RUMFORD — At Mountain Valley High School, actors have begun their holiday preparations. The fall play will be Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” It will be performed on Nov. 15-17 and again Nov. 19 and 20. English teacher Meg Doughty directs the play.

Freshman Ronald Russell is not a newcomer to the stage in Muskie Auditorium. He made his debut two years ago in “Fiddler on the Roof” and has since appeared in “Hound of the Baskervilles” and “Once Upon a Mattress.” For “A Christmas Carol,” Russell was cast as Marley’s Ghost. Marley was Ebenezer Scrooge’s business partner.

Russell commented on his role, “It’s kind of nice to have such a spooky kind of character. I like how Marley introduces the whole idea of the three ghosts.”

Also not new to the stage, senior Lexi Fryover explained, “I love being the Ghost of Christmas Present. When I found out we were doing ‘A Christmas Carol,’ I instantly said I wanted to be Present. It’s a fun role to play because the ghost is very outgoing and friendly at first then angry and a little frightening.”

Fryover played a dual role in “Once Upon a Mattress.” During some shows, she was the sensitive, quiet Lady Larkin. Other nights, she played the boisterous Princess Winnifred.

Junior Nathan Fitzpatrick is Ebenezer Scrooge. Last year, Fitzpatrick made his debut in “Sherlock Holmes: The Hound of the Baskervilles.”

“Honestly, it is a great experience to work with such fun people and to play such an interesting character shift,” Fitzpatrick said. “It’s fun to learn the inner workings of the character’s mind and personality as you go along. Scrooge has such an emotional change throughout the whole story that is an amazing thing to portray, in my opinion.”

Fred is Scrooge’s nephew and will be played by Andrew Phelps. Fred is a very jolly man who wants to help his uncle love Christmas. Scrooge puts him down but Fred still manages to have some Christmas spirit.

Phelps explained, “As for playing Fred, I am very excited. Since last year I was the bad guy, I thought it would be cool to try for a part that was a lot nicer, although Fred’s stage time is very limited I feel he is a good part in the story.”

Phelps was Jon Stapleton, a collector of rare butterflies in “The Hound of the Baskervilles.” Stapleton turns out to have ulterior motives in the play.

Other lead roles include Alex Witas as Bob Cratchit, Mariah Haggan as the Ghost of Christmas Past and Alex Fage as the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.

The supporting cast includes Robyn Pellerin and Kelsey Bevins as charity workers, Casey Child as young Scrooge, Brooke Carver as Fan, Scrooge’s sister; and Chelsea DeRoehn as Belle, Scrooge’s fiancee. Travis Ford plays Old Fezziwig and Old Joe, the pawnbroker. The Cratchit family consists of Kristen Arsenault as Mrs. Cratchit but Doughty is still looking for actors to portray Martha and Belinda Cratchit. Robyn Pellerin has a dual role as Fred’s wife. In addition to directing, Doughty will also be playing the narrator and Scrooge’s housekeeper.