The Christmas Carols, One and All
At least nine versions of A Christmas Carol are taking shape throughout the region, from Seattle to North Bend to Olympia. Many of them put some twist on the classics. We invited them all to tell us about the unique versions coming soon to their stages.
Which theatres relate their Carols to mini booze bottles and pictures of creepy smiling Christmas puddings? Read on …
Ticketing links for most shows can be found on the Performance Calendar page, under the Christmas & Seasonal filter here.
Christmas Past, Present, and Future
These stagings stay true to the Dickens classic, with their own dramatic twists.
Harlequin Productions: A Christmas Carol
A ghostly spin on the classic
Opens 11/25 (preview 11/23), closing 12/24. In Olympia.
What might surprise people about your take on A Christmas Carol?
The production makes heavy use of projections and special effects, to very spooky effect. Harlequin is known for darker, edgier shows than the norm, and this Christmas Carol reflects that vision.
Why did you select this show for your season?
A Christmas Carol is a story of redemption — fundamentally, a story about hope and forgiveness. As we emerge from the pandemic, we all need a little light to guide us out of the darkness. – Aaron Lamb, Artistic Director, who adapted and directed the show
If your version were a stocking stuffer, what would it be and why?
The classic 1951 film of A Christmas Carol starring Alistair Sim. This production keeps very close to the original Dickens, so it’s not all holly and plum pudding. This is A Christmas Carol for our times, just as Dickens wrote it in 1843.
Who will love it?
Anyone in need of the transformative catharsis that is this show’s unique and enduring legacy.
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Pay-what-you-choose rush tickets are available for 12/2 (evening), 12/4 (matinee), and 12/17 (evening) performances. Show info and tickets here.
ACT Theatre: A Christmas Carol
Seattle’s long-running Carol tradition
Opens 11/25, closing 12/24. In Downtown Seattle.
What’s special about your take on A Christmas Carol?
Now in its 47th year, this show is ACT’s gift to the community for audiences young and old. For many Seattleites it is the first show they ever attended, and now they bring their children and grandchildren. It is a perfect way to celebrate family and community.
The cast is brilliant, and what they have created is a joyous and unforgettable experience that unfolds in a lavish production for all the senses. It invites you to awake your sense of wonder.
What is the mood of this show?
Warm and fuzzy, with a side of ghost story!
If your version were a stocking stuffer, what would it be?
A perfect musical snow globe.
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ASL-interpreted performance on 12/17 (matinee); audio-described performance on 12/10 (matinee); closed captioning available for all performances; see accessibility info here. Same-day rush ($20) tickets are available to all; see discounts information here. Show info and tickets here.
SecondStory Repertory: A Christmas Carol
A dramatic, fast-paced classic
Opens 12/2 (preview 12/1), closing 12/23. In Redmond.
What’s special about your take on A Christmas Carol?
It’s a high-energy, fast-paced, 90-minute telling of the Charles Dickens classic, interwoven with traditional carols in our intimate 80-seat theatre. This year will mark John Clark’s final performance of Scrooge. Surely not to be missed.
Why did you select this show for your season?
This show is in its eighth year of production and marks a return to semi-normalcy following the pandemic.
Who will love it?
People who love Christmas, people who have seen another version before, and people who don’t want to sit through a two-and-a-half-hour show.
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Pay-what-you-choose rush tickets are available at 6pm for 12/1 (preview). Show info and tickets here.
Valley Center Stage: A Christmas Carol
A wintery fixture of the Cascade foothills
Opens 12/2, closing 12/18. In North Bend.
What’s special about your take on A Christmas Carol?
A Christmas Carol is a beloved Valley Center Stage tradition, and a timelessly powerful story besides; there’s probably a bit of Scrooge in all of us, and that’s what keeps us coming back to this story year after year.
This wholly new script and production of the beloved classic is adapted directly from Dickens’ 1843 novella, but also enriched with material from other Dickens novels, short fiction, and non-fiction, to offer a richer look at Scrooge and the people around him. It reaches back to a long tradition of English Christmas celebrations, from caroling and wassailing to ghost stories and parlor games, but also speaks forward to us with startling directness, for Dickens’ passions and interests are no less relevant today. Familiar characters are brought to life with unexpected new dimensions, including Scrooge’s sister Fan, his niece Freddy, his business partner Jacob Marley, his old friend Dick Wilkins, Bob, Tiny Tim, and all the Cratchits, and more, in this lively, vital Carol steeped in Dickensian feeling but with today’s audience in mind.
What is the mood of this show?
True to Dickens, the setting is gloomy — industrial London at the darkest time of the year — but one to which his characters bring great warmth, joy, and liveliness in order to, as one of the old carols in the show goes, “drive the cold winter away.”
What might surprise people?
Quite a lot, from hearing lovely pre-Victorian Christmas songs to seeing Jacob Marley alive and Scrooge’s sister Fan as an adult; plus, the ghosts have a few new tricks up their sleeves, but they wouldn’t want me to give those away.
If your version were a stocking stuffer, what would it be and why?
That candy that looks like coal, because while it’s a little darker at first look, that makes its sweetness more rewarding.
Who will love it?
Those who can’t get enough of A Christmas Carol, those who are tired of it, and those who love any of the following: sea creatures, live fiddling and jigs to go with it, mid-19th century sewer technology, giggling goblins, the vibe of the “Portobello Road” sequence in Bedknobs & Broomsticks, the unsettling grinning puddings on Victorian Christmas cards, and toying with your relatives’ politics at the holidays.
– Dustin Trabert, director, who adapted the show
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Pay-what-you-choose advance tickets are available for 12/8 and 12/15 (Thursday night) performances. Show info and tickets here.
Inspired By …
With obvious inspiration from the original, these are modernized and looser takes on the Dickens classic.
Seattle Opera: A Very Drunken Christmas Carol
It ain’t over ’til the Drunken Tenor sings
Opens 12/9, closing 12/18. At the Seattle Center (Mercer side).
What’s special about your take on A Christmas Carol?
A Very Drunken Christmas Carol is a tipsy retelling of Charles Dickens’ time-honored classic, offering a heady cocktail of opera, comedy, and holiday favorites ideal for getting into the spirit of the season.
While preparing for a holiday concert, the Drunken Tenor gets hit in the head, knocked out, and wakes up in an alternate reality. Faced with unfamiliar surroundings, he embarks on a journey to understand the consequences of his choices and how he became the person he is. Along the way, he is visited by three spirits (and duet partners) from the past, present, and future who join together to produce an unforgettable evening of laughter, libations, and lyricism.
Why did you select this show for your season?
A Very Drunken Christmas Carol is a lighthearted antidote to the tragedies that often grace the opera stage — it’s a perfectly festive way to get into the holiday spirit! There’s something for every adult to love, whether they’re an opera buff or a newcomer.
If your version were a stocking stuffer, what would it be and why?
This show would be a trio of mini bottles — whiskey, vodka, and rum — matching three spirits that visit the Drunken Tenor on that fateful night.
What might surprise people about the show?
Although this show is funny and irreverent, it also has many heartfelt moments — it’s a comedy show with a heart of gold.
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Note: this show is held at the opera’s much smaller recital hall and tends to sell out early. Show info and tickets here.
Valley Center Stage: Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge – a staged reading
An irreverent trip into Mrs. Cratchit’s side of the story
12/11 only. In North Bend.
This comedy by Christopher Durang re-imagines Mrs. Cratchit as a fed-up and hard-drinking parent to 21 children, parodying the original and other Christmas classics.
If your version were a stocking stuffer, what would it be and why?
A snow globe containing the Simpsons in a nativity scene. So many things we love, combined to create chaos!
Who will love it?
Anyone who thinks Scrooge is boorish and Bob Cratchit is a pushover, and wants to step in to smack some sense into everyone.
What might surprise people?
Everything always works out the way it is supposed to, even though we don’t understand it at the time.
Why did you select this show for your season?
I’ve played Mrs. Cratchit for a couple of years now. She’s a character that is so briefly seen and I’ve always felt she had more to say. – April Davis, director
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Tickets are all pay-what-you-choose. Show info and tickets here.
ArtsWest: Q Brothers Christmas Carol
Opening 11/25 (preview 11/23), closing 12/23. In West Seattle.
This musical by the Q Brothers Collective is a hip-hop remix of Dickens’ classic tale, where Scrooge is shown the path of rhythm and redemption with visits from the Ghosts of Hip-Hop Past, Present, and Future.
Theatre did not yet provide additional information.
Sliding scale tickets available for all. Show info and tickets here.
Seattle Rep: Mr. Dickens and His Carol
Opening 11/30 (previews 11/25-29), closing 12/23. At the Seattle Center (Mercer side).
When his latest book is a flop, Charles Dickens must come up with a Christmas hit or face ruin from his publisher. A world-premiere stage adaptation of Samantha Silva’s novel.
Theatre did not yet provide additional information.
ASL-interpreted performance 12/17 (matinee); open-captioned performance 12/8 (matinee); sensory-friendly performance 12/10 (matinee); audio-described performance 12/3 (matinee); closed captioning available for all performances; see accessibility info here. Pay-what-you-choose tickets available for all; see discounts information here. Show info and tickets here.
Renton Civic Theatre: Humbug
Opening 12/2, closing 12/17. In Renton.
Power-hungry, Christmas-averse executive Eleanor Scrooge is busy with a corporate takeover when she’s interrupted by three advisors reminding her of the Christmas spirit.
Theatre did not yet provide additional information.
Show info and tickets here.
Responses have been condensed and edited for clarity.
For shows by date, see the Performance Calendar. (View the Christmas & Seasonal filter here.)
Chase D. Anderson is Editor & Producer of NWTheatre.org.