Charles Dickens News

This holiday season, it will be Scrooge's chestnuts roasting on an open fire. Chicago Theater Works announced this week that it will host a Comedy Roast of Mr. Scrooge with seven performances December 8- 23, at the Chicago Theater Works, 1113 W. Belmont Avenue in Chicago.

A Christmas Carol returns to the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall on Wednesday, December 21at 8PM. This production features the beloved Charles Dickens classic tale exquisitely, brought to life by the Nebraska Theatre Caravan. The lavish, full-scale Broadway-style production features twenty-three performers combined with a magical set. Timeless carols such as "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" and "Away In A Manger" are interwoven within the story of tight-fisted middle class merchant Ebenezer Scrooge and all the other much-loved characters from Dickens' 1843 novel, reminding us of the necessity of good will!

THE SPINE-chilling West End hit The Woman In Black comes to Canterbury's Marlowe Theatre next month (November).

Featuring a lively cast of dozens, delightful music, gorgeous costumes, and those deliciously spooky ghosts, the Bay Area's favorite holiday tradition returns with American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.)'s celebrated production of the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol. Now in its 40th year, this version of A Christmas Carol-adapted by Paul Walsh and Carey Perloff-stays true to the heart of Dickens's timeless story of redemption and brings a playful sensibility to his rich language. A Christmas Carol runs November 25-December 24, 2016 at A.C.T.'s Geary Theater (415 Geary Street, San Francisco). 

Virginia Stage Company will introduce another original work for its second Season 38 production - a brand new, music-driven adaptation of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist that takes audiences on a gritty journey of hope and the search for identity, all while exploring what it means to be born into a certain class.

The Harlem Repertory Theatre is reviving the 1978 TONY award winning musical 'Ain't Misbehavin', for a very limited engagement from October 8th to March 25th at the Tato Laviera Theatre at Harlem Prep Elementary School, 240 East 123rd Street (at 3rd Ave.), Manhattan. A swinging, rip-roaring musical tribute to the black musicians of the Harlem Renaissance, 'Ain't Misbehavin' opened on Broadway in 1978 as a musical revue of Jazz Legend Fats Waller's popular songbook, and it ended up winning a number of awards including the TONY for Best Musical. The Harlem Repertory Theatre's production of 'Ain't Misbehavin', which sold out it's 2008 run and won the AUDELCO 2008 Musical Production of the Year Award, is now returning to the Harlem Rep's stage for its' 2016-17 season in a new intimate cabaret style that will bring the audience closer to the performers. This brilliant showcase of Fats Waller's magnificent songbook will have audiences dancing in the aisles as the HRT's finest company members sing the toe-tapping, hand-clapping songs: T'Ain't Nobody's Business, This Joint is Jumpin', Honeysuckle Rose, the title song, Ain't Misbehavin', and many more! The Harlem Repertory Theatre is proud to be bringing this production back to Harlem; to the neighborhoods Fats Waller knew growing up that inspired him!

Independent Shakespeare Co. (ISC), presenters of the Griffith Park Free Shakespeare Festival announce performances of Shakespeare's reverie of love, A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, directed by Independent Shakespeare Co.'s Managing Director David Melville. ?A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM will begin previews on Today, October 15, will open on Friday, October 21 at 7:30pm and performs through Sunday, November 20 at Independent Studio in the Atwater Crossing Arts + Innovation Complex, 3191 Casitas Ave., #168 in Atwater Village.

Drury Lane Theatre celebrates the holiday season with festive events and fun for the whole family. Join Drury Lane for a spook-tacular Halloween Party, enjoy a lavish feast during Thanksgiving Brunch and catch up with friends and family on chilly days with Holiday Afternoon Tea service.

Two major revivals of sorts are occurring at The Historic Rialto Theatre at 1023 Fair Oaks Ave in South Pasadena, Calif.

Walnut Street Theatre's 2016-2017 Independence Studio on 3 season has opened with Broadway's thrilling new mystery, THE OTHER PLACE. Written by Sharr White and directed by Dan Olmstead, the production continues through October 30th. Scroll down to see photos of the production!

A holiday classic fit for the entire family, Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol returns to Aurora Theatre this holiday season, November 25 -December 23! The timeless tale of miserly Ebenezer Scrooge (Anthony Rodriguez) and his quest for forgiveness unfolds in an unforgettable journey of transformation through Christmas past, present and future. Deemed one of the greatest Christmas stories of all time, audiences of all ages will delight in the spirit of the season as they revisit the splendor of what makes this production a holiday tradition!

This Christmas, The Fitzrovia Radio Hour take over The Vaults Theatre in Waterloo for a strictly limited four-week run with their unique take on Charles Dickens' timeless tale.

Following the recent unveiling of The Way Off Broadway Dinner Theatre's 2017 Mainstage Season, the theatre's producers have announced the 2017 Season line-up for the company's popular children's theatre. A part of The Way Off Broadway Dinner Theatre since 1996, the Children's Theatre at Way Off Broadway is a unique entertainment destination for weekend family outings, birthday parties, and school field trips. Since the Children's Theatre first opened, it has welcomes some of the most popular children's characters to the stage, where audiences of all ages have been able to see their stories come to life right before their eyes. From original adaptations of classic fairytales to those based on Disney animated films to musicals straight from the pages of the most popular children's books of the day, Way Off Broadway has prided itself on bringing entertainment for all ages to the region. 

Birmingham Hippodrome is delighted to welcome Fagin's Twist, an ambitious reimagining of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist by innovative hip hop / contemporary dance company Avant Garde Dance, led by Artistic Director Tony Adigun. 

Unbound Productions Executive Director Jonathan Josephson, Artistic Director Paul Millet, and Producing Artistic Director Jeff G. Rack have announced the plays that will be included in WICKED LIT 2016, the company's 8th annual immersive theatre event that will for the 7th year take place at Mountain View Mausoleum and Cemetery in Altadena, California. The production will run from October 1-November 12, 2016 and feature world premiere adaptations of HP Lovecraft's From Beyond adapted by Trey Nichols (The Car Plays), directed by Jeff G. Rack (The Fall of the House of Usher, WL15); Anansi and the Demons adapted by Jonathan Josephson (The Grove of Rashomon, WL15, 2016 Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Festival), directed by Jaime Robledo (The Ebony Frame, WL15; Astroboy and the God of Comics, Sacred Fools); and Ellen Glasgow's The Shadowy Third, adapted by Paul Millet (The Fall of the House of Usher, WL15), directed by Bruce Gray (Black Coffee, Theatre 40). The frame for the show will be Camp Mountain View, written by Josephson and directed by Millet. The frame includes pre-show performances as well entertainment during the evening's two intervals.

Vanity continues at Merseles Studios in Jersey City with L'Image, an evening of one-act plays by George Cameron Grant assembled exclusively for this thematic series by Jersey City Theater Center (JCTC). This full-theater production runs for two consecutive weekends and is a collaboration between Aqueduct Productions, a theatre company founded by Grant, and JCTC.

Berkshire Theatre Group seeks non-equity actors for its annual community production of A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, adapted by Eric Hill and directed by Travis G. Daly, running December 10 through December 22 at The Colonial Theatre in Pittsfied, MA.

Rubicon Theatre Company has announced the complete cast of RETURN TO THE FORBIDDEN PLANET, a fabulously campy send up of 'Forbidden Planet' and other sci-fi film and TV shows of the 1950s which melds plot elements from The Tempest with language from multiple plays by Shakespeare.

The 2016-17 Season will mark Creative Cauldron's eighth year producing and presenting live theater and music at ArtSpace Falls Church.

What happens when Queen Elizabeth dies?  Is Prince Charles ready to ascend to the throne?  Is England ready for him?  This bracingly provocative and outrageously entertaining new play makes its regional premiere when Arizona Theatre Company opens its 50th anniversary season with Mike Bartlett's award-winning exploration of the people underneath the crowns, King Charles III, Oct. 6-23 at the Herberger Theater Center, 222 E. Monroe.  The 2016-17 season is sponsored by I. Michael and Beth Kasser.