Photo Flash: A CHRISTMAS CAROL, OY! HANUKKAH, MERRY KWANZAA At Theater for the New City

For the delight of audiences aged 5 to 105, Theater for the New City, 155 First Ave., will present Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theatre (CAMT) in "A Christmas Carol, Oy! Hanukkah, Merry Kwanzaa" from December 19 to January 5. The show is an adaptation of Dickens' classic with Old World accents and New World inclusiveness. Adapted, directed and reinvented by Vit Horejs, it features over 30 puppets by Milos Kasal including a quartet of Rockettes in Slovak, Moravian and Ruthenian folk costumes and holiday songs in Czech, English, Hebrew, Slovak, Spanish and Swahili.

This toy-puppet theater extravaganza is a new take on Charles Dickens' classic with a few twists and digressions. Into the familiar story is woven a surprising and delightful blend of English, Jewish, African, American and Czech winter rituals and customs, all performed by over three dozen marionettes ranging in size from four to twenty-four inches as well as found objects and toys. Mr. Horejs operates the whole cast of puppets, backed up by a live chorus: an "a capella monumentale" choir of Katarina Vizina (a transplant from Slovakia) and Valois Mickens (West African/Celtic/Native American origin). The piece is still set in Old London, but with Czech accents. Imagine that the familiar tale was told to you not by an English serial novelist, but by your Czech grandmother.

The scenic design uses elements of made-in-Prague 1920's toy marionette theater donated recently by Madeleine Albright and an identical set that Vit Horejs and his mother played with in their childhoods. The Bob Cratchit and Charwoman marionettes are from these toy theaters.

There are ghost puppets by Vit Horejs and unknown folk carvers and a Camel marionette that has played an intruder in several CAMT shows. Set and costume design are by company member Michelle Beshaw, a two-time Innovative Theatre Awards winner.

This production first appeared in 2001 at the Jan Hus Playhouse as the lead show of a "Magic of Czech Puppetry" festival. Its popularity led to revivals in 2002, 2004 ,2005 and 2014. Laurel Graeber (New York Times) called the show a "delightful holiday hodgepodge that still hews closely to Dickens's tale and also has contemporary humor." Revisiting the show in 2005, Graeber declared, " Mr. Horejs's 75-minute unorthodox mix is always fun," adding, "This is indeed Dickens's story, though Mr. Horejs's approach is hardly Victorian. Scrooge asks the ghosts whether he will get frequent-flyer miles, and when Fezziwig, Scrooge's old mentor, appears, he is singing 'The Dreidel Song.' (He explains that his family name was originally Feinstein.) In Christmas yet to come, Scrooge's tenants celebrate being free of him with Hebrew songs and menorah-lighting. At one point, a huge camel marionette arrives." When the production was presented by La MaMa in 2014, Kelly Aliano (NY Theatre Wire) wrote, "'Christmas Carol' is exactly what an audience would want from a holiday show. It tells a familiar tale with an added twist, it reminds us about the spirit of the season, and it puts a smile on the face of even the scroogiest of spectators. There is no mention of Tiny Tim's most famous line, but the overall tone of the show makes everyone lucky enough to have seen it feel truly blessed indeed." Joel Benjamin (TheaterScene.com) called it "a refreshing theatrical oasis in the holiday desert of over-ripe TV films, large Broadway musicals and the Radio City Christmas Show."

The production will be updated to contemporary sensibilities and restaged for its TNC debut. It will also be presented at Detroit Institute of Arts December 29 and 30 with the chorus played by Valois Mickens and Michigan music maven John K. Erskine.

Performances are December 19, 20, 21, 22, 26, 27 and January 2, 3, 4, 5 at Theater for the New City, 155 First Avenue (at E. 10th Street), Thursdays through Saturdays at 8:00 PM plus matinees Saturdays and Sundays at 3:00 PM. Tickets are $18 gen. adm., $12 seniors/students/kids. Come dressed as character of Dickens' Christmas Carol or any seasonal holiday and use discount code SCROOGE for $2 off all tickets (advance sale and box office). Box office is 212-254-1109 and www.theaterforthenewcity.net.