Contemporary Theater Company Will Present A CHRISTMAS CAROL This Holiday Season

As the sound of carols and the ever-present jingling of “All I Want for Christmas Is You” starts to fill our shops, there’s one more sound that truly says Christmas has arrived - “Bah humbug!” It wouldn’t be Christmas without A Christmas Carol, presented this December at The Contemporary Theater Company with a unique twist - a five-person cast.

“A Christmas Carol will always be a beloved holiday tale because of its heartwarming story and themes of redemption and joy,” says director Paula Glen. “I thought a wonderful way to celebrate such a classic would be to engage five talented, fun-loving and somewhat silly actors to bring all the Dickensian characters to life in a fast-paced and joyful CTC-styled gift.”

A Christmas Carol, adapted from the book by Charles Dickens, is the classic story of the greedy Ebenezer Scrooge who does not realize the terrible future that his cruelty will create for himself and his community. When three spirits visit him to show him the true meaning of Christmas, Scrooge is given a chance to change his ways and escape his fate. Running from December 5 through 22, this production offers a charmingly novel approach that still remains faithful to the original.

“A Christmas Carol is often someone’s first experience with theater or perhaps their one annual trip,” says Maggie Cady, the General Manager of the Contemporary Theater Company. “So if this is your one time in the theater this year, we’re here to make it a good one. We may even convince you to come throughout the year!”

Directed by Paula Glen, the show features a true ensemble cast, with a mere five actors portraying every character in Dickens’s Christmas fable. Ryan Sekac portrays Scrooge, reprising his role from last year’s farcical Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge, also directed by Glen. Sekac brings bitterness and gravitas to the famous Christmas-hating Scrooge, making his joyous transformation even more powerful.

Sekac is joined on stage by four CTC veterans who play the rest of the parts. Kenney Knisely, an improviser in the theater’s full-length improvised murder mystery Whodunit, portrays a gleeful Tiny Tim and the terrifying ghost of Marley, Scrooge’s former business partner. Alaina Mueller, debuting at the CTC in this summer’s production of 1776 alongside Knisely, forces a resistant Scrooge to confront the losses of his childhood as the Ghost of Christmas Past and wins the heart of the crowd as a struggling Mrs. Cratchit.

Neil Motta, most recently in Twelfth Night at the CTC, not only plays a foil to Scrooge as his persistently optimistic nephew Fred but also brings laughter as he shows Scrooge the joys of Christmas day as the Ghost of Christmas Present. Stephen Fox, who performed in Predictor at the CTC this spring, rounds out the cast as a Bob Cratchit who is resilient in the face of tragedy and a Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come that unsettles the audience as much as he does Scrooge.

“Every director hopes for a cast with this much chemistry, but it’s not something you can guarantee, no matter how much you plan,” says Glen. “Every rehearsal I am treated to belly laughs and bittersweet tears. It is a blessing to watch these actors embrace multiple characters - sometimes in the same scene!”

A Christmas Carol has become an essential part of the Christmas season because it cuts straight to the heart of all that is good in Christmas. This story tells us not only that we can overcome greed and fear by committing to generosity, community, and love, but that we need to do it if our lives are to hold real meaning.

This intimate production drives home the hope that is needed to believe that we can learn from our past, take joy in our present, and change our future for the better. As Glen puts it, “A Christmas Carol is full of specters and ghosts but the real magic is in the story of the Cratchits.” 

The show will run at the Contemporary Theater Company from December 5 through December 22. Tickets are available now, and audiences are encouraged to secure tickets early because these performances are sure to sell out.

 

To post a comment, you must register and login.