Playing the role of Young Ebenezer Scrooge has been a very enjoyable and yet very challenging time. The first time I read my scenes as Young Ebenezer I was very connected to the character. He is a young innocent man who is a passionate worker and who happens to be in love with his boss’ daughter, a beautiful girl named Belle. He had taken an interest in Belle through her father, Mr. Fezziwig, and first dances with her at the Fezziwig’s Christmas Party. At the party, he presents a song he used to sing at Christmas as a child as a present to everyone, especially Belle. He was having the time of his life after he felt so accepted with the Fezziwig’s and in love head over heels.
So the hard part to figure out is how did Young Ebenezer become the miser and infamous character he is known so much to be? What happens to him in his life to alter his state of living and choose a different path of life from the one he previously was on?
The top of Act II starts in a scene with Belle and Ebenezer at the Fezziwig’s store where Ebenezer is working as an apprentice. She surprises him at work bringing an assortment of food for lunch to him. Ebenezer wishes he could take a moment and stop with his love of his life, but he knows that he has to continue to work because there is so much to do. It was the end of the counting year and all the accounts needed to be brought up to date. Ebenezer knew had to finish his work and gain his money because that is how he was going to support himself and Belle together. The only way Ebenezer can do this, in his mind, is to work harder and longer to ensure their finances won’t ever be a problem.
Ebenezer is scared of poverty and Belle can see this in him. When Ebenezer was a child, his family struggled in supporting themselves, and Ebenezer had to work in a factory as a child to earn money and continue to live. This would be a tragic event for any child to do and this is where he developed a scare for the lack of being stable.
In both Belle and Ebenezer seeing different ways though the love is so strong, is where the downfall in this relationship is. His work becomes a bigger part in his life than his fiance, resulting in Belle leaving him and crushing his heart of love. This collectively alters what the infamous Scrooge will become.