In this video, David Thompson (who wrote the adaptation of A Christmas Carol that we use at McCarter) discusses how the story stays fresh every year.

Posted by Adam Immerwahr, Producing Associate at McCarter Theatre.

In the video below, Michael Unger, the director of A Christmas Carol at McCarter Theatre, discusses his use of research in directing A Christmas Carol. Stay tuned for more videos from A Christmas Carol!

Posted by Adam Immerwahr, Producing Associate at McCarter Theatre.

James Stephens in A Christmas Carol. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

Have you seen A Christmas Carol this year? What did you think? Did you think it was the bee’s knees? Do you agree with the newspaper reviews, or disagree? Favorite parts of the show? Things that weren’t to your taste? How did it compare to past versions you’ve seen of McCarter’s A Christmas Carol?

Post an “audience response” or read what other people are saying by clicking on the “comments” link below. We can’t wait to hear what you think!

In the video below, Michael Unger, the director of A Christmas Carol at McCarter Theatre, discusses the current production of A Christmas Carol. Stay tuned for more videos from A Christmas Carol!

Posted by Adam Immerwahr, Producing Associate at McCarter Theatre.

Okay, I’m a member of Generation Y.  While it has its benefits (Oregon Trail, Where’s Waldo, and the fact that I have a computer in my kitchen), it also means that I lack a certain cultural knowledge about, well, anything that happened before the 1990’s.

So working on Fetch Clay, Make Man—a play about the unlikely friendship between controversial former Hollywood actor Stepin Fetchit and heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali—has been quite an experience.  So much for me to learn!  Fortunately, as a child of the 1980’s, I immediately thought of digital media and social networking as a way to fill in my knowledge gap.  And of course, both Ali and Fetchit are represented on Youtube.

So here’s the first part of our Generation Y video roundup—some excerpts of Stepin Fetchit in performance.  If you’ve never seen it—it’s quite something!  The first is from Judge Priest, the second is him performing the song “Lazy Richard.”

What do you think?  Is he cleverly subverting the social order of his time, or is he perpetuating a stereotype?  Share your comments below by clicking on the “comments” link, then come and see Fetch Clay, Make Man and see playwright Will Power brilliantly engage the question.

Posted by Adam Immerwahr, Producing Associate at McCarter Theatre.

In the video below, Michael Unger, the director of A Christmas Carol at McCarter Theatre, discusses what makes this production of A Christmas Carol unique. Stay tuned for more videos from A Christmas Carol!

Posted by Adam Immerwahr, Producing Associate at McCarter Theatre.

I just received this blog submission from Jean Hanff Korelitz, a fantastic writer and also one of the parents of a member of our Young Ensemble for A Christmas Carol—and I thought it would be a great addition to the blog.  Got a comment?  Just click the “comments” link at the bottom of the article!
—Adam Immerwahr, Producing Associate

A (JEWISH) CHRISTMAS CAROL

By Jean Hanff Korelitz

This is my ten year old son’s second year in A Christmas Carol’s young ensemble, where he is soon to portray a much put upon young delivery boy who hauls a massive turkey to the Cratchit family at the end of act two.

Having a kid in a show with a three week run means that you get to watch the show in question many, many times, but I never get tired of A Christmas Carol. The fact is, I’ve always loved Dickens’ story. When I was my son’s age, I routinely viewed every available version on television, from Albert Finney’s Scrooge (still my personal favorite) to the much maligned Mr. Magoo version, and I have continued to reread the novella itself every year. My devotion may be a bit strange, given that I’m Jewish and all, but there’s something about this story of magic and personal transformation, so expertly leavened with real sadness and real euphoria, that always sort of called out to me.

Besides, I figured something out about A Christmas Carol, that ultimate Christmas story, that indispensable part of the Christmas season from Princeton to Timbuktu. A Christmas Carol is…wait for it…don’t laugh…really a Jewish story.

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In the video below, Cheryl Mintz, McCarter Theatre’s Resident Stage Manager takes us inside the stage manager’s booth for McCarter Theatre’s annual production of A Christmas Carol, directed by Michael Unger. Learn about what a Stage Manager does and watch the show from Cheryl’s perspective in this short video. Stay tuned for more videos from A Christmas Carol!

Posted by Adam Immerwahr, Producing Associate at McCarter Theatre.

The original manuscript of A Christmas Carol

“Marley was dead.”  Those are the first words of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

If you haven’t seen it yet, check out this fascinating article at the New York Times about the original manuscript of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Apparently Dickens did quite a bit of re-writing as he was completing the original manuscript of the novella, and now you can read every detail (and all the details that were cut) here—in a set of digital scans of the original version.  The NYTimes is even sponsoring a contest for whoever can find the most interesting edit that Dickens made.

If you’re in a mood for A Christmas Carol contests, you can visit McCarter’s own contest—and win two free tickets to our production of A Christmas Carol.  Visit here for the full contest details.

If you want to know more about how McCarter got from Dickens’ novella to the adaptation that we use on our stage, you can watch a video with A Christmas Carol adaptor David Thompson or read my article about the final lines of A Christmas Carol.

Posted by Adam Immerwahr, Producing Associate at McCarter Theatre.