Christmas is days away and holiday shows are plentiful in and around Northeast Ohio.
One of the longest standing traditions is the Great Lakes Theater production of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, which the company has staged since 1988 in Cleveland's Playhouse Square.
Lynn Robert Berg as Scrooge in Great Lakes Theater's A Christmas Carol [Roger Mastroianni]
Over that same three-decade span, Great Lakes also has invited Cleveland middle school students to write their own stories based on Dickens' classic for the annual A Christmas Carol Writing Contest.
Each year, six Cleveland Metropolitan School District students win the grand prize for their original stories inspired by the well-known story of Ebenezer Scrooge.
2019 winners: Darnasia Wilson, Tianna Triggs, Christaun Ware, ideastream's Mike McIntyre, Sakai Dork, Lily Pennington and Lana Keosingharath [ideastream]
This year's winners get the ideastream spotlight during The Sound of Ideas, as host Mike McIntyre speaks with the students about their winning stories.
The stars of Great Lakes' A Christmas Carol production add to the holiday spirit by reading the students' stories as mini-radio dramas.
Leilani Barrett, David Hansen, ideastream's Mike McIntyre, Laura Welsh Berg and Lynn Robert Berg [ideastream]
The stories take the form of a news report, a thank you letter, and a poem among others.
2019 Winners of the Great Lakes Theater's A Christmas Carol Writing Contest:
Tianna Triggs, 8th grade Riverside School Stories Left Untold
Tianna Triggs with ideastream's Mike McIntyre [ideastream]
Darnasia Wilson, 7th grade Douglas MacArthur Girls' Leadership Academy Jessi's Life
Darnasia Wilson with ideastream's Mike McIntyre [ideastream]
Lily Pennington, 6th grader Newton D. Baker School of Arts Breaking Scrooge Alert
Lily Pennington with ideastream's Mike McIntyre [ideastream]
Lana Keosingharath, 8th grade Douglas MacArthur Girls' Leadership Academy Lily's Story
Lana Keosingharath with ideastream's Mike McIntyre [ideastream]
Sakai Dork, 7th grade Robinson G. Jones School Shiloh's Story
Sakai Dork with ideastream's Mike McIntyre
Christaun Ware, 6th grade Walton Pre K-8 School Dear Ghosts of Christmas Present, Past and Yet to Come
Christaun Ware with ideastream's Mike McIntyre [ideastream]
