In the fall of 2016, the A.B.L.E. Ensembles put their own spin on Charles Dickens’ classic – A Christmas Carol! We spent a 10 week semester exploring this classic tale about compassion, forgiveness, memories, and family. Each of our two ensembles presented their own version of this quintessential holiday story for audiences at Victory Gardens Biograph Theatre.
Actors: Colleen Altman, Quincy Bane, Jack Butler, Benjamin Collins, Alena Counter Brown, Samuel Floersheimer, Natalia, Janik, Andrew Kosnik, Emily Kwidzinski, Emily Lavin, Anna Luzadder, Mila Medina, Lucas Miezal, Claire O’Leary, Sam Petri Sam Radinsky, Lucy Walsh,
Facilitators: Braden Cleary, Elizabeth Elliott, Matt Maxwell, Allison Perrone, Beth Sherwood, Susan Sjodin, Lindsay Stock,
Teaching Artists: Kaylie Honkala, Sean Okerberg, Kendra Van Kempen, Peter Van Kempen
Lighting Design: Eric Van Tassell
Properties: Alison Perrone
A Christmas Carol was produced by special arrangement with Pioneer Drama Services, Denver CO.
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Monday Class Rehearsal Log: Week 1!
So begins the fall semester for Able ensemble 2016. Tonight was the first evening for the Monday night class as well as the parent meeting with Peter. A lot of new faces turned into the circle of the Monday class. One of those new faces belonged to Anna. Most of our ensemble knew her (especially…
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Friday Class Rehearsal Log: Week 1!
After a summer off, the Friday class was back in the swing of things starting with a rocking dance party. New teaching artists Mara and Isuara joined the dancing meeting the teens and boogieing. After we had finished dancing, Kendra led the class through some warmups for our bodies and voice. “A Big Beautiful Blue…
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Monday Class Rehearsal Log: Week 2!
Tonight was the second class and it went great. Kaylie and our new facilitator Braden greeted everyone as they entered. And we danced to the sounds of Uptown Funk. After a spirited round of some of ABLE’s favorite songs Emily led us in a warm-up. We started out as bananas and moved on to chewing…
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Friday Class Rehearsal Log: Week 2!
It finally felt like fall this Friday afternoon! A couple of high schools were celebrating homecoming this weekend so our class was small but mighty. It gave each of our teens a greater opportunity to participate in each activity and really explore the characters in A Christmas Carol. Emily started class out by warming up…
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Monday Class Rehearsal Log: Week 3!
Tonight’s class marks the beginning of week three. It feels like we are starting to get settled back into our routine and the semester ahead is taking shape. We started class off with a dance party provided by facilitator Braden, a little T. Swift and some Katy Perry which our actors always love. After some…
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Friday Class Rehearsal Log: Week 3!
We began week 3 in the same fashion as our first 2 weeks. After sufficiently warming up during dance party and tongue twisters (Red Leather, Yellow Leather) we moved right on to our lesson of the evening. Tonight we took a trip back to Victorian London. To start, we played a Victorian parlor game called…
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Monday Class Rehearsal Log: Week 4!
It is back to work Monday night the 17th. Last week we were off so the goal for tonight was to review the characters that we have already learned and pick up some more of the script and the music. Everyone (we missed you Claire, we will see you next week) arrived in groups as…
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Friday Class Rehearsal Log: Week 4!
After beginning with our usual dance party (this week including a very special High School Musical 2 sing-a-long) we moved right into warm-ups. Kendra got us warm by moving all of our body parts in different ways. From our heads down to our ankles. To check in with the students we asked them their favorite…
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Monday Class Rehearsal Log: Week 5!
We had a great class tonight. Our goal tonight was to learn a new Victorian Parlor game and to finish up with scene four. We started out with the traditional dance party. Andrew and Sam enjoyed the inclusion of a song from the Hamilton soundtrack. After Hamilton we made our circle Kaylie led us in…
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Friday Class Rehearsal Log: Week 5!
It was Halloween Weekend, so our dance party started with some Thriller and the Ghostbusters theme song. Emily K as the Red Queen and Sam P as a wolf led the Halloween spirit with their costumes. After warming up our bodies, we continued the Halloween theme with a spooky tongue twister – “A big black…
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Monday Class Rehearsal Log: Week 6!
Happy Halloween!! We had a great class tonight on this All Hallow’s Eve. Our acting ensemble came in and they were dressed to scare. Andrew was a very strong Iron Man. Lucy was a majestic Maleficent. Sam R was a basketball player and Sam F quite the swashbuckling pirate. The focus of tonight’s class…
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Friday Class Rehearsal Log: Week 6!
It was a great week to celebrate in Chicago, so class began with a “Go Cubs, Go” dance party. Spirits were high as we moved into warmups. Susan led us in a number of physical warmups, including inflating and deflating like a balloon. Finishing off our balloon warmup we did a tongue twister saying “The…
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Monday Class Rehearsal Log: Week 7!
The focus of tonight’s class, auditions. A big class for our actors. Everyone showed up early and came ready with scripts in hand. We made our way back to the recreation room at Menominee Club and started class with a little dance party. After some dance moves Braden let us in a warm-up. We started…
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Friday Class Rehearsal Log: Week 7!
Walk the Moon’s “Shut Up and Dance” was the soundtrack to start our class on Friday. A much needed dance party was a great way to kick off the end of the week. We finished our dance party swinging to Elvis’ “Burning Love” as chosen by Sam Petri and then it was right into warm-ups.…
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Friday Class Rehearsal Log: Week 8!
We kicked off class this week with a throwback dance party that included “Brown Eyed Girl” before Peter led us in warmups. We each picked a body part to warm up and made a sound to go with it. A lot of us have very creaky hips! Next, Lindsay led us in a holiday-themed tongue…
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Monday Class Rehearsal Log: Week 8!
Tonight we started making our approach towards the production of “A Christmas Carol.” With the show all cast it was time to start looking to creating the show. Once gathered we got ready for class with our dance party as led by Kaylie. Dancing led to warm-ups, Kaylie let us through one of our favorites,…
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Friday Class Rehearsal Log: Week 9!
We started class with our usual dance party and warm-ups, though abbreviated so that we could do a full run-through of the show. Everyone was excited after having a week off, and were ready to jump into the show. Our check-in question was to ask which character they were most excited about playing this week.…
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Monday Class Rehearsal Log: Week 9!
It was a very cold November evening and we were two actors down, however, we had a lot of work to do and a group up to the challenge. Kaylie led a dance party that rocked the house as usual. Next up we created our circle and started a warm up. I did one of…
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Monday Class Rehearsal Log: Week 10!
We are only a couple of weeks away from the big show, A Christmas Carol. We have more work to do but our ensemble is up to the task. Everyone arrived quickly even after the first snow of the season happened this weekend. It was great to see everybody after our week off for Thanksgiving.…
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A Dickens Christmas Carol!
This December, our ensembles performed two unique versions of A Dickens Christmas Carol for audiences full of family, friends, and ABLE fans at Victory Gardens. Here are some of our favorite moments from the day! Our facilitators and teaching artists arrived ready to go on show day! With hugs and high fives, our actors gathered for some warm…
