arts & life
theater
Christmas
pirit
S
Jennifer Lovy | Contributing Writer
Ari Bigelman melts
Scrooge’s frozen
heart — and warms
audiences’ — as
Tiny Tim at
Meadow Brook.
A
ri Bigelman frantically
tears the wrapping paper
off a gift from his par-
ents. It’s a copy of a classic English
novel.
He examines the book and
simultaneously asks his mom what
it is but then quickly answers his
own question.
“A Christmas Carol,” he says
with a big smile.
It’s hardly an expected gift for a
“It’s not hard
to be in a play
about Christmas
because I know
I’m acting.”
– Ari Bigelman, age 6½
details
A Christmas Carol runs through
Dec. 23 at Meadow Brook Theatre
on the campus of Oakland
University in Rochester. $20-$42.
(248) 377-3300; ticketmaster.com.
44 November 17 • 2016
6½-year-old Jewish boy, and seem-
ingly stranger since he was receiv-
ing it early in September. But Ari
understands the significance.
His eyes widen and he claps his
hands in excitement as his mom
confirms that Ari got the part of
Tiny Tim in the Meadow Brook
Theatre 35th-annual production
of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas
Carol. He was one of 57 children to
audition for the play.
“I’m really happy and excited
about being in A Christmas Carol,
and I’m really looking forward
to it, especially because it’s my
very first big show,” says Ari, a
first-grader at the Roeper School
in Birmingham. “I love being in
shows because I love everything
about acting.”
Tiny Tim, the character who
helps Scrooge find his Christmas
spirit, does not have a lot of speak-
ing roles but is a central character
in the story, which means that Ari
will be on stage throughout much
of the performance. He will also
play the roles of Young Ignorance
and Poor Lad, but both are non-
speaking parts.
How does the Bigelman fam-
ily — including Mom, Sharone,
Dad, Joe, and Ari’s two siblings
— members of Temple Israel in
West Bloomfield, feel about Ari’s
participation in this play?
“I can’t ignore the irony,” says
Sharone, but both parents agree
that it’s not a big deal. Ari adds:
“It’s not hard to be in a play about
Christmas because I know I’m
acting.”
According to Terry W.
Carpenter, the associate director
at Meadow Brook Theatre, of the
57 children who auditioned for
10 roles, 20 were cast so that the
parts could be split among the
child actors, allowing each group
to appear in 28 performances,
Bigelman as Tiny Tim with Thomas D. Mahard as Scrooge
instead of all 56 shows.
Aside from performing in
the basement of his family’s
Bloomfield Hills home (his parents
constructed a stage, complete with
curtains and a dressing room),
Ari’s only other on-stage appear-
ances have come by way of sum-
mer theater camps. However, with
each of these productions, none
of the plays was performed more
than once, let alone 28 times. It
was his camp theater director
at Sunset Theatre Company in
Bloomfield Hills who encouraged
Ari to audition for the role of Tiny
Tim.
Carpenter said Ari was chosen
based on his acting ability, stage
presence, maturity and ability to
work well with others.
“It is a big responsibility, and
Ari seemed capable and, in fact,
has shown that to be true,” says
Carpenter. “He has remained
focused as we go over the scenes
multiple times.”
Rehearsing and performing over
a 10-week period, with rehearsal
ranging from one to eight hours a
day, up to six days a week, can be
a lot for many actors, let alone a
child. With some shows starting as
late as 8 p.m., Bigelman says Ari
will have scheduled rest times on
those day.
Ari thinks it’s cool that he will
be missing school and staying
up late, and his teachers have
been more than accommodating,
encouraging him to engage in his
Performing at home
passion.
“I can’t remember Ari not hav-
ing a love of theater. I remember
being in a baby music class with
Ari when he was less than a year
old and the way he reacted to
music struck me even then — it
affected him differently than I’ve
ever seen a child react to music,”
says Bigelman. “I think that
translated to a love of musical
theater and performing; Ari loves
to have an audience for his per-
formances, ranging from made-
up plays, magic shows and per-
forming to Broadway music. Both
my husband and I enjoy the
theater, and we often have music
playing in the house.”
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