Creative Spirit & Marblehead Museum
proudly present
A Christmas Carol
a theatrical reading in Marblehead’s historic Jeremiah Lee Mansion
Adapted by John Jakes
Directed by Peyton Pugmire
December 10-12, 2021 | The Jeremiah Lee Mansion, 161 Washington Street, Marblehead
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The Cast
(In alphabetical order)
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James Ashton - Bob Cratchit
Peter Bottéas - Charity Gentleman/Ghost of Christmas Future
Kai Chao - Fred/Dick
Allie DeNisco - Fan/Belle
Dan Kelly - Charles Dickens/Headmaster/Fezziwig
Francie King - Jacob Marley/Ghost of Christmas Present/Businessman
Nathan Lamont - Ebenezer Scrooge
Monica Tecca - Mrs. Cratchit/Ghost of Christmas Past/Sara
Jarrett Zeman - Young Ebenezer/Businessman/Turkey Boy
Production Team
Peyton Pugmire - Director/Prop Designer
Elissa Jordan - Stage Manager
Maureen Festa - Costume Designer
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Marblehead Museum Staff
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Lauren McCormack - Executive Director
Jarrett Zeman - Associate Director
Thank You to the Following Individuals & Businesses:
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Marblehead Museum Staff and Board, Rumson's Rum, Jennifer DeNisco, Katy Hanlon,
Jen Spungin and The Marblehead/Salem School of Music, Lisa Boemer and The Hiccup gift shop in Swampscott, MA,
The Footlight Club community theatre in Jamaica Plain, MA
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A Message from Peyton Pugmire, Director & Owner of Creative Spirit
Welcome one and all to the magnificent Jeremiah Lee Mansion! I am happy you are with us to experience our telling of A Christmas Carol. May this beloved story about redemption and our capacity to love entertain and move you this evening. I’d like to offer my deepest gratitude to the Marblehead community for its support of Creative Spirit and to the museum staff, Lauren and Jarrett, for once again opening their arms to this exciting collaboration - our third year! I’d also like to thank the wonderful cast and production team who have worked hard over the past two weeks to prepare for this performance. And, finally, thank YOU for being with us! Happy holidays, and God bless us, everyone!
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Who’s Who in the Cast & Crew
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James Ashton (Bob Cratchit) is a professional coach and workshop facilitator, with a passion for helping people achieve greater levels of success and fulfillment in their lives. James is also a professional sailing captain and owner of Sail Satori, a charter and sailing school based here in Marblehead. While James does not possess extensive acting experience, he has enormous affection for the story of A Christmas Carol and is delighted to be playing Bob Cratchit in this beloved production. James lives in Marblehead with his husband Peyton (the director!).
Peter Bottéas (Charity Gentleman, Ghost of Christmas Future) is a transplanted Canuck residing in picturesque Marblehead. He spent the tender years of his youth singing in choirs and coffee houses, traipsing through the corridors of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, and generally making mischief. He worked as a translator and editor in Montreal before coming to MA to study psychotherapy. Mesmerized by the spoken word, he trained as a voice-over artist with the late Wren Ross and frequently does poetry readings in New York and Boston.
Kai Chao (Fred, Dick) is excited to work with Peyton again! Boston: Lyric Stage Company – Pacific Overtures. Regionally: The Umbrella Stage Company – The Joy Luck Club, La Cage aux Folles, Side Show; Reagle Players – Thoroughly Modern Millie, Beauty & the Beast, Mame. Locally: Mary Poppins, A Chorus Line, Bye Bye Birdie, Cabaret. He has also performed with Disney Entertainment, and is ever thankful for the love and support from his husband Al.
Allie DeNisco (Fan, Belle) is more than excited to journey through her first production of A Christmas Carol! Allie has been in numerous show with Boston Children’s Theatre including her favorite, Legally Blonde. She also played Helen/Lois in The Children’s Hour performed by Emmanuel College. She is currently applying to colleges for Acting and hoping to receive a BFA within the next four years! She is thrilled to call this performance her first ever Christmas show.
Maureen Festa (Costume Designer) is thrilled to be involved again with A Christmas Carol, a personal favorite. Maureen has worked with director Peyton Pugmire on several productions, including Bent and La Cage Aux Folles at The Umbrella in Concord, MA, where she is a frequent costume and props designer. Recent work includes: Hedwig and the Angry Inch (The Umbrella); View from The Bridge (The Umbrella); All My Sons (Praxis Stage); Sweeney Todd (Theater Uncorked); and To Kill A Mockingbird (The Umbrella)(DASH nominee, best costumes). By day, Maureen is the Assistant Director, Prospect Research at Northeastern University, and a new resident of the North Shore.
Elissa Jordan (Stage Manager) served as Artistic Associate for Divine Stageworks from 2008 to 2013 and has stage managed and performed in local theatre productions since 2004. Favorite productions include Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, (Footlight Club), And Then There Were None (Footlight Club), La Cage Aux Folles (Umbrella Stage Company), and To Kill a Mockingbird (Umbrella Stage Company). Elissa is Manager of STEAM Curriculum at Boston Children’s Museum and a member of the rock cover band, Box of Records.
Dan Kelly (Dickens, School Master, Fezziwig) is truly grateful to resume his post-COVID shut-down theater career by reviving his role as the author of what he believes to be the greatest story every told in the English language. Dan has appeared in countless regional productions over the course of the last twenty-five years, most recently as Juan Peron in Evita, Theseus in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and the ghost of Jacob Marley in A Christmas Carol for Norwell’s The Company Theatre. Dan practices law as a partner in the firm of McCarter & English, and just recently moved to Ipswich where he and his wife and dog live a home built in 1670 and known as the Sparks Tavern.
Francie King (Jacob Marley, Ghost of Christmas Present, Businessman) is a writer and editor in Marblehead who creates legacy books about interesting families … which means she loves stories and conversations, which is why she loves theater. Her acting credentials are modest (John Dos Passos, Thornton Wilder, and musical theater) but she loves the fun and camaraderie of this presentation of A Christmas Carol and is delighted to be working again with this splendid ensemble cast and top-drawer director.
Nathan Lamont (Scrooge) is grateful to reprise his role, and last appeared as Mr. Banks in Needham Community Theatre's 2019 Mary Poppins. Other loved roles through the years include a different, singing Scrooge from Riverside Theatre Work's 2010 Scrooge, Cioffi from Newton Country Player's 2010 Curtains, and Fagin from Bay Colony Productions 2005 Oliver! Nathan thanks his wife, Chrissy, for her hard work and support, and his boys, Oscar and Simon, for their Christmas cheer.
Peyton Pugmire (Director) holds a BA degree in theatre from the College of Charleston and an MA degree in Theatre Education from Emerson College. Favorite directing credits: La Cage aux Folles, And Then There Were None, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Father of the Bride, and BENT (a COVID-lost production with The Umbrella Stage Company, Concord, MA). Favorite acting credits: Prior Walter (Angels in America 1 & 11), Frankie (Forever Plaid), Brick (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), and Cliff (Cabaret).
Monica Tecca (Mrs. Cratchit, Ghost of Christmas Past, Sara) is thrilled to join the cast! With a B.A. in Theater from Brandeis University, Monica has performed and directed with theaters in Boston and the New England region, and was a member of True Story Theater, a playback theater troupe focusing on deep listening and improvisational “playing back” of audience true stories, for 10 years. Monica is an independent dog walker in her home town of Marblehead, and is grateful for the steadfast support of her wife, Myriam.
Jarrett Zeman (Young Scrooge, Businessman, Turkey Boy) is the Associate Director of the Marblehead Museum. His past productions include The Music Man (Harold Hill), Hello, Dolly! (Cornelius Hackl), Guys and Dolls (Nicely Nicely Johnson), and South Pacific (Herbert Quayle). In 2019, he won the Small Museum Association’s Hunter-Burley Award for writing and directing Radical Spirits: A Victorian Séance Revealed.