop in her musical journey was at Westminster Choir College, where she studied voice, choir directing, and majored in organ, graduating with a BA in Church Music. She then landed a job with the Andover Organ Company, and with on-the-job training learned how to restore and maintain pipe organs plus serving as music director of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Bedford. After she "bounced around" with a lot of jobs over the years, she finally made a soft landing as music director at St. Mark's in Westford, and eventually at St. Anne's in Lowell. She describes her style as "schmaltzy" explaining that her training, heart and ability all lie in the classical music realm with lots of embellishment.

She resides in Westford with husband Don, two cats, and a dog who unfortunately got sprayed this autumn by a skunk. She generously and gladly donates her talents for the upcoming performance to benefit UMass Lowell students through scholarship assistance.

LePage got his start bringing history to life through improvised portrayals of real people from the past and has been seen by thousands during the eight years he appeared at events with the National Park Service, historic sites, museums, and other venues in the Pacific Northwest. He's appeared on the PBS TV History Detectives series as everything from a bartender to Robert E. Lee! He's also written and produced his own one-man historical dramas, and recorded his “short” performance version of Dickens' classic holiday story as a one-man radio show, an Oregon Public Broadcasting Radio production that premiered last year on Christmas Eve. LePage has even given “historical performances” on location in Boston where, and once when (same calendar date), Dickens did in 1867! "Performance with passion and purpose" is the mission of his Great Stories Alive! theater company shows. “Englishman Thomas Hutchinson” was first created to share history as an “average guy” but who somehow always seemed to turn up when and where historic events happened! He now lives on as a Victorian-era “Traveling Thespian” giving performances of Dickens' "Christmas Carol" to benefit charity, having done so since 2006. Last year he even traveled to England to perform the "Carol" for the very first time. LePage loves to improvise and believes all the world's a stage, and every audience member a potential player, so watch out!