Last chances to see ‘Mr. Dickens Reads “A Christmas Carol”'

Harriman - Due to weather this past weekend, two very small audiences attended performances of Souza’s “Mr. Dickens Reads ‘A Christmas Carol.’” But you can still see Jon Huberth’s multidimensional characterizations at the last two performances this coming weekend. Last week, I began explaining why we on the Souza Committee devote so much time and effort to raising money for these scholarships. Here is another reason: Jamee Goldstein, the 1991 recipient, is a pediatrician at Monroe Pediatric Associates who also teaches tap at Terpsichore: the Dancerschool. “I have become known as the ‘singing’ or ‘tap dancing’ doctor,” she said. “But the children seem to relate well to the music and dance I bring with me; oftentimes it breaks the ice and makes me seem a lot less scary.” Jamee graduated from Cornell University’s College of Human Ecology in 1995 and received a graduate degree from Duquesne University in 1997. She attended medical school at Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine in Erie, Pa., graduating in 2001, and completed her residency at Maimonides Medical Center, Children’s Hospital of Brooklyn, in 2004. “I’ll never forget winning the Souza Scholarship,” she said. “I was a senior, actively involved in both the Monroe-Woodbury Wind Ensemble and Drama Club and dancing at Terpsichore.” Of her musical experiences at M-W, Goldstein said: “Our music educators were quite influential. From the squeaky beginnings with both Mr. Johnson and Mr. Sherman at North Main, to the challenge of learning the higher pitched piccolo in Middle School with Mr. Riddick and Mr. Sherman, to the striving for excellence under the direction of Mr. Lynch in the High School, I learned persistence and perseverance from the best.” “I’m thrilled to be practicing pediatrics in my hometown and love to encourage my patients to continue their musical/performance pursuits well past high school,” the doctor added. “Music and dance - they have given me the gifts of patience, perseverance, membership and leadership, but most of all they have given me joy.” If you go: Jon Huberth stars in the Robert W. Souza Scholarship for the Performing Arts’ presentation, “Mr. Dickens Reads ‘A Christmas Carol.’” The last two performances will be at 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 22, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 23, at the Sapphire Little Theater in Harriman. All profit from the show goes to performing arts scholarships for Monroe-Woodbury students. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children and seniors. For tickets, call 928-2613 or e-mail bobpoet1@yahoo.com.