South Coast Rep Presents A CHRISTMAS CAROL, Now thru 12/24

It's a timeless story you and your kids will love – Charles Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol.

South Coast Repertory's family invites you and yours to a great holiday treat that everyone will enjoy: an adaptation by Jerry Patch of the Dickens tale, complete with snow, ghosts, vibrant costumes, familiar carols and holiday cheer. Among the 33 actors in the production are 16 local children from area schools who add an even warmer touch to this popular production, now in its 33rd year.

SCR's A Christmas Carol runs tonight, Nov. 24-Dec. 24, with matinee and evening performances to fit busy family schedules. Tickets may be purchased online at www.scr.org or at (714) 708-5555.

Families return year after year and bring their growing families again and again. It's easy to understand why, said Director John-David Keller.

"It's comforting to settle into your seat as the curtain rises on A Christmas Carol, knowing that in just a few moments Hal Landon Jr. will stride across the stage as Ebenezer Scrooge, and that in the end he'll turn a somersault, come up with top hat in place, and be as loveable as he was once curmudgeonly," said Keller, who marks his 33rd season in the director's chair.

Popular response to the show has touched the cast deeply.

"As the years have gone by, so many people have come up to me during the course of the year and told me how much the play means to them," said Landon. "The Christmas spirit is revived in them every year, and people who were children when they first saw it now bring their children."

The cast, in addition to Landon, includes Daniel Blinkoff, Bob Cratchit; Jennifer Parsons, Mrs. Cratchit; Gregg Daniel, Jacob Marley's Ghost; Richard Doyle, the Spirit of Christmas Past; Timothy Landfield, the Spirit of Christmas Present; Sam Carter, the Spirit of Christmas Yet-to-Come; Hadley Belle Miller and Zacharias Harris as "Tiny" Tim Cratchit;

The creative team includes Thomas Buderwitz, scenic design; Dwight Richard Odle, costume design; Donna and Tom Ruzika, lighting design; Dennis McCarthy, music arrangement/composer; Drew Dalzell, sound design; Dennis Castellano, vocal director; Sylvia C. Turner, choreographer; and Hisa Takakuwa, assistant director.

Tickets may be purchased online at www.scr.org, by phone at (714) 708-5555 or by visiting the box office at 655 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa. Performances run tonight, Nov. 24-Dec.24. Ticket prices range from $20 to $63. Low-priced preview performances run tonight, Nov. 24-29.

Previews:
Saturday, Nov.24, at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, Nov.25, at 12 p.m. and 4 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov.27, at 7:30 p.m.
Regular performances: (Performance calendar online at: www.scr.org)
Friday, Nov. 30, at 7:30
Saturday, Dec. 1, 8, 15, 22, matinees at 2:30 p.m. and evenings at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 2, 9, 16 and 23, at 12 p.m. and 4 p.m.
Wednesday- Friday, Dec. 5-7, at 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday- Friday, Dec. 11-14, at 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday-Friday, Dec. 18-21, at 7:30 p.m.
Monday Dec. 24, at 4 p.m.
Currently sold-out:
Thursday, Nov.29, at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 1, at 2:30 p.m.
ASL-interpreted: Saturday, Dec. 8, at 2:30 p.m.

South Coast Repertory is located at 655 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa, at the Bristol Street/Avenue of the Arts exit off the San Diego (405) Freeway in the FolinoTheaterCenter, part of the SegerstromCenter for the Arts. Parking is available on Park Center Drive, off Anton Blvd.

Tony Award-winning South Coast Repertory, founded in 1964 by David Emmes and Martin Benson and now under the leadership of Artistic Director Marc Masterson and Managing Director Paula Tomei, is widely recognized as one of the leading professional theatres in the United States. SCR is committed to theatre that illuminates the compelling personal and social issues of our time, not only on its stages but through its wide array of education and outreach programs. While its productions represent a balance of classic and modern theatre, SCR is renowned for its extensive new-play development program, which includes the nation's largest commissioning program for emerging and established writers and composers. Each year, it showcases some of country's best new plays in the Pacific Playwrights Festival, which attracts theatre professionals from across the country. Of SCR's more than 460 productions, one-quarter have been world premieres, whose subsequent stagings achieved enormous success throughout America and around the world. Two SCR-developed works have won Pulitzer Prizes, and another eight were named Pulitzer finalists. In addition, SCR works have won several OBIE Awards and scores of major new-play awards. Located in Costa Mesa, California, SCR's Folino Theater Center is home to the 507-seat Segerstrom Stage, the 336-seat Julianne Argyros Stage and the 94-seat Nicholas Studio. Today, SCR produces 13 shows and eight public readings each season. More information is available at www.scr.org.