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MainStage Magic Realism

By Cynthia Close, Burlington Writers Workshop

A preview of A Christmas Carol, presented by the Nebraska Theatre Caravan Thursday, December 1 on the MainStage at 7:30 pm. Tickets are available at www.flynntix.org.

Would Charles Dickens be surprised that his 1843 novella A Christmas Carol has come to embody much of the spirit we associate with the holiday today in 2016? Perhaps not. Dickens was one of those rare writers who was an international literary icon in his own time. He was a pioneer in the serial publication of his novels, allowing him to gauge audience reaction to his characters and plot development after each segment, sometimes incorporating changes in response to his reader’s critique. He knew how to cater to his fans and would fit right into today’s literary, theatrical, and cinematic world driven by prequels, sequels, and adaptations.

Born in Portsmouth, England in 1812 Dickens read voraciously in his youth. Later, his childhood memories, informed by his own harsh work/life experiences, found their way into his fiction. Sadness and cruelty were always mitigated with a wry sense of humor and satire, a winning combination that produced, besides A Christmas Carol, some of the most widely-recognized titles in all of literature, including The Adventures of Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, Bleak House, A Tale of Two Cities, and Great Expectations.    

Dickens was also obsessed by the theater and for a period of three years in the late 1820s he claimed to have gone to the theater every day, perhaps laying the ground for his ability to create such memorable characters as Ebeneezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim, Jacob Marley, and Bob Cratchit in A Christmas Carol. In the Nebraska Theatre Caravan’s touring version, we will get to see the actors Andy Harvey, Sasha Denenberg, Tommy Walker, and Dan Chevalier take on those roles.

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The Caravan’s Broadway-style adaptation by Charles Jones is considerably lighter and brighter than other performances you may remember of this classic tribute to the holidays. A cast of 23 performers sing and dance their way through this tale, incorporating new arrangements of holiday songs such as God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Away in a Manger, Greensleeves, and many others. Jones indicates that while the story and language is true to Dickens, the songs are stand alone with a contemporary scoring and I think it’s going to be tough not to sing along.

Burlington is the tenth stop in the Caravan’s 2016 Red Tour. The troupe has been on the road since November 11, appearing in Wisconsin, Connecticut, West Virginia, Ohio, and Albany, New York before they hit the Flynn MainStage. The next day they will be on stage in Red Bank, New Jersey with upcoming performances in Pennsylvania, Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Tennessee, and as far south as Florida, and ending in Birmingham, Alabama. Amazingly, the Caravan’s national tour of A Christmas Carol has performed in over 650 cities in 49 states and 4 Canadian provinces in its nearly 40 years on the road.

If experiencing this warmly nostalgic start to the holidays makes you hungry for more, I suggest you get tickets for that other great Christmastime classic, The Nutcracker Ballet, performed by our very own Vermont Ballet Theater on the Flynn MainStage December 17 and 18. It is certainly a must if you have any budding ballerinas in the family. It’s been a tradition for my granddaughters and me since they were old enough to pull on a tutu. Looking forward to being infused with holiday spirit and I hope to see you at the Flynn.