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A Christmas Carol Opens at PAC NYC With Luminous Staging and Divergent Takes on the Text

This restaged Old Vic version leans into live music, with audience engagement at the Perelman.

Overview

  • The Perelman Performing Arts Center revival opened December 4 and runs through January 4, co-directed for PAC NYC by Thomas Caruso within Matthew WarchusOld Vic staging adapted by Jack Thorne.
  • Two-time Tony winner Michael Cerveris leads as Scrooge, with critics praising his vocal nuance and the ensemble’s polish.
  • Design flourishes feature scores of hanging lanterns, live preshow caroling, handouts of clementines and gingerbread, and intricate bell-choir sequences.
  • Reviews commend the production’s craftsmanship and performances, while several critics single out Thorne’s adaptation for departures from Dickens and uneven dramaturgy.
  • In the Bay Area, Los Altos Stage Company’s Michael Wilson–based version runs through December 21 with a darker, metaphysical tone highlighted by Gary Landis’s Scrooge and Marc Berman’s fearsome Marley.