“Bah, humbug.” It’s a phrase that has become as engrained in our collective Christmas conscious as much as Santa and “Jingle Bells” thanks to countless retellings of the classic Charles Dickens novel, A Christmas Carol. It made its debut in 19th-century Victorian England and this year, the book’s iconic characters—Ebenezer Scrooge, Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim and all—have, in fact, hit a milestone. A Christmas Carol turns 175. It’s a tradition for many families to take in a performance of the classic tale—it’s just a matter of selecting which local theater to get your Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future fix.
Ford’s Theatre mounts its annual run of A Christmas Carol through Dec. 30. The historic theater first performed the show in 1979 and has been doing so annually since 1987. It’s something that Meredith McMath remembers fondly.
“I grew up in Arlington, across the river from Ford’s Theatre, and we went to A Christmas Carol almost every year, and I loved that,” McMath says.
Today, McMath is the managing director of the Run Rabbit Run production company, which is staging its own, original musical adaptation, Once Upon A Christmas Carol, at the Franklin Park Arts Center in Purcellville.
“It’s the season. People love coming to the show—people have seen it years and years and years and years,” says Craig Wallace, who is marking his third straight year as Scrooge at Ford’s Theatre. “People are talking to me about the different Scrooges they have seen over the years. It’s a family tradition.”
But what is it about this old miser Scrooge and his tale, which was written in a time and place that is so distant from what we know today, that makes it endure?
“Dickens wrote this during the period of Victorian era, where you had all the workhouses and the 12-hour days for children,” explains Ted Ballard, Rooftop Productions artistic director and director for the upcoming production of A Christmas Carol, the Musical at The Candy Factory in Manassas. “But even today the themes of compassion and kindness—that will go through time.”
Those universal themes and Dickens’ classic storytelling have given the story longevity, not to mention that it has proven endlessly adaptable without losing its iconic moments. Theater, television and film have all parlayed the story in one way or another, with Scrooge getting the Hollywood treatment by everyone from British actor George C. Scott to Bill Murray in Scrooged to Disney’s animated Scrooge McDuck.
“Scrooge lacks compassion,” Wallace says. “He gains compassion throughout the story. For whatever years he has left, he’s going to embrace his fellow man. What he learns is that the true gift, the true living, really, is reaching out to other people.”
That’s a message that’s sure to endure another 175.
Find A Christmas Carol at these local theaters:
A Christmas Carol
Through Dec. 30 // Ford’s Theatre: 511 10th St. NW, Washington, D.C.; $32-$105
A Christmas Carol, the Musical
Through Dec. 9 // The Candy Factory: 9419 Battle St., Manassas; $22 (general), $18 (students and seniors 65+)
Once Upon A Christmas Carol
Through Dec. 9 // Franklin Park Arts Center: 36441 Blueridge View Lane, Purcellville; $14-$20
A Christmas Carol
Dec. 7-16 // James Lee Community Center Theater: 2855 Annandale Road, Falls Church; $17
A Christmas Carol
Through Dec. 16 // Little Theatre of Alexandria: 600 Wolfe St., Alexandria; $20
