( ENSPIRE Entertainment ) Opening Night on November 21, Tickets Available via Digital Lottery
ENSPIRE Contributor: Perry Merse Jr.
Preview performances began for Jefferson Mays in Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” at Broadway’s Nederlander Theatre. Opening night is Monday, November 21, and will be limited to a strict 66-performance engagement that will conclude on Sunday, January 1, 2023. This production is unique because Mays is a solo performer who plays over 50 roles. This play was influential during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 with the release of a special filmed version produced by Hunter Arnold. This spurred audiences to theaters and brought the joy of live theater to those unable to attend in person. This also brought revenue to 84 partner theaters, which were at a standstill at onset of the pandemic.
As mentioned before, this rendition of A Christmas Carol is unlike any other. Tony Award-winning actor Jefferson Mays plays over 50 roles, including a potato. Mays talks about his inspiration in an episode of The Broadway Show with Tamsen Fadal, “It’s a project that’s been in the back of my mind. I talked about it with my dear wife, Susan Lyons.” He continues, “We sat down and started tinkering with the text and drew from Dickens’ own performance version—he toured it around as a one-man show.”
Also, Mays drew inspiration from a unique family tradition from his childhood, “My father would read A Christmas Carol in its entirety every year. Over the course of three hours, he kept us transfixed on the sofa. My mother would embody every character. I remember as a child seeing this woman, who was so familiar to me, transmogrify before my eyes. It was magic. I think it was a seminal moment for me in many ways.”
A Christmas Carol is adapted for solo performances by Mays, Arden, and Lyons. This production is directed by two-time Tony Award nominee Michael Arden. Hunter Arnold and Kayla Greenspan are the play’s producers. Arden and Tony Award nominee Dane Laffrey conceived it. The world premiere received widespread acclaim in 2018 at Los Angeles’ Geffen Playhouse.
The creative team for A Christmas Carol includes Dane Laffrey (scenic and costume design), Ben Stanton (lighting design), Joshua D. Reid (sound design), Lucy Mackinnon (projection design), Cookie Jordan (hair and makeup design), Stephen Kopel (casting director), and Justin Scribner (associate director and production stage manager).
Tickets are available via lottery, which will begin at 9 AM EST the day before each performance and close at 6 PM EST that same day. Winners will be notified when the lottery closes and will be awarded 60 minutes to claim and pay for tickets. Seating and number of tickets are subject to availability.
Purchase tickets here.
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