1812 Productions Presents THE CAROLS, A World Premiere Holiday Musical

1812 Productions continues its 20th anniversary season with The Carols, an original musical set in the small town of Picatinny, NJ during World War II. It's Christmastime in 1943 and the local VFW is empty. The community waits for their loved ones to return from foreign battlefields and no one is particularly interested in the Hall's annual performance of A Christmas Carol. Enter a trio of sisters and their post-war dreams, their curmudgeonly landlady with a pre-war past, and a silent pianist, and the show, such as it is, must go on. This quintet is joined by an itinerant Jewish comedian, out on his own and looking for work after a Catskills bust. With no audience to perform for except themselves, this small group of holiday orphans craft A Christmas Carol all their own, rewriting and unraveling Dickens' classic tale, as they bring their own stories of hope lost and found to the stage.

"It's about the everyday magic of love and generosity," says the show's author and director, Jennifer Childs. "The Carols is set in the past but it's not a history lesson-it's very much about what's happening in our world right now, where groups of people, small and large, are finding common ground in their dreams of what their lives, and the world, can be-while war and strife seem to lurk at every corner. The show takes the theme of Dickens' work in several different directions. It's not just about one man and his money, it's about how we collectively help others get 'unstuck' from their troubles, and how we find ourselves helped in return. The Christmas miracle and the nostalgia of it all are still there, but it's a living nostalgia for the interactions we have with people every day. The Carols offers a glimpse into the world of possibility right outside our doors. Dickens summarized this connection perfectly when he wrote, '...there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good-humor.'"

Mary Martello, the grande dame of Philadelphia theatre, stars as Miss Betty, the landlady, shut in by memories she can't leave behind. Emily Kleimo and Rachel Camp are each making their mainstage debuts with 1812 Productions, joining Caroline Dooner as The Carols' singing sisters. Anthony Lawton returns to 1812 after his acclaimed performance in Alan Ayckbourn's Intimate Exchanges as the wandering comedian. And TJ Harris, also making is 1812 debut, takes a seat at the piano-a silent character who brings a world of music to our scene.

Singer and composer, Monica Stephenson, joined Jennifer Childs in the Early Stages of the show's development. "We didn't set out to create a musical," Ms. Stephenson says. "Jennifer originally asked me to join the creative process with short pieces of music-elements to capture the color of the time period-but as the show continued to grow and change, and as each of the characters' stories became clearer, we knew that a musical was exactly what we had on our hands. I've never worked on show quite like this, where the story grew into songs, instead of going at it the more traditional way where script and music evolve together. It was a really remarkable process to see these moments suddenly blossom in the middle of a script re-write or a change in the story's direction. It was beautiful and spontaneous and I'm incredibly proud to be a part of it."

Lance Kniskern, Christopher Colucci, and Drew Billiau return to 1812 as scenic, sound, and lighting designers, respectively, creating the classic look and atmosphere of a 1940's-era VFW hall. Three-time Barrymore Award winner Janus Stefanowicz joins the production team as costume designer. 1812 veteran choreographer Karen Getz completes the production team.

Having created more than a dozen original works for 1812 Productions, The Carols is Jennifer Childs' third musical, after 2008's acclaimed vaudeville Cherry Bomb, also starring Mary Martello with Music by James Sugg, and 2016's one-woman comedy I Will Not Go Gently, with music by Christopher Colucci. Ms. Childs recently received the Barrymore Award for Outstanding Leading Actress in a Musical for her performance in I Will Not Go Gently. Additionally Ms. Childs and Mr. Colucci received the Barrymore Award nomination for Outstanding Original Music for the same production.

The Carols will be performed from December 1st through December 31st at Plays & Players Theatre, 1714 Delancey Place, in Center City. Opening Night will be Wednesday, December 7th at 7:00pm. Tickets range from $28 to $45 and are available at www.1812productions.org or at 215-592-9560.

An open-captioned performance in English will be held on Sunday, December 11th at 2:00pm. An open-captioned performance in Spanish will be held on Wednesday, December 14th at 6:30pm.

The Carols is presented as part of The Phoebe and Otto Premiere Series sponsored by Wyncote Foundation. Production support has been kindly received from Independence Foundation. The Carols is pleased to welcome honorary producers Sharon and Jeff Weiss.

Photo by John Flak