“Reconnecting with a Great Team”: HRA Choir Director Marshall Severin to Return to the Stage in Virginia Musical Theatre’s “A Christmas Carol”

Hampton Roads Academy’s performing arts faculty members are not only outstanding educators, but also active and gifted practitioners of their crafts.

This holiday season, Middle and Upper School choir director Marshall Severin will showcase his vocal and acting talents by returning to his beloved role of Jacob Marley in Virginia Musical Theatre’s (VMT) production of A Christmas Carol, a musical adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic by composer Chip Gallagher and librettist Jeff Meredith.

The heartwarming retelling of a holiday favorite, produced in partnership with the Governor’s School for the Arts, will run December 5-7 at the Sandler Center for the Performing Arts in Virginia Beach. Complete with beautifully crafted costumes and sets, enhanced by special effects, and backed by a full orchestra, the musical will provide fun and memorable entertainment for all ages.

This upcoming production marks Severin’s fifth collaboration with VMT, his fourth time performing with the company in A Christmas Carol, and his third time portraying Marley, the ghostly business partner who haunts the conscience of the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge. December’s run of performances will reunite Severin with VMT for his first fully staged production since 2018, when he performed alongside Broadway stars Tiffany Haas and Constantine Maroulis in the musical Jekyll & Hyde.

“I love working with this group,” Severin said. From writer/director Gallagher to stage managers and music directors, he explained, VMT consistently assembles exceptionally skilled professionals to work on its shows, and he looks forward to “reconnecting with a great team.”

Coming Full-Circle during the Christmas Season

For Severin, performing in A Christmas Carol is more than simply a rewarding artistic experience. His connection to the work runs deep.

Dickens’ novella, he said, is “one of my favorite stories by one of my favorite authors.” Since he was a child, his family has maintained an annual Christmas Eve tradition of getting together to watch the 1984 film version of A Christmas Carol, starring George C. Scott as Scrooge and Frank Finlay as Marley. Now, Severin typically sings at churches on Christmas Eve, but he still participates in the tradition by listening to the audio of the film in his car on the way to his performances.

Severin noted that he particularly relishes the opportunity to step into the role of Marley, with such powerful lines as “Business! Mankind was my business!” Like no other character, he explained, Marley has a way of articulating how “we all have a responsibility to each other.”

According to Severin, Marley’s unique appeal also stems from the spooky edge the ghost brings to an uplifting story. “It’s so fun to play the scary guy,” he said, adding that VMT’s phenomenal set design perfectly accentuates Marley’s eerie appearance. The last time he performed this role, Severin recalled, his then-six-year-old nephew was so frightened by his costume and makeup that he would not get close to his uncle for a photograph backstage.

In addition to VMT’s high technical standards, Severin is excited about the company’s partnership with the Governor’s School for the Arts, which will allow him to work alongside high school students in the ensemble.  “As a teacher, it’s so rewarding to see young actors and actresses getting a taste of what it’s like to be in a professional production,” he said.

An Exceptional Outlet for a Seasoned Performer

Acting with a cast that includes students will take Severin back to his roots as a performer. Deeply committed to musical theatre in high school, he went on to study music at Christopher Newport University. During his time as an undergraduate, he successfully auditioned for his first professional production, Giuseppe Verdi’s Falstaff, with Virginia Opera in Norfolk.

Beyond such opportunities as his collaborations with VMT, Severin’s career since he graduated from college in 2012 has focused more on music than acting, starting with a position that the Virginia Chorale offered him based on his impressive vocal performances alongside the company’s business manager, his classmate at CNU. The 2025-2026 season marks his thirteenth consecutive year performing at least one concert with the Virginia Chorale. He currently serves as a mentor for the company’s Young Singers Project (YSP) for high school vocalists, with whom he will sing in YSP’s January 25, 2026, concert at Virginia Wesleyan University.

While he has remained active with the Virginia Chorale and other professional choirs, Severin, now in his third year as a teacher at HRA, has somewhat scaled back his professional performing. This has allowed him not only to spend more time with his family, but also to devote as much energy as possible to facilitating exciting community performances for HRA’s talented actors and vocalists, with whom he has traveled to conferences, a cappella competitions, theatre festivals, and more. “These students are so amazing,” the choir director said, “and I don’t want the students to miss out on opportunities while I’m doing professional work.”

Working alongside HRA’s “awesome” Director of Theatre, Kate Goddin, to stage school plays and musicals, Severin said, has provided him a refreshing outlet for exploring his “theatrical side.” Now, in A Christmas Carol, he will return to the stage himself, combining the musicianship that has defined his career with the acting skills he has honed since he was a student himself.

A Model for Budding Singers and Actors

During his upcoming stint as Jacob Marley, Severin will not only share his talents with the wider Hampton Roads community, but also demonstrate to his students at HRA what success as a working performer looks like—and inspire them to envision similar futures for themselves.

According to Severin, the greatest assets for students seeking to build careers in the performing arts are not technical abilities, but rather habits of professionalism and work ethic that are too often overlooked.

His most basic piece of advice is to be flexible and take every chance to work on stage. “The more you can do, the more likely you are to find a place for yourself,” he said. Aspiring actors should be true to themselves, but “you want to have as many opportunities as you can.”

Perhaps even more important is a lesson Severin learned from his onetime costar Tiffany Haas: “There’s no reason to hire someone you don’t like working with, because there are so many talented people out there.” From being dependable to maintaining a positive attitude, he explained, creating an enjoyable experience for one’s fellow performers can open doors in a business where “it’s hard to get in the door.”

“Being a pleasure to work with is one of the most important skills,” he said.

Fortunately, “that’s one of the things our Performing Arts Department at HRA does really well,” he added. “The kids here understand that, if it’s not enjoyable, it’s not worth doing it. They work hard to be kind to each other, to be gracious to each other, to help each other out.” This, above all, is what Severin strives to model for his students every day, in the classroom and behind the curtain.

All members of the Navigator community are encouraged to support this beloved member of our faculty as he takes the stage at the Sandler Center. Tickets for A Christmas Carol are available now.