CHRISTMAS CAROL CARES

Holiday classic a gift for food bank

A Christmas Carol was a smash hit for Charles Dickens in 1843 and was the biggest seller of the holiday season that year. The novella sold 6,000 copies by Christmas (a huge number for the time) and soon there were eight stage adaptations underway. It has remained a Christmas classic ever since. The oldest surviving screen adaptation of A Christmas Carol is Scrooge (or Marley's Ghost), which was produced in 1901. Many critics agree that the 1951 adaptation of Scrooge, starring Alastair Sim (renamed A Christmas Carol for North American audiences) is the best. Other more recent efforts have starred Bill Murray (Scrooged) and The Muppets (The Muppet Christmas Carol). This year's A Christmas Carol at Theatre Calgary, the 30th anniversary of the play at TC, features Christopher Newton as the Voice of Dickens; Stephen Hair as Scrooge; Robert Klein as Jacob Marley; Karl H. Sine as Bob Cratchit; Braden Griffiths as Fred; Ryan Luhning as Topper; Julie Orton as Mrs. Dilber; Allison Lynch as Spirit of Christmas Past; Evan Sterns as Boy Ebenezer; Adam Forward as Young Ebenezer; Sydney Nagata as Fan; Tenaj Williams as Dick Wilkins; Declan O'Reilly as Mr. Fezziwig; Elizabeth Stepkowski-Tarhan as Mrs. Fezziwig; Heather Pattengale as Belle; Graham Percy as Spirit of Christmas Present; Dex Drewitz as Tiny Tim; Jamie Konchak as Mrs. Cratchit; Anabel Beames as Belinda Cratchit; Samuel Ross as Peter Cratchit; Haylee Thompson as Martha Cratchit; Paula Humby as Abigail; Siena Yee as Hope and Joe Perry as Spirit of Christmas Future.