I have endeavoured in this Ghostly little book, to raise the Ghost of an Idea, which shall not put my readers out of humour with themselves, with each other, with the season, or with me. May it haunt their houses pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it.

Their faithful Friend and Servant,
C. D.
December, 1843.

A Christmas Carol tells the festive and touching story of the one-night mystical journey of Ebenezer Scrooge, as he finally comes to realize the true meaning of Christmas. As Scrooge goes about his every day business, he introduces his ungrateful phrase, "Bah Humbug", which over a century has come to be the symbolic phrase for a grouchy or ungrateful reply. This dramatic play describes how visits from the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future, force the miserly Scrooge to face himself so that he may find redemption and a second chance to become a generous human being.

Focusing on Dickens' powerful language, humor and warmth, "A Christmas Carol" tells the story of the redemption of a human soul. The play follows the ever powerful story of Scrooge, a lonely miser, who, through the help of spirits and visions from his past, present and future, finds a second chance to become a loving, generous human being. With traditional carols and English folk tunes creating the proper atmosphere, the world of Scrooge, Fezziwig and Tiny Tim comes alive, igniting the Holiday Spirit for young and old.

Join The Capitol & Warehouse Theatre as they present a Broadway scale production of the Dickens classic . Come early and meet Santa and Mrs. Claus who will be out front with real reindeer to pet.

History
Dickens began writing his "Little Carol" in October, 1843 finishing it by the end of November in time to be published for Christmas with illustrations by John Leech. Feuding with his publishers, Dickens financed the publishing of the book himself, ordering lavish binding, gilt edging, and hand-colored illustrations and then setting the price at 5 shillings so that everyone could afford it. This combination resulted in disappointingly low profits despite high sales. In the first few days of its release the book sold six thousand copies and its popularity continued to grow. The first and best of his Christmas Books, A Christmas Carol has become a Christmas tradition and easily Dickens' best known book.

Mini Plot:
Ebenezer Scrooge is a penny-pinching miser in the first degree. He cares nothing for the people around him and mankind exists only for the money that can be made through exploitation and intimidation. He particularly detests Christmas which he views as 'a time for finding yourself a year older, and not an hour richer'. Scrooge is visited, on Christmas Eve, by the ghost of his former partner Jacob Marley who died seven Christmas Eves ago.

Marley, a miser from the same mold as Scrooge, is suffering the consequences in the afterlife and hopes to help Scrooge avoid his fate. He tells Scrooge that he will be haunted by three spirits. These three spirits, the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future, succeed in showing Scrooge the error of his ways. His glorious reformation complete, Christmas morning finds Scrooge sending a Christmas turkey to his long-suffering clerk, Bob Cratchit, and spending Christmas day in the company of his nephew, Fred, whom he had earlier spurned.

Scrooge's new-found benevolence continues as he raises Cratchit's salary and vows to assist his family, which includes Bob's crippled son, Tiny Tim. In the end Dickens reports that Scrooge became ' as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew'.

Quotes:
I have always thought of Christmas time as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely. ~Charles Dickens

Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time. ~Laura Ingalls Wilder

For the spirit of Christmas fulfils the greatest hunger of mankind. ~Loring A. Schuler

Christmas - that magic blanket that wraps itself about us, that something so intangible that it is like a fragrance. It may weave a spell of nostalgia. Christmas may be a day of feasting, or of prayer, but always it will be a day of remembrance - a day in which we think of everything we have ever loved. ~Augusta E. Rundel

Tickets for A Christmas Carol are available at The Capitol Theatre box office: 509-853-ARTS or 800-325-SEAT.