B Street Theatre's Mainstage Presents A CHRISTMAS CAROL

After a sold-out run on B Street Theatre's Family Series Stage in 2015, Buck Busfield's adaptation of A Christmas Carol returns to B Street's Mainstage as the 2016 Holiday Show. Called "a set piece of costume-changing, door-slamming comic gold" by the Sacramento Bee, this production is sure to warm the hearts of children and adults alike. Featuring B Street's beloved Company Members Greg Alexander reprising his role of Ebenezer Scrooge, John Lamb, Amy Kelly, Tara Sissom and Kurt Johnson, this production is a must-see this Holiday Season.

About B Street and A Christmas Carol

In our Christmas Carol we have all of the regulars - Scrooge, Tiny Tim, Three Spirits, Three Ghosts, Fred and the Cratchits. But this production wouldn't be unique to B Street Theatre without a special twist. This Christmas, Ebenezer Scrooge is tired of having his sickeningly sweet redemption told and retold every December for the last 173 years. He plans to outwit the three ghosts by drinking tea and dismissing their warnings, while the other characters implore Scrooge to reconsider his actions by staging an effective intervention. Buck Busfield and Ebenezer Scrooge make Charles Dickens wriggle in his grave this holiday season as they tell the story that should have been told all along.

The Playwright - Buck Busfield

Buck has worked for B Street since its creation in 1986. He selects and casts all plays and has directed more than 200 of them, working with some of the nation's finest actors and playwrights. As a playwright himself, Buck has written more than 20 plays; many having received productions at B Street Theatre. He is the recipient of the Arts and Business Council of Sacramento's Executive of the Year award and is a senior fellow of the Mountain Valley chapter of the American Leadership Forum, Class IX. He makes his home in Sacramento with his wife Mehera, and their daughter, Priya.

The Director - Dave Pierini

David Pierini began working for the B Street Theatre in 1990. He started as an actor for the B Street Theatre School Tour (then called The Fantasy Theatre), then started to write and direct for the Tour. David has acted steadily in B Street productions from its inception in 1991. In 2004, B Street Producing Artistic Director Buck Busfield suggested David try to write an adaptation of the beloved children's book, The Boxcar Children. Thus began a long fruitful relationship with the B Street Family Series.

The Setting:

The home of Ebenezer Scrooge on December 24, 2016

The Cast

Scrooge: Greg Alexander

Greg Alexander has appeared in numerous B Street Theatre productions including The Explorers Club, I Am My Own Wife, The Big Bang!, Around The World In 80 Days, Escanaba In Da Moonlight, and Outside Mullingar. He also wrote and directed Walk In Our Shoes - a show promoting mental health awareness - for B Street Theatre's School Tour. Sponsored by the California Mental Health Services Authority, Walk In Our Shoes was performed at over 100 schools throughout the state. Most recently, he directed the previous Family Series show Anansi the Spider. Additional regional theatre credits include work at The Jewish Theatre of San Francisco, Sacramento Theatre Company, Capital Stage, Actor's Theatre of Louisville, Williamstown Theatre Festival, The Philadelphia Theatre Company and People's Light and Theatre Company in Malvern, Pa. Greg lives in Sacramento with his wife Sean and their Westies, Milo and Magoo.

Ensemble: John Lamb - John is a company member of the B Street Theatre. Former roles on the B Street stage include Brother Brightbee et al. in The Book of Liz, Brent in While We Were Bowling, Johnny in Juno and the Paycock, Pete/Danny in Almost, Maine, Clyde in Jack Goes Boating, Nicky Giblin in The Seafarer, Donnie in The Foursome and Huey in Italian American Reconciliation. He has acted in the B Street Family Series productions of Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, The Canterville Ghost, The Boxcar Children, The Princess and the Pauper, Johnny Tremain, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Rumplestilskin, the Swiss Family Robinson, Junie B. Jones, Jingle Bells, Batman Smells; The Three Musketeers, Snow White and Rose Red and most recently The Garden of Rikki Tikki Tavi. Directing credits include Women Who Steal, The Tale of the Allergist's Wife, Earshot, The Maintenance Man, Beauty and the Beast and The Big Bang.

Ensemble: Amy Kelly - Amy is an actress, comedian, voice-over artist and impersonator. Her film credits include Nick and Tristan Go Mega Dega (2010) and West Hollywood Motel (2013) and she has starred in numerous independent cult classics that have screened internationally. Amy guest starred in the Comedy Central series Free Radio and VH1's reality series New York Goes to Hollywood. As a B Street Theatre company member, Amy's performances include Well, 39 Steps. The Snow Queen, Extraordinary Things, Through the Eyes of Anne Frank, The Young Tom Edison, Hansel and Gretel, The Conductor: Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad, Alexander and The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day; Robyn is Happy, The Ladies Foursome, Dia de los Cuentos, 5 Lesbians Eating A Quiche and The Garden of Rikki Tikki Tavi. She also writes and performs for the B Sketchy comedy shows.

Ensemble: Kurt Johnson - Kurt has been a regular at the B Street Theatre since completing its acting apprentice program in the 1993-94 season. As a member of the B Street Theatre Acting Company, he has appeared in numerous productions, including Below the Belt, Lobby Hero, Lune Pronounced Loony, Rabbit Hole, Doubt, Escanaba In Da Moonlight, The Seafarer, The 39 Steps, The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence and Speed-the-Plow. In addition, he directed Betty and the Yeti, F-Stop and Vigil. Kurt has been on other stages in the Sacramento area, including Music Circus, Sacramento Theatre Company and Capital Stage. In addition to his stage work, he acts in commercials, industrial videos, radio voiceovers and film. He also teaches acting and improvisation.

Ensemble: Tara is a B Street Theatre Company Member and former intern who was seen most recently in Clever Little Lies, Mud Blue Sky, 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche and The Jacksonian for the Mainstage Series. Tara recently appeared at the Brooklyn Academy Of Music in The Iceman Cometh, with Brian Dennehy and Nathan Lane, having also in appeared in the same production at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. She is a company member of the New Colony, with whom she's written two plays - Pancake Breakfast and 11:11. She received a Joseph Jefferson Award for original music composition for That Sordid Little Story. Other B Street credits are Make Someone Happy; Jack Goes Boating; Gulf View Drive, Go, Dog, Go! and Cinderella. In Chicago, Tara has appeared in Frat, Tupperware: An American Musical Fable and 11:11 with the New Colony, and Literally Sexy II, III and IV; One-Minute Play Festival and Walk of Shame with the Fresh-Squeezed Series at Victory Garden's Biograph Theatre. Regional credits include The Man Who Came to Dinner, Children of Eden and Beauty and the Beast at Flat Rock Playhouse. Tara has a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Music Theatre from Elon University.

More about B Street Theatre: B Street Theatre is a non-profit, professional theatre company producing primarily new work for adults, families and children. The two-theatre playhouse on B Street in Midtown Sacramento is home to the Mainstage Series, B3 Series and Family Series, each created to feature intimate, quality theatre for audiences year-round. Recognized as one of the Nation's top professional theatres, B Street Theatre has produced more than 100 new plays, 60 of which are world, national, West Coast or regional premieres.

B Street Theatre was originally founded in 1986 for the purpose of bringing the excitement of live performance to children through the B Street Theatre School Tour. This educational outreach program serves over 200,000 students in Northern California annually.

Other B Street Theatre programs include the B Street Theatre Family Series and Family Series Student Matinees (for school field trips), the B3 Series, B Street Acting Conservatory and Studio for Young People, and the B Street Theatre Internship program for pre-professional and post-college training.

B Street Theatre has produced over 250 professional productions since 1986.

More information at www.bstreettheatre.org.

The mission of B Street Theatre is to promote education and literacy, social interaction, and cultural enrichment by engaging children and adults in the highest quality theatre arts and playwriting.

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