‘A Christmas Carol’ Brings LA Holiday Cheer

With the holidays upon us in sunny Los Angeles, it is easy to get lost amidst the last minute sales and shopping excursions for our loved ones. This year, Geoff Elliott’s brilliant adaptation of “A Christmas Carol” gave life and new meaning to Charles Dickens’s classic Christmas novella and provided a meaningful distraction from all the holiday hullabaloo. The production premiered December 5, 2015 at Pasadena’s A Noise Within Theatre Company and ran through December 23, bringing family and friends together to rejoice, laugh, and celebrate the holiday season.

The play was put together beautifully, with thrilling sound and stage effects, and costumes reminiscent of the 1830s and 1840s. A white, fairy-like dress worn by the Ghost of Christmas Past was just one of many costumes that lit up the stage, as well as the Ghost of Christmas Present’s colorful, festive robe, adorned with holiday foods and brilliant decorations. Marley’s ghost appeared before the audience in a white ensemble with flashing lights illuminating his body, and heavy chains that echoed through the quaint theater as he violently shook them. The cast would ease, rather than burst, into song, which brought a fairytale, fantasy-like feel to the production.

The story, however, remains the same: Scrooge, a hardened, selfish, and greedy man, must change his ways or commit himself to a dismal afterlife, forever walking the earth wearing chains heavier than those of Marley’s. Dickens’ dark tale is relevant even today, reminding us to be kinder to those less fortunate than us, and to always keep Christmas in our hearts. And A Noise Within communicated it beautifully.