The Soraya Presents The World Premiere Of Manual Cinema's CHRISTMAS CAROL

This holiday season, the Emmy Award-winning interdisciplinary performance collective, Manual Cinema, returns to The Soraya with the world premiere of a visually and musically inventive adaptation of Charles Dickens' holiday classic, Christmas Carol. There are six performances only, from December 11 to 13, 2020, that will broadcast directly into audience's homes.

In signature Manual Cinema fashion, hundreds of paper puppets, miniatures, silhouettes, and an original live score will come together to tell an imaginative re-invention of this cherished holiday tale. The story is told by Aunt Trudy, an avowed holiday skeptic. On Christmas Eve, during quarantine, she has been recruited to entertain her family with a puppet show on a Zoom call. The puppets soon take on a life of their own, and the family's call transforms into a stunning cinematic adaptation of the classic ghost story.

Each show of Christmas Carol will be performed live in Manual Cinema's Chicago studio in a socially distanced manner and will be live-streamed to audiences of The Soraya via Marquee TV. The program will not be available for later viewing. Manual Cinema's Christmas Carol has been created for audiences of all ages and is made possible by the contributions of co-commissioners, which include The Soraya.

For tickets and information please visit thesoraya.org. A pass for the show is $20.00; performances are Friday, December 11 at 5PM & 7PM; Saturday, December 12 at 1PM & 5PM; and Sunday, December 13 at 1PM & 4PM. In addition, a backstage tour is available on Sunday, December 13 following the 4PM performance with The Soraya membership; membership levels begin at $120.00 and are available at https://www.thesoraya.org/support/membership/

Manual Cinema's Christmas Carol marks the continuing growth of The Soraya's online offerings which began earlier this season with Niv Ashkenazi: Violins of Hope Musical Selections from The Soraya Stage in April, the commission of the world premiere of Martha Graham's Immediate Tragedy in June, the film premiere of DIAVOLO's This is Me: Letters from The Front Lines in July, and most recently Violins of Hope's farewell performance and a collaboration with KCET and PBS SoCal on the television broadcast of "A Tribute to Linda Ronstadt at The Soraya," featuring Aida Cuevas and La Marisoul.