One man's voice resonates with Dickens

On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, KRCU 90.9 FM listeners will hear Arthur Wilhite become the Ghost of Christmas Past, Ebeneezer Scrooge, Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim -- 25 characters in all -- when he performs his one-man version of the Dickens classic "A Christmas Carol" on KRCU 90.9 FM.

The prerecorded, one-hour radio play has been augmented with sound effects and music.

"It's theater of the mind," Wilhite says.

He originally presented KRCU with a proposal to read the entire book live for three hours. "They chose this as a more feasible alternative," Wilhite says.

He began conceiving the idea in the mid-1980s, trapped in his bedroom while his mother held a meeting in the family dining room. "I decided to record the whole book of 'A Christmas Carol' on audio tape," he recalls.

In 1995, Wilhite shrunk the full story into a 1 hour and 15 minute radio play performed on the radio station by KRCU staffers and members of the University Players. That version aired four times.

Wilhite put his own stamp on the play.

"At the start of it you have Scrooge and Fred saying, 'Merry Christmas Uncle and Bah, Humbug.' Then the narrator says, 'Let's begin at the beginning,' as if to say, 'You think you know this but you don't know this.'"

Jason Brown, who produced the special program for KRCU, added sound effects like slamming doors and wind when Scrooge opens the window and lets in the cold.

The sound of Marley's ghost's chains was made with car keys. "It was a pretty intricate production putting the sound effects in and trying to retool it for radio," Brown says.

Wilhite is a Central High School and Southeast Missouri State University graduate and former employee at the station. He minored in theater while at Southeast and has appeared in numerous productions.

Quickly switching from one character to another is not that hard, he says.

"The most difficult part is probably getting the voices distinct. The characterizations aren't that much of a problem. I've had this interpretation in my head for about 20 years."

sblackwell@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182