Abraham, Channing, Garner, Hutton, Knight, and Wendt to Star in A CHRISTMAS CAROL, 12/22-12/27

An award-winning cast, including Academy Award winners F. Murray Abraham and Timothy Hutton, Emmy Award winners and Academy Award nominees James Garner and Stockard Channing and popular character actors Wayne Knight ("Seinfeld") and George Wendt ("Cheers," Second City) will bring Charles Dickens' beloved tale of miserly Ebenezer Scrooge and his visit from the three Ghosts of Christmas to life on the stage of Chicago's Civic Opera House from Dec. 22- 27. Tickets will go on sale Friday, Oct. 16 at 10 a.m.

This production of Charles Dickens' A CHRISTMAS CAROL affords the audience an opportunity to see six well-known actors on stage in a production faithful to the original 1943 novella. The dramatic arc of the story - tracing Scrooge from his happy childhood and adolescence to his embittered, miserly adulthood and the magical night that leads him to recognize the true meaning of Christmas - is one of the most satisfying in all literature. Chicago's Civic Opera House will be filled with a lavish, historically accurate scenery, props, and costumes, eye-popping special effects, and a supporting cast of twenty-eight.

F. Murray Abraham portrays Ebenezer Scrooge. Abraham was catapulted to superstardom in 1984 for his portrayal of Antonio Salieri in Milos Forman's film Amadeus, for which he was honored with the 1985 Academy Award for Best Actor and the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama. He has appeared in hundreds of roles, both leading and supporting, in films and television. However, Abraham also has focused on stage work throughout his career, giving notable appearances as "Pozzo" in Mike Nichols' production of "Waiting for Godot," Malvolio in "Twelfth Night" for the New York Shakespeare Festival and "Shylock" in "The Merchant of Venice" for the Royal Shakespeare Company. His film career includes roles in almost 100 films including "The Prisoner of Second Avenue," "Serpico," "All the President's Men," "The Ritz," "Scarface" and of course "Amadeus." Abraham previously played Scrooge to sellout audiences and rave reviews in the Madison Square Garden production of A CHRISTMAS CAROL

Timothy Hutton portrays Scrooge's downtrodden clerk Bob Cratchit. Hutton is the youngest actor to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, which he won at the age of 20 for his performance as Conrad Jarrett in "Ordinary People." His other film work includes "Taps," "Daniel," "Iceman," "The Falcon and the Snowman," "Turk 182," "The Temp," "French Kiss," "Aldrich Ames: The Traitor Within," "WW3," "The Good Shepherd" and "The Last Mimzy." Hutton is currently starring in the TNT series "Leverage," where he plays an insurance investigator who becomes a modern-day Robin Hood.

James Garner will bring Charles Dickens to life, and serve as the narrator of this production. Over the course of a five decade career, Garner has starred in several television series and numerous feature films. His best know work includes his roles as Bret Maverick in the popular 1950s western-comedy series, "Maverick;" Jim Rockford, in the 1970s detective drama, "The Rockford Files;" and the father of Katey Segal's character on "8 Simple Rules" following the death of John Ritter. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for "Murphy's Romance." His film credits include "Darby's Rangers," "Up Periscope," "Cash McCall," "Boy's Night Out" (with Tony Randall and Kim Novak), "The Great Escape," "The Thrill of it All" (with Doris Day), "Move Over Darling" (again opposite Day), "The Americanization of Emily"(opposite Julie Andrews), "Grand Prix," Victor Victoria (again with Andrews), "Tank," "Murphy's Romance" (with Sally Field), "Barbarians at the Gate," "Maverick," "My Fellow Americans," "Twilight," "One Special Night" (once again with Julie Andrews), "Space Cowboys" (with Clint Eastwood, Donald Sutherland and Tommy Lee Jones), and "The Notebook" (with Gena Rowlands).

Stockard Channing will portray the Ghost of Christmas Past and Mrs. Cratchit. A versatile stage, film, and television actress, she is perhaps best known for her portrayal as First Lady Abbey Bartlet in the television series "The West Wing;" for playing Betty Rizzo in the film "Grease;" and for her role in both the stage and screen versions of "Six Degrees of Separation." Her stage work on Broadway includes "Two Gentlemen of Verona," "They're Playing Our Song," "A Day in the Death of Joe Egg," "The House of Blue Leaves," "Love Letters," "The Little Foxes," "Four Baboons Admiring the Sun," "The Lion in Winter" and "Pal Joey." She has been nominated for six Tony Awards, including this year for "Pal Joey," and received the Tony for her work in "...Joe Egg." Her film work includes "The Fortune" (with Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty), "Up the Sandbox," "The Cheap Detective," "Heartburn," "Without a Trace," "Meet the Applegates," "To Wong Foo...," "Up Close and Personal," "Smoke," "Moll Flanders," "The First Wives Club," "Twilight," "The Matthew Shepard Story," "Jack" and "Must Love Dogs." In 2002, Channing won the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her work on "The West Wing." The same year she also won the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie for her portrayal of Judy Shepard in "The Matthew Shepard Story."

George Wendt portrays various characters in A CHRISTMAS CAROL. Wendt is best known for his role as Norm Peterson on the television series "Cheers." He is a 1975 alumnus of Chicago's Second City. He recently starred in the Broadway musical "Hairspray" as Edna Turnblad. His other stage work includes the Broadway production of "12 Angry Men." His many films and television appearances includencludes "Somewhere in Time," "My Bodyguard," "Airplane II," "Bye, Bye Birdie," "Thief of Hearts," "The Ratings Game," "Fletch," "Gung Ho," "Forever Young" and "The Little Rascals."

Wayne Knight portrays the Ghost of Christmas Present. Knight is best known for his role as "Newman" on the television series "Seinfeld." His other prominent roles include "Dennis Nedry" in "Jurassic Park," "Al McWhiggan" in "Toy Story II," "Tantor" in "Tarzan," "Don Orville" in "3rd Rock from the Sun" and "Stan Podolak" in "Space Jam" with Michael Jordan. Knight has had many other memorable film roles, such as in Oliver Stone's "JFK" and the infamous interrogation scene in "Basic Instinct." Other film roles include "The Day After," "Dirty Dancing," "Everybody's All-American," "Dead Again," "To Die For," "My Favorite Martian," "Cheaper by the Dozen" and "Kung Fu Panda." His work on Broadway includes the recent revival of "Sweet Charity" (opposite Christina Applegate) "Art," "Mastergate" and "Gemini."

A CHRISTMAS CAROL is produced, adapted and directed by Kevin Von Feldt. The design team includes Jeff Hill (sets); Nancy Erickson Dutmer (costumes and choreography); David Neville (lighting) and Maureen Osborne (props). Bryan Ryman is the Design Consultant and Jaroslav Gebr is the Scenic Drop Artist.

The performance schedule is as follows: Tues., Dec. 22 at 7:30 p.m.; Wed., Dec. 23 at 2 and 7:30 p.m.; Thur., Dec. 24 at 2 p.m.; Sat., Dec. 26 at 2 and 7:30 p.m.; Sun., Dec. 27 at 2 and 7:30 p.m. There is no performance on Dec. 25. Tickets, which go on sale Friday, Oct. 16 at 10 a.m., range in price for adults from $17.50 to $67.50. Tickets for children ages 12 or under range in price from $17.50 to $33.75 with the purchase of a full-priced adult ticket; limit two children's tickets per adult ticket. Seniors aged 62 or older save $10 per ticket for the Tues., and Wed. performance. Tickets can be purchased online at www.ticketmaster.com or by calling Ticketmaster at 800-745-3000. Tickets are also available for purchase at the Civic Opera House box office and at all Ticketmaster outlets. Groups of 10 or more, call GroupTix at 877-447-7849.

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