Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’

December 8 - 22, 2024

Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre

Adaption by Steve Wargo with Musical Arrangements by Dianne Adams MacDowell

Directed By Steven Maler with Musical Direction By Dan Rodriguez

Journey back to Victorian England and experience Dickens’ heart-warming classic story brought to brilliant life! Commonwealth Shakespeare Company brings a dazzling new production of Dickens’ timeless tale to Boston’s Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre. Ebenezer Scrooge (Will Lyman, voice of Frontline and “The Most Interesting Man in the World”; CSC’s King Lear), the infamous miser, is shown the error of his ways and reformed by spirits in one transformative night, discovering the true meaning of the holiday season.

In this spectacular adaptation of the iconic tale by award-winning writer/director Steve Wargo, Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’ is infused with carols from Dickens’ era in lush arrangements by Dianne Adams MacDowell (A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder, Starmites). Directed by CSC’s Founding Artistic Director Steven Maler and Music Directed by Dan Rodriguez, this new holiday tradition is sure to bring joy to audiences of all ages!

Foundational support for Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’ is generously provided by Christy and Jay Cashman and the Poduska Family Foundation.

Performance Dates and Times

Sunday, Dec 8th at 7 PM – Preview Performance
Tuesday, Dec 10th at 7 PM – Preview Performance
Wednesday, Dec 11th at 7 PM
Thursday, Dec 12th at 7 PM
Friday, Dec 13th at 7 PM
Saturday, Dec 14th at 2 PM and 7 PM
Sunday, Dec 15th at 2 PM (ASL-Interpreted and Audio Described) and 7 PM
Tuesday, Dec 17th at 2 PM
Wednesday, Dec 18th at 7 PM
Thursday, Dec 19th at 7 PM
Friday, Dec 20th at 7 PM
Saturday, Dec 21st at 2 PM (Audio Described) and 7 PM (ASL-Interpreted)
Sunday, Dec 22nd at 2 PM and 7 PM

SEE THY WORDS: All performances are Open Captioned. Captions powered by CCTheater™, from AccessTech, LLC (www.getaccesstech.com

Ticketing Information

Ticketing for Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’ will be processed through The Emerson Cutler Majestic Box Office.

The Box Office is open during performances only starting 2 hours prior to the performance. Tickets for events at the Majestic can be purchased at the Emerson Paramount Center Box Office located at 559 Washington Street during regular business hours.

Box Office Hours

IN PERSON SERVICE AT THE PARAMOUNT BOX OFFICE
THU-SAT: 12PM-6PM
SUN & MON: Closed

PHONE AND EMAIL HOURS
TUE-SAT: 12PM-6PM
SUN & MON: Closed

617.824.8400

Please be wary of third party sellers. The only authorized sellers for this production are the Emerson Box Office and BosTix (ArtsBoston).

Group Sales

Groups of 10 or more can receive a 10% discount. Contact the Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre Box Office at 617.824.8400 or tickets@emersontheatres.org to book tickets for your group. A 20% non-refundable deposit is required to hold your seats. Balance will be due two weeks prior to the performance.


Interested in being a part of the holiday magic? Explore our sponsorship opportunities and Founders’ Circle below!

 

Cast

Will Lyman
Scrooge

Will Lyman – Commonwealth Shakespeare Company: King Lear, Claudius, Prospero, Brutus. Off Broadway: Man in Snow, The Passion of Dracula, The Novelist, The Grinding Machine. The Huntington: Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, All My Sons, Dead End. New Repertory Theatre: Long Day’s Journey into Night, Dollhouse, The Clean House, The Ice-Breaker. The Nora@Central Square Theater: Operation Epsilon, Equus. Boston Playwrights’ Theatre: Windowmen, The Oil Thief, King of the Jews. Gamm Theatre: Celebration. Film: “Little Children,” “Mystic River,” “The Siege,” “A Perfect Murder,” “Welcome to the Dollhouse,” “The Arborist,” and “Mother/Android.” TV: “Commander-in-Chief,” “Threat Matrix,” “Hull High,” “Crossbow,” and long-time narrator of public affairs program “Frontline” (PBS). Awards: multiple Elliot Norton and IRNE awards, Howard Keel Award for service to the Screen Actors Guild.

Creative Team

Steven Maler
Director

Steven Maler is the Founding Artistic Director of Commonwealth Shakespeare Company (CSC). At CSC he has been directing Free Shakespeare on the Boston Common productions since 1996, including Richard III, Love’s Labour’s Lost, King Lear, Twelfth Night, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Coriolanus, All’s Well That Ends Well, Othello, The Comedy Of Errors, As You Like It, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Taming of the Shrew, Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing, Macbeth, Henry V, The Tempest, Julius Caesar, and Romeo & Juliet. Other CSC works include his critically acclaimed production of Naomi Wallace’s adaptation of William Wharton’s novel Birdy, Ariel Dorfman’s Death and the Maiden, the world premiere of Jake Broder’s Our American Hamlet, and the world premiere of Robert Brustein’s The Last Will.  In collaboration with Boston Landmarks Orchestra, he directed A Midsummer Night’s Dream, featuring the Overture and Incidental Music of Felix Mendelssohn, as well as concert stagings of The Boys from Syracuse and Kiss Me Kate at Boston’s iconic Hatch Shell.  For CSC he has also directed one-night-only readings of iconic plays featuring Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Paul Rudd, Anthony Mackie, Blair Brown, Tony Shalhoub, Brooke Adams, Leslie Uggams, David Morse, and Jeffrey Donovan among others.  He conceived and directed Shakespeare at Fenway, an evening of Shakespeare scenes performed at Boston’s iconic Fenway Park, featuring Mike O’Malley, Neal McDonough, Maryann Plunkett, Jay O. Sanders, Kerry O’Malley, Seth Gilliam, Zuzanna Szadkowski, Max Von Essen, Christian Coulson, Jason Butler Harner, and many others.

In collaboration with Google, he adapted and directed a first of its kind sixty minute virtual reality film of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, entitled Hamlet 360: Thy Father’s Spirit, starring Jack Cutmore-Scott, Jay O. Sanders, Brooke Adams, and Faran Tahir.  It is currently available for viewing on Boston public media producer GBH’s YouTube channel; for more information, visit www.wgbh.org/hamlet360.

Outside of CSC, he directed Maria, Regina D’Inghilterra for Odyssey Opera, Péter Eötvös’ operatic treatment of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America (U.S. Premiere) and Thomas Adès’ Powder Her Face for Opera Boston, The Turn of the Screw at New Repertory Theatre, Santaland Diaries and Chay Yew’s Porcelain at SpeakEasy Stage Company, Top Girls and Weldon Rising at Coyote Theatre, and The L.A. Plays by Han Ong at A.R.T. His New York City credits include the New York Musical Theatre Festival production of Without You, written by and starring Anthony Rapp. The production has been seen in Boston, Edinburgh, Toronto, London, and Seoul.

He received the prestigious Elliot Norton Award for Sustained Excellence, as well as for Best Production for Twelfth Night and All’s Well That Ends Well; Outstanding Director, A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Best Production, SubUrbia; Best Solo Performance, John Kuntz’s Starf***ers (which also won Best Solo Performance Award at New York International Fringe Festival). His feature film “The Autumn Heart,” starring Tyne Daly and Ally Sheedy was in the Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival.

Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’ is recommended for ages 8+ due to some potentially scary themes and images and a few moments of strong language. We do not recommend this show for very young children (under 3) due to the potential for bright lights, loud sounds, large crowds and these themes. All age guides are recommendations and we encourage parents/guardians to make the best decision for their child based on the following information.
This production is true to Charles’ Dickens’ original novel of “A Christmas Carol”, with a majority of the text pulled directly from that source and incorporated with musical carols incorporating Christian-religious allusions of the time. Reading the novel is a great way to prepare for seeing the play. Themes included in the production include:
    • Depictions of Victorian Era poverty including beggars and hungry children.
    • The depiction of Tim Crachit as a sick child walking with assistance of a crutch.
    • Strong language from Scrooge includes lines like:  “If I could work my will, every idiot who goes about with “Merry Christmas” on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart.“, “I would see you in Hell first.“, and “If they would rather die, they had better do it and decrease the surplus population.
    • Scrooge is visited by four ghosts or spirits including Marley who is depicted as suffering in the afterlife with chains, the ghosts of Christmas Past and Present, and the ghost of Christmas Future, a large, unspeaking ominous figure who shows the potential aftermath of both Scrooge and Tim Crachit’s deaths, including gravestones and mourning families.
    • The depiction of the spirits of Ignorance and Want as two starving children and a young mother and baby who succumb to cold and hunger under their influence.
    • Childhood/adolescent loneliness and family strife
Please reach out to us with any further questions about this production at: audienceservices@commshakes.org.


Featured Photo: "Commonwealth Shakespeare Company presents Charles Dickens’; Adaption by Steve Wargo Musical Arrangements by Dianne Adams MacDowell; Directed by Steven Maler; A New Holiday Tradition! December 8-22,2024, Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre" in text. "Will Lyman as Scrooge" in text with an image of him as Scrooge looking menacingly back at the viewer, against a blue-hued London street with magical sparks. PC: Matt McKee Photography.

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