‘Carol’ to offer special screenings with cast, crew at Furth

Carol, a modern, faith-based musical filmed in northeast Indiana earlier this year, will be featured in special one-time events at Trine University’s T. Furth Center for Performing Arts on Thursday, Dec. 5, and the Community Learning Center (CLC) in Kendallville on Friday, Dec. 6.

Cast and crew from the film will be in attendance at both locations. The run time of the movie is 1 hour, 55 minutes.

Red-carpet event

The T. Furth Center for Performing Arts will host showings of Carol in the Ryan Concert Hall at 5:30 and 8 p.m.

The event will include a special screen set up for the showing and a red-carpet walk with cast and crew.

Doors will open to the T. Furth Center one hour prior to each showing. Doors to Ryan Concert Hall will open at 5 p.m. for the 5:30 showing and 7:45 p.m. for the 8 p.m. showing.

The T. Furth Center hosted dance rehearsals for Carol, and one scene was filmed on the Ryan Concert Hall stage featuring dancers from TC Dance Academy for the Performing Arts in Kendallville.

“We filmed much of the movie in and around Angola, and many local people turned out to help provide meals and serve as extras,” said James Tew, executive producer of Carol along with his wife Shannon. “We know everyone is excited to see the end product and we’re excited to share Carol with the community.”

“We also greatly appreciate the support Trine University provided, not only with rehearsals and filming, but with housing cast and crew. Plus, everyone who got to experience the Ryan Concert Hall was awestruck by the beauty of that space, so it’s fitting that we’ll get to host a homecoming of sorts there for everyone involved.”

Tickets are $20 and are available at trine.edu/furthtickets

Small-town Indiana setting

Inspired by Charles Dickens’ classic “A Christmas Carol,” Carol tells the story of Solomon Lynch (Aaron Fullan, Surprised By Oxford, The Glitch), a self-centered slacker and the resident Scrooge of the small, struggling town of Springdale, Indiana. Estranged from his family, Solomon comes face-to-face with the real Ebenezer Scrooge (Paul Kandarian, Pursuit of Freedom) on Christmas Eve and is taken on a musical journey through his past, present and future.

While the story uses devices and characters from “A Christmas Carol,” it includes its own unique twists and turns, with diverse musical styles, poignant moments and humor throughout the film.

In the end, it will take much more than Christmas spirit for Solomon to make things right.

The movie is receiving a national theatrical release during the Christmas season.

Top photo: Young Solomon (Owen Johnson) rips open Christmas presents backed up by dancers in a scene from Carol shot in the T. Furth Center for Performing Arts.