One of the biggest forces in the classic tale A Christmas Carol is sweet and small. Tiny Tim is the light of daddy Bob Cratchit's eye. The child is weak, vulnerable, walks with a makeshift crutch, but manages to thaw the ice in even the coldest of hearts.
The role has also been famously inhabited by girl actors a number of times and that is the case in the Judy Russell Presents version of A Christmas Carol on at the Prince George Playhouse. Nine-year-old Valen von den Steinen portrays the boy so feeble of body, but powerful of heart, that he charmed the dark soul of Ebenezer Scrooge himself.
"It's my first play where I have to talk," said von den Steinen who has nonetheless become a young veteran of the stage in a pair of past productions of The Nutcracker, the city's dance festival and in numbers done at the Festival of Trees.
"I wanted to be in this play and have fun with the cast. Maybe I'll become famous," said the aspiring performer, who has every right to envision international spotlights. Her aunt Tessa was a regular in Judy Russell productions in the past and her uncle Jesko is a veteran of Cirque du Soleil.
"True story: she walked into the studio one day (for weekly dance class) and caught wind that auditions were going on, so she walked over to (director) Anna Russell and said 'I want to audition, please' and Anna said 'well, sure, why not?' and just handed her a script, and she did it, all on her own," said mother Karen von den Steinen.
"It's fun to memorize the script," said the ambitious upstart. "You always have something to do. I looked at the script a lot until we weren't allowed to use them anymore. Suri (Fraser, a fellow child actor in the cast portraying a Cratchit kid) would test me. I like to hang out with my friends backstage and make each other laugh."
Nothing cracks them up more than watching lead actor Gary Chappel intensely rehearse the acrimonious scenes of Scrooge until he loses track of the moment and bellows "line!" to prompt off-stage cues to help him get back onto the flow of the dialogue.
They also laugh watching the older actors do their warm-up exercises. They can often look unorthodox and sound, to a child's ear, completely hilarious.
"They're always talking about adult things, like how the show was years ago," said von den Steinen.
If she continues on this path of productions and competitions, plus the choir and school theatrics in Mrs. Bond's class at Heritage Elementary School, she and her stage pals will be soon reminiscing about their own past shows.
"We're excited to see her challenging herself," said Karen.
"We've seen her do a lot of dancing, so it's fun to see her now branching out and adding to her experiences on stage. And it's time well spent.
"The cast really enjoy each other's company and they are really supportive of each other. The more experiences you take on, the more your confidence grows, and we've seen that happening."
Tiny Tim, Scrooge, Bob Cratchit and all the scenes of Christmases past, present and yet to come will be running at the Prince George Playhouse from Thursday to
Dec. 22.
Tickets are available 24-7 at the Central Interior Tickets website or at the theatre door while supplies last.
