The daily Astorian., November 28, 2019, Page 8, Image 8

From Shanghaied to
Scrooged
BY KATHERINE LACAZE
or the 13th year, the Astor Street
Opry Company will present its hol-
iday musical melodrama “Scrooged
in Astoria,” but this year, the cast is almost
entirely comprised of youth actors.
“We had to change so much because of
all the kids,” Stephanie Osborn, the musi-
cal’s director, said.
When she held auditions for the annual
show – which opens on Friday, Dec. 6 and
runs through Dec. 22 – she expected around
F
25 people to attend. Instead, she wound
up with a cast of about 40, the majority of
whom are under the age of 18.
With that sort of youth representation,
Osborn and her team members – assis-
tant director Adam Haase and assistant to
the director Lexi Blacksten – had to get
creative with their casting. Their efforts
resulted in a large “Band of Angels” to pro-
vide additional roles and reimagined char-
acters to make them more suitable to be
See Page 9
From left, Nate Bucholz plays The Big Krooke, the Ghost of Christmas Past, Ryan Takko plays Max Krooke Jr. and Sadie Blacksten plays Holly Berry the Christmas Fairy, the Ghost of Christmas
Present.
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