Steamboat Springs — A crew of kids is warmed up and ready to remind Steamboat Spring of some life-long lessons, note by note.

“Scrooge’s Christmas,” the Chief Theater’s second annual youth holiday production with the Chief Youth Players, premieres at 7 p.m. Friday.

“Scrooge’s Christmas” is adapted from Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” further involving the entire ensemble in each scene and padding the story with extra narration.

A miserly, cranky, curmudgeonly Ebenezer Scrooge has been having a Christmas Eve typical for him. He works through the day, angry and silent, in his counting-house. Kindly visitors drop by with a Christmas party invitation and an opportunity to donate to a charity, only to be met with a snarly “Bah humbug!”

Later that evening, a sleepy Scrooge gets more visitors — spirits who escort him through out-of-body experiences of watching pieces of his life occur. Some pieces have already unfolded and some have yet to happen, and maybe, even, could still be changed for the better.

The production is directed by Sabrina Stewart and produced by Scott Parker. The Chief Youth Players are ages 10 to 16, plus a preschool-aged Tiny Tim.

“They’ve all taken on this maternal or paternal feeling of Owen,” assistant director and stage manager Katie Carroll said. “It’s really great to watch them all gather around him and support him.”

Auditions took place around Halloween, and the cast has been rehearsing biweekly since. The group’s mantra, which they chant with gusto at the start of rehearsals, is, “I am smart, I am focused, I am the best actor in the world!”

The local actors bring with them a variety of theater experiences — many have participated in the Chief’s theater camps, some are Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts and Camp students and some are just trying it out. From whatever acting background an actor is arriving, though, the youth production teaches a solid foundation of theater. In the making of the play, the actors have learned and honed their singing pitch, pronunciation, rhythm, expression and more.

“We want to give them the language of theater,” Carroll said. “It’s not just cute; they’re doing really good work.”

Maybe most importantly, the actors have learned how to work together.

“You can see the kids connecting with each other and having so much fun,” Carroll said.

This show is the second youth production at the Chief. Last winter, the young Players put on “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.”

“It was so much cheer, we decided to make it an annual thing,” Carroll said.

So if you feel the nonstop holiday jingles, the stress of gift shopping and the antsy wait for more snow might be turning you into a little bit of a grouch, let the Chief Youth Players remind you what’s really important — kindness, generosity, family, friends new and old and singing your heart out.