Charles Dickens’ perennial classic A Christmas Carol has been adapted in almost every conceivable interpretation, style, and era. Boat Club’s A 1940s Radio Christmas Carol sets the story on Christmas Eve in 1943 as a “live” radio show with jazzy songs and plenty of comedy.
Actress Carrie Rossow is excited to perform the comic and sassy role of Margie O’Brien, as well as doubling as other characters in this fast-paced production. She explained, “This show is a bit frantic, so keeping on top of what character I’m playing at what moment with what accent is the most challenging!”
“Even when tough stuff is going on, it’s important to take some time to come together to connect through story, song, humor, and being together,” she said. “I think this story, these characters really resonate with our world today, right now.”
Rossow added, “We want to connect with the audience on a number of levels – to make them laugh, to make them smile, to put them in the holiday spirit with the fun and goofy holiday music and the sentimental classics, and, of course, to tug a few heartstrings too.”
To LA and Back Again
Born and raised in Austin, Minnesota, Rossow came to Duluth for college at UMD, receiving her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre/Acting Emphasis. While at UMD, she played Maggie in a production of Dancing at Lughnasa for which she was nominated for the most prestigious award for college acting, the Irene Ryan Acting Award.
After graduating from UMD, Rossow moved to Los Angeles for six years.
“I hustled out there for a bit, trying to do the acting thing, did a few student
films, some local theatre stuff, but mostly worked temp jobs and office work. I ended up starting an indie production company with a friend and shot an 8mm short film, which played at a few filmfests around the country.”
She decided she missed the big lake and returned to Duluth in 2002. “Since returning to Duluth, I have worked at Luigino’s/Michelina’s; co-run my own production company, 4-Track Films; and currently I’ve been at the Duluth Public Library since 2012. I get my weekly performance fix in with my baby and toddler story times at the Mount Royal Library Branch.
Rossow also recently completed her Master’s in Parent and Family Education at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.
“I live with my two incredible teenagers, Dahlia (turning 18 soon) and August (15); our crazy menagerie, Django (dog), and cats Tanager and Merlin.”
Rossow has also continued to be active in the area theater scene, appearing in a number of different area productions, including at the Playhouse with Waitress and 9 to 5.
“As always, I love that theatre provides the chance for audiences to come together for a couple hours, to collectively take a deep breath and enjoy an experience together,” she said.
A 1940s Radio Christmas Carol
December 4-14, 2025
Fitger’s Spirit of the North Theatre
600 East Superior Street. Duluth
Showtimes
December 4-6 7:30 pm | December 7 2:00 pm
December 11-13 7:30 pm | December 14 2:00 pm
Tickets at destinationduluth.co/A1940sRadioChristmasCarol
(From the Boat Club website)
It’s Christmas Eve, 1943, and the Feddington Players are now broadcasting from a hole-in-the-wall studio in Newark, NJ, and set to present their contemporary “take” on Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. Whether it’s the noisy plumbing, missed cues, electrical blackouts, or the over-the-top theatrics of veteran actor but radio novice William St. Claire, this radio show is an entertaining excursion into the mayhem and madness of a live radio show. St. Claire’s escalating foibles and acting missteps propel the show to a simultaneously comedic and heart-wrenching dramatic climax: St. Claire has an on-air breakdown and begins to connect his own life with that of the classic Dickens tale. In order to “save the show,” the company improvises an ending to Charles Dickens’ classic as a film noir mystery, featuring a hardboiled detective, a femme fatale, and an absurd rescue of Tiny Tim (and the Lindbergh baby) from the clutches of a Hitler-esque villain named Rudolf! Seamlessly combining drama and comedy, heartbreak and hope, A 1940s Radio Christmas Carol will sing its way into your heart.
