Stage Door News

St. Catharines: The Foster Festival presents “A Niagara Christmas Carol” December 6-8

Thursday, November 21, 2024

The Foster Festival presents A Niagara Christmas Carol, Dickens' beloved tale, reimagined within our local Niagara history December 6, 7 and 8.

Bring the whole family! The Foster Festival’s staged reading of A Niagara Christmas Carol, its newly-adapted and uniquely Canadian take on the traditional story of Ebenezer Scrooge’s redemption, is a family-friendly event full of humour and music. And we are offering family-friendly ticket prices:

Under 30s tickets: $25

Under 18s tickets: $15

Regular tickets: $40

To order Under 30 and Under 18 tickets please call the Box Office at 1.844.735.4832 x3. Ticket prices include fees and taxes; the price you see is the price you pay!

A NEW HOLIDAY TRADITION

As Emily Oriold, The Foster Festival's Artistic Director and Director of A Niagara Christmas Carol says: "In offering this piece, I am drawn to a sentiment so beautifully expressed in A Christmas Carol. This time of year is a good time: a kind, forgiving, charitable, and pleasant time: the only time in the long calendar year when we all, in one consent, open our shut-up hearts freely, and think of all our fellow passengers on this journey we call life.

I hope you enjoy our local version of this tale and that A Niagara Christmas Carol will become a holiday tradition in St. Catharines for many years to come!"

Adapted by Artistic Associate, Jamie Williams, directed by the Festival's Artistic Director, Emily Oriold, and in partnership with the St. Catharines Museum & Welland Canals Centre, Dickens’ beloved holiday ghost story is set in 19th century St. Catharines situated around the Welland Canal Company and the Canal itself.

There are just three opportunities to attend: December 6 (7pm) at the St. Catharines Museum; December 7 (7pm) and December 8 (2pm) at The Mandeville Theatre, Ridley College.

This is the beginning of a new holiday tradition in St. Catharines and you have the opportunity to see it first and offer creative feedback. You are an important part of the development process! Early readings are key for a playwright to experience audience reactions and feedback during the rewriting process before a play is produced.

If you’ve attended readings at The Foster Festival before, this ‘staged’ reading is a little different. The actors are not just standing behind music stands; the addition of music, costume pieces, and sound effects will enhance your experience. Sweet treats from Cake Cafe in Virgil and wine from Vineland Estates Winery will also be available to purchase at each performance.

THE CAST FEATURES A MIX OF FOSTER FAVOURITES AND NEW FACES IN A NIAGARA CHRISTMAS CAROL

 • Molly Atkinson is very pleased to be a part of A Niagara Christmas Carol this year. Molly has worked at various theatre companies, her favourites include the Stratford Festival, Soulpepper, Thousand Islands Playhouse, and Tarragon Theatre. Some film and television credits include IT Parts 1 and 2, Road to Avonlea, Hudson and Rex, Haven. The last few years, she has been focused on directing, which she is loving. She spent six seasons with the Shaw Festival, directing their production of A Christmas Carol (2018-2022) and Prince Caspian. Most recently she directed Hedda Gabler at the Stratford Festival.

 • Jasmine Case is a recent Dora Award-winning actor for outstanding performance by an individual in the TYA category for her role in YPT's Truth. She is a Jamaican–Canadian artist, born and raised in Toronto, where she currently lives and works, and where she first fell in love with theatre! She has been attending and participating in drama since she was little, and has always been drawn towards the stage. She still loves watching a theatre go dark, a stage light up, and hearing the excitement grow as a show begins! In 2020, she graduated from Brock University, and last year, she graduated from the National Theatre School of Canada!

Jasmine is excited to be bringing this story to life and to be back in the city she started this path! Special thank you to my family and friends for supporting me.

 • Edmond Clark is happy to be back at The Foster Festival following 1812 and Time & Tide workshop.

Other select theatre credits include: After Icarus, (Dandelion); Man of Destiny, and Ghosts (Cup of Hemlock); Shakespeare Projects, (York University - Tanja Jacobs, director).

Select Film/TV credits include: The End of The World (Cannes Official Selection); Boundaries; Rune; and Swipd.

 • Claire Jullien has spent 16 seasons at the Shaw Festival and 10 seasons at the Stratford Festival.

Select Shaw Festival credits include: Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of the Human Heart, Candida, The Shadow of a Doubt, Sherlock Holmes and The Raven’s Curse, Charley’s Aunt, The Ladykillers, Getting Married, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Henry V, Middletown, Dancing at Lughnasa, Engaged, A Woman of No Importance, Light Up the Sky, Top Girls, When We Are Married, Arms and The Man, Peace in Our Time, Our Betters, Hedda Gabler, Present Laughter, Candida, On the Rocks, Ways of the Heart, In Good King Charles’s Golden Days, After the Dance, The Stepmother.

Other select theatre credits include: Middletown, Crow’s Theatre; King Lear, Lincoln Center Theater; ten seasons with the Stratford Festival, notable roles include Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Imogen in Cymbeline, Desdemona in Othello; theatres across Canada include Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Mirvish, Grand Theatre, Nightwood Theatre, Festival of Classics, Theatre Aquarius, Thousand Islands Playhouse, Theatre New Brunswick.

Select TV/Film credits include: Murdoch Mysteries, Canada: A People’s History, Elizabeth Rex.

Claire has a BFA from the University of Windsor and currently makes her home in St. Catharines. She is thrilled to be joining The Foster Festival this season.

Isaiah Kolundzic returns to The Foster Festival following his performance in The Melville Boys this summer.

Other stage credits include: ICEMEN, Mary of Shanty Bay (Theatre By The Bay); The Importance of Being Earnest, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival); Water Wonder (Carousel Players); False Claims (I&E Productions); Venus in Fur, The Boys in the Band, bash: The Latter Day Plays (The Edge Productions); Six Stories Told at Night (Gangway! Theatre Company).

Film and TV credits include: Noel Next Door, Languages of Love (Hallmark); Lemons (Creekview Entertainment); Mayday (Discovery ID); Matches, Well Spent (Stompin’ Ground Films); WWI: The Road to Victory (Discovery).

Follow @isaiahthomaskolundzic.

Patrick McManus last appeared with The Foster Festival in The Christmas Tree reading.

Patrick has been working as an actor for the last 30 years, or so. He spent 11 seasons at the Shaw Festival. Some of his favourites there include: Dunois in St Joan, Henry Higgins in Pygmalion; Bernard in Arcadia; Astrov in Uncle Vanya; Boucicault in An Octoroon.

Patrick has appeared with Bard on the Beach, Caravan Farm Theatre, The Citadel, Globe Theatre, Blyth Festival, Stratford Festival, Tarragon Theatre, CanStage, Factory Theatre, National Arts Centre, and the Segal Centre, among others.

Recent Film/TV work includes: Cows Come Home; Code 8: Part II; Golden Boy; Anne With an E; Murdoch Mysteries; The Good Witch; Private Eyes; In the Dark; The Hot Zone.

Patrick lives in Niagara-on-the-Lake with his wife Tara, their daughter Eliana, and two cats.

Graeme Somerville was part of The Foster Festival's The Christmas Tree reading, and is happy to be back!

He has been at the Shaw Festival for 22 seasons. In 2024, he appeared in Witness for the Prosecution and One Man, Two Guvnors.

Other selected credits for the Shaw: Thirty-nine productions since 2003, including A Christmas Carol (2021-22/2017-19), The Apple Cart, The Game of Love and Chance, The Importance of Being Earnest, Too True To Be Good, Trouble in Mind, The Devil’s Disciple, Getting Married, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Henry V, Dracula, Saint Joan, Alice in Wonderland, Peter and the Starcatcher, Arms and The Man, Major Barbara, A Man and Some Women, When the Rain Stops Falling, Serious Money, John Bull’s Other Island, In Good King Charles’s Golden Days, An Inspector Calls, Design for Living, Man and Superman, Misalliance.

Elsewhere: The Lehman Trilogy, The Beard of Avon, Canadian Stage; Hush, Tarragon; The Turn of the Screw, Belfry; Saint Joan, Theatre Calgary; Death of a Salesman, Theatre Aquarius; The Unanswered Question, Hamlet, Twelfth Night, NAC; The Forest, GCTC; Geometry in Venice, Factory Theatre.

Awards: Dora Award, outstanding performance as Lenz.

Jamie Williams has performed in over 90 productions in the last three decades, as well as written three plays, two of which have been produced; the third upcoming in 2025. In the last number of years Jamie has had the great fortune of donning the director’s hat. With 30 years invested, Jamie’s love for the theatre industry only grows deeper and he is forever grateful for the diverse opportunities afforded him by it.

Playwright: It’s Your Funeral (Upper Canada Playhouse, Port Stanley Festival Theatre); The View From Here (Port Stanley Festival Theatre, Theatre Orangeville); Pinkerton Comes To Prospect (Shortlisted for The Playwrights Guild of Canada Comedy Award 2020, world premiere at Lighthouse Festival in 2025).

Actor (Selected): The View From Here (Port Stanley Festival Theatre); The Writer (World Premier, Foster Festival); Here on the Flight Path (Foster Festival); A Christmas Carol (Upper Canada Playhouse, The Citadel); Sleight of Mind (Western Canada Theatre); Arcadia (The Citadel); Skin Flick (World Premiere, Neptune Theatre); Affections of May (Upper Canada Playhouse); The Melville Boys (Lighthouse Festival Theatre, Theatre Orangeville); Noises Off (Theatre Aquarius); Homeward Bound (The Grand); The Hobbit (Young People’s Theatre); Possible Worlds (National Arts Centre, Theatre Passe Muraille, Neptune Theatre, Festival des Amérique); and four season at the Stratford Festival.

Director: The Foster Festival, Upper Canada Playhouse, and Lighthouse Festival Theatre. He most recently directed the world premiere of Time & Tide by Jody Stevens McCluskey at The Foster Festival in October 2024.

Paul Ewan Wilson makes a welcome return to The Foster Festival having last appeared in Go for Gold, Audrey Pham reading.

Stage Credits (Selected): Billy Elliot (Neptune), 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Stephenville), The Phantom of the Opera (Opera on the Avalon), Area of Uncertainty, The Servant of Two Masters, The Seagull, Julius Caesar, Macbeth (Perchance), The Big League, House at Pooh Corner (Carousel Players), Outlaw (Theatre in Port).

Film & TV (Selected): Hudson & Rex, SurrealEstate (Recurring), Frontier (Series Regular), Republic of Doyle, Under the Weather.

Paul thanks Emily and Jamie for inviting him back to The Foster Festival; and special thanks, love and appreciation to Kristyn, Alexander, and Anna.

Book your seats now and celebrate the Holiday season with The Foster Festival, Call 1.844.735.4832 x3 or visit fosterfestival.com.

BOX OFFICE HOURS: Mon.-Fri.: 10am-4pm | Sat. & Sun.: Closed. Voicemails will be answered during regular Box Office hours.