A Merry Little Christmas Carol, Westport Country Playhouse, Westport, CT, USA

2020 was a year fraught with challenges for all as we learned to cope with the Covid-19 pandemic. For the entertainment industry it was an especially difficult time as theatres and performance venues were shuttered from March 2020, some making temporary closures, and others forced to close their doors permanently. Stages were dark and actors were without work.

It is often believed that when faced with adversity, we become stronger, and the Westport Country Playhouse was up for the challenge. Opening in 1931 and the hard times of the Great Depression, the theatre has faced many challenges throughout the years, yet with the theatre philosophy of "the show must go on," on December 19, 2020 they performed their first play of the year (their usual season consists of 6 plays), a radio play of A Merry Little Christmas Carol in partnership with WSHU radio.

The Westport Country Playhouse has long been a part of our lives since 2003 when we first attended their performance of Arthur Miller’s play All My Sons featuring actors Richard Dreyfus and Jill Clayburgh. The playbill posters lining the walls in the hallways of the theatre are a testament to the talent that has graced their stage, and the same was true to the truly excellent ensemble cast of A Merry Little Christmas Carol.

Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol is a story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a man who has much financially yet his life is devoid of happiness, while others who have little financially have untold riches of the heart. Mark Shanahan beautifully adapted Dickens’ novella into an exciting radio play and had the added challenge of not being able to have the actors perform together at the theatre, but rather each actor recorded their parts individually from their homes with John Gromada working his magic to assemble the pieces and deliver a dynamic and engaging radio play.

We listened to A Merry Little Christmas Carol radio play on opening day, December 19, 2020 while baking Christmas cookies, with delicious aromas filling our kitchen while Broadway veteran actor Paxton Whitehead delivered a powerful performance as the central character Ebenezer Scrooge. While Ebenezer does not think so at the time, the Christmas Eve visits from his deceased business partner Jacob Marley (Triney Sandoval), The Ghost of Christmas Past (Geneva Carr), and The Ghost of Christmas Present played by (Britney Coleman), he is extremely fortunate as he is offered the opportunity to not only reflect on his past, see the present, and have a glimpse into his future. While we cannot change our past, we can reflect on our lives and make the future what we desire. Give yourself the best present ever this season, the gift of being your best self, and in the words of Tiny Tim (Theo Adamson), "God bless us every one."

A Merry Little Christmas Carol is available for your listening pleasure by visiting the Westport Country Playhouse’s website: www.WestportPlayhouse.org from December 19 – January 3, 2021. WSHU will also rebroadcast the play on December 27, 2020 so be sure to visit their website: www.wshu.org for information.

The play runtime is 2 hours, including Parts I and II.

Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy 2021! Until next time, keep enjoying and supporting the arts!

The Creative Team:

WSHU Team:

About the Westport Country Playhouse

The Westport Country Playhouse Box Office is open during Performance Days Tuesday through Friday from 12:00 pm until 8:30 pm, Saturday from 11:00 am until 8:30 pm, Sunday from 11:00 am until 3:30 pm, and is closed on Monday. Non-Performance Days, the Box Office is open Tuesday through Friday from 12:00 pm until 6:00 pm and is closed on Monday.

The Westport Country Playhouse named as "Theatre Company of the Year" in December 2013 by The Wall Street Journal, opened in the 1930s in a transformed 1835 cow barn, which has, and continues to attract, a "who’s who" of prominent actors. Looking at the framed posters of past shows that line the lobby walls was like entering an encyclopedia of the arts. A few of the many renowned actors who have appeared on the stage there include Ethyl Barrymore, Dorothy and Lillian Gish, Tallulah Bankhead, Gloria Swanson, Don Ameche, Hume Cronin and Jessica Tandy, Jane Fonda, Danny Aiello, Blythe Danner, Jill Clayburgh, Richard Dreyfus, Whoopi Goldberg, Liza Minnelli, Bernadette Peters, Lynn Redgrave, Gene Wilder, and Westport residents Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman.

"Westport Country Playhouse, a not-for-profit theater, serves as a cultural nexus for patrons, artists and students and is a treasured resource for the State of Connecticut. There are no boundaries to the creative thinking for future seasons or the kinds of audiences and excitement for theater that Westport Country Playhouse can build."

A Merry Little Christmas Carol is available for your listening pleasure by visiting the Westport Country Playhouse’s website: www.WestportPlayhouse.org from December 19 – January 3, 2021. WSHU will also rebroadcast the play on December 27, 2020 so be sure to visit their website: www.wshu.org for information.

For information on the play or to purchase tickets for the 2021 season, please call the box office at +1-203-227-4177 or call the toll-free number at 1-888-927-7529 or visit them on the website at www.WestportPlayhouse.org.

Westport Country Playhouse
25 Powers Court
Westport, Connecticut 06880
United States
Box Office: +1-203-227-4177
Toll-Free: +1-888-927-7529
Fax: +1-203-454-3239
Box Office: +1-203-227-4177
Website: www.WestportPlayhouse.org
Instagram: @wcplayhouse
Twitter: @wcplayhouse

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