A Playful Romance

- Cratchit! - Oh!

Yes, Mr Scrooge?

Where do you think you're going with that lump of coal?

I was just going to add it to the fire.

It's...it's gotten a little cold in here.

I take it from... I take it from your tone

that you'd rather I didn't?

- Hey, Elvin? - Yeah?

If we could just make some eye contact with Scrooge...

Yeah, if you miss some of the lines, it's...it's OK.

Yeah. OK.

And maybe cheat out a little bit.

Cheat out? Oh.

I had no idea you were a comedian!

Tell me, why do you feel it necessary to spend my money

by piling expensive coal onto the fire?

Do we need a bonfire in here?

No, sir, it's... it's just that my fingers...

Make sure to project.

Ah.

No, sir, it's just that my fingers...

I didn't think so.

Great, great, great. Well done, both of you.

OK, that's it for today.

Um, thank you all for coming in to audition.

I will be posting the casting decisions

in the lobby in the next few days.

And I sincerely appreciate

your time and support of the Onota Theatre

and our annual performance of 'A Christmas Carol'.

Thank you. That was good. OK, thank you.

You're so good. Yeah.

Thank you. Yes.

Come on. Let's shoot a plug for the auditions.

We clearly still need a Bob Cratchit.

Yeah.

Come, by the Scrooge & Marley sign.

I wasn't too full from my Thanksgiving dinner

to audition for 'A Christmas Carol',

an annual Berkshire tradition at the Onota Theatre.

And this year's production

is gonna be more wonderful than ever!

But, hey, don't take it from me.

Here is the show's amazing director,

Ms Riley Burdett.

Hi, everyone!

This year's show is a fun, contemporary spin

on this timeless classic.

Auditions are happening all this week

and there's still lots of roles still available,

but you're gonna have to be pretty good

to beat out Archie here for Scrooge.

And after your audition,

head on over to my place, Archie's Tavern,

for a burger, a beer, and some holiday cheer.

Where you can purchase tickets for 'A Christmas Carol' too.

RILEY & Mm-hmm.

"God bless us, every one."

But especially those who audition.

Can I clear this for you?

Yeah, sure, thanks.

Couldn't help but notice

you were watching Riley's audition video.

Yeah, I was.

What do you know about it?

The other fella in the video is Archie Wadsworth.

- He owns this place. - Hm.

Yeah, great guy, great boss,

and a really great actor too.

- You've seen the show? - I hope to be in it.

I auditioned today.

You know, being part of the show is something

I've been looking forward to every Christmas.

- That's cool, man. - Yeah.

There they go right now.

You thinking about auditioning?

- Thinking about it. - Yeah?

Well, maybe I'll see you there.

Maybe you will.

Hey!

I come bearing the gift of dinner.

Ooh! Burgers and fries from Archie's?

How did you know?

I don't know. Maybe 'cause we do it twice a week.

Remember when we went through our salad phase?

How did the auditions go?

Did, uh, anybody beat out Archie for Scrooge?

Nope.

You know, there were some strong contenders.

- But he's just so good. - Right?

The Bob Cratchits, though, notably less good.

Oh, no!

You'd think there'd be more leading men type

in Berkshire County.

Uh, or at least one.

What do you think about

the Ghost of Christmas Present's robe?

Mmm...

You don't like it?

Oh, my gosh. I'm kidding! Look at your face.

That scared me!

It's obviously beautiful.

- Really? - Mm-hmm.

It's good enough for Broadway, babe.

OK, well, don't be too nice or I'm gonna start to think

that you want something from me.

- Guilty as charged. - Mn-mn, get your own!

I can't. I finished mine on the drive here.

No self-control.

Oh, it's Regina.

Why is she calling you right now? It's so late.

Archie called her 'Scroogina' today.

OK. That is funny.

- Um, put it on speaker. - OK. Shh.

Hello? Good evening, Riley.

Good evening, Regina.

I need to speak with you tomorrow morning.

OK, um, I have auditions in the morning,

but we can discuss...

I'll come by the theatre.

You'll have to pause auditions.

What's going on?

I'm selling the Onota.

What do you mean?

I said precisely what I mean.

An offer came in from a condominium developer.

Wait... - We'll talk about it tomorrow.

But... - Tomorrow, Riley.

She's selling the theatre?

She really is Scroogina.

What...what is she trying to do, ruin Christmas?

I'm sorry, Bridget. Um, I've gotta get some fresh air.

I'm going for a walk.

What about your burger?

You go ahead. I'm not even hungry anymore.

Jake.

What are we gonna do? What is your wife doing?

We can't lose this theatre.

It was everything to you.

It's everything to me.

I'm gonna figure this out.

I promise.

And if there's any way you can help out...

..feel free to chime in.

I miss you.

Wait a sec.

OK, spirits.

It's Riley Burdett.

Here's the thing.

This theatre is in trouble.

In the name of Charles Dickens,

I call upon the ghosts

of Christmases past, present and future.

May you shine your Christmas joy upon Regina Scroogina...

..so that she may see the light and feel the Christmas spirit

and keep our theatre open as the magical performance space

that Jake Caldwell intended it to be so many years ago.

Jake?

Who's there?

Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you.

Uh, who are you?

I'm Sam.

Sorry, you were having a moment.

Kind of an intense moment, I might add.

You saw that, huh?

Um...how much did you see?

Enough to have a lot of questions.

OK, well, me first, Sam.

Why, um... Who...

I mean, what are you doing here?

That is a lot of questions.

How did you get in?

The lights out front were on, door was open.

Heard some noises in here, wanted to check it out,

but, hey, I can come back later,

some other time when you're not, uh, summoning spirits.

Hmm, hmm, funny.

Did we go to high school or something together?

'Cause you look oddly familiar.

I don't think so.

But you're Riley, right?

Yeah, how did you know that?

I saw your YouTube post about the auditions.

Oh, well, I hate to break this to you, Sam,

but you're, like, seven hours late.

- Nobody's here. - You're still here.

Right, right, because I was trying to talk to spirits.

Totally different thing.

Well, it turns out

I'm not actually here to audition anyway.

My aunt is Regina Caldwell.

I'm helping her sell this place.

She asked me to swing by the office

and pick up this contract.

I guess she wants to look it over tonight.

Wait, wait. OK, I know who you are.

You're her nephew, right? Um, the movie star.

Sam Campbell?

You're in that show right now, right? What's it called?

Like, um, 'Hot People Who Don't Know Each Other'