THEATRE + COMEDY

The Masquerade Theatre presents A Christmas Carol, November 20 through November 29, in Zilkha Hall  at the Hobby Center.  Music by Alan Menken, Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, Book by Mike Ockrent and Lynn Ahrens. Based on the story by Charles Dickens.

“Look to yourself…. Look to yourself before it’s too late!”  Charles Dickens' classic gets the full Broadway treatment in this Houston Premiere of A Christmas Carol, the musical by award-winning composer Alan Menken (Little Shop of Horrors, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast) and celebrated lyricist Lynn Ahrens (Seussical, Ragtime, Once On This Island).

Mean and miserly Ebenezer Scrooge declares charity, compassion and Christmas itself to be a humbug, only to have his Christmas Eve interrupted by a series of ghosts, each imploring, cajoling and threatening the wicked old man to change his ways or be bound to the heavy chains of regret and avarice in the afterlife.

Called by The New York Times "a tonic for adults, and for children a transfixing journey," this spectacular musical extravaganza ran for ten years at Madison Square Garden, complete with falling snow, exuberant dances by famed choreographer Susan Stroman, flying ghosts and a magnificent set which recreated the streets, graveyards, homes and buildings of Dickensian London. In 2004, this version became the basis of an NBC Hallmark Entertainment special (teleplay adaptation by Lynn Ahrens) featuring Kelsey Grammer as Scrooge, and an array of stars including Jason Alexander, Jesse L. Martin, Jane Krakowski, Geraldine Chaplin, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Ruthie Henshall.

But even without starry casts and spectacular trappings, this "A Christmas Carol" retains its emotional power and pure joy, thanks to the marvelously-told story by Ockrent and Ahrens, and the Menken/Ahrens score filled with beautiful melodies and emotional lyrics. In fact, their song "A Place Called Home" has become a holiday standard.