The timeless tale of Ebenezer Scrooge comes to thrilling new life as Tony Award® winner Jefferson Mays (I Am My Own Wife, Gentleman’s Guide…) plays over 50 roles in a virtuosic, master class of a performance that must be seen to be believed. This theatrical achievement comes from the haunting and hope-filled vision of one of Broadway’s most imaginative directors, Michael Arden (Tony-winning Best Revival – Once on this Island).
There are more than the usual number of miracles to be observed with the latest version of A Christmas Carol to hit Broadway. The usual suspects are here, all the ghosts and spirits and flights over ye olde town and all the witnessing of things past, present and future. And there's the miracle of one man - the great Jefferson Mays - breathing life into more than 50 characters and having us believe every single shift. And there's the perhaps more - if only slightly more - quotidian miracle of a creative team - directors of lighting and sound and costumes and projections - at the tops of their games coming together to create gobsmacking theater magic, a blessing director Michael Arden's Carol has in great bounty.
Arden moves his subject forward through each of Dickens' staves, but the production arrives nowhere. There is no unique point of view or revelation from this solo 'Carol,' which puts Mays' malleability to waste. The production skews gloomier than most modern retellings. A casket taunts us from center stage before the show begins. Then, a loud, booming sound (design by Joshua D. Reid) shocks us into action. Courtesy of lighting designer Ben Stanton, deep shadows envelop the stage - an effect which successfully relays a cinematic-like quality of ominousness, but unsuccessfully keeps its audience awake.
| 1994 | Off-Broadway |
Original Off-Broadway Production Off-Broadway |
| 1995 | Off-Broadway |
Return Engagement [off-Broadway] Off-Broadway |
| 1996 | Off-Broadway |
Return Engagement [off-Broadway] Off-Broadway |
| 1996 | Broadway |
Return Engagement Broadway |
| 1997 | Off-Broadway |
Return Engagement [off-Broadway] Off-Broadway |
| 1998 | Off-Broadway |
Return Engagement [off-Broadway] Off-Broadway |
| 1999 | Off-Broadway |
Return Engagement [off-Broadway] Off-Broadway |
| 2000 | Off-Broadway |
Return Engagement [off-Broadway] Off-Broadway |
| 2022 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Jefferson Mays |
| 2023 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Lighting Design (Play or Musical) | Ken Elliott |
| 2023 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Solo Performance | Jefferson Mays |
| 2023 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Sound Design (Play or Musical) | Joshua D. Reid |
| 2023 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Video or Projection Design (Play or Musical) | Lucy Mackinnon |
| 2023 | Tony Awards | Best Lighting Design of a Play | Ben Stanton |
| 2023 | Tony Awards | Best Scenic Design of a Play | Dane Laffrey |
| 2023 | Tony Awards | Best Sound Design of a Play | Joshua D. Reid |
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