MARK'S TAKE:
A Christmas Carol is an integral part of our season each year and we are so fortunate to be able to perform it in the beautiful Pabst Theater. It warms my heart to see so many families attend this iconic holiday production, and to hear their stories of what ithas meant to them over the years. It really has become Wisconsin’sfavorite holiday tradition.

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Christopher Donahue (Ebenezer Scrooge) is making his debut with Milwaukee Repertory Theater. He has also performed at Arden Theatre Company, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Boston Lyric Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, Circle in the Square, City Theatre Pittsburgh, Classic Stage Company, Court Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Hartford Stage, Huntington Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Lookingglass Theatre Company, Manhattan Theatre Club, McCarter Theatre, New York Shakespeare Festival, Public Theater, Remains Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Second Stage Theatre, Stories on Stage (Chicago), Two River Theater Company, Weston Playhouse and Yale Repertory Theatre.  -Top-

Melody Betts (Ghost of Christmas Present), making her Rep debut, was recently seen in Ragtime, Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Boys from Syracuse and Seussical the Musical at the Drury Lane Oakbrook.  -Top-

Renata Friedman (Mrs. Dilber/Ghost of Christmas Past/Lucy), also making her Rep debut, New York credits include New Victory Theater, Baruch Performing Arts Center, Fringe NYC and Fringe Encores, the Orchard Project and Aquila Theater Company.  -Top-

Marti Gobel (Mrs. Cratchit/Mrs. Sidebottom) returns to The Rep after last being seen in the 2010 production of Yankee Tavern and will be seen again this season as Francine/Lena in Clybourne Park.  -Top-

Erik Hellman (Young Scrooge/Barnaby) also returns to The Rep this year after appearing in I Just Stopped by to See the Man and has regionally appeared in leading roles at Syracuse Stage, Geva Theatre, Houston’s Stages Theatre and Shakespeare Santa Cruz.   -Top-

Angela Iannone (Miss Twyce/Mrs. Fezziwig/Mr. Mudd/Businessman), a Rep Associate Artist, was most recently seen at The Rep in Always . . . Pasty Cline, Lombardi and Cabaret; she is a frequent guest actress at other Milwaukee theaters including In Tandem, Next Act Theatre, Optimist Theatre and Renaissance Theaterworks.   -Top-

Gerard Neugent (Reverend Waghorn/ Marley/Old Joe), a Rep Associate Artist, most recently appeared in Gutenberg! The Musical! , Othello, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged), Lombardi, Death of a Salesman, The 39 Steps and Laurel and Hardy.  -Top-

Alexander Pawlowski (Mr. Grimgrind/Mr. Topper) is celebrating his third A Christmas Carol at The Pabst and his first as a proud new member of Actors’ Equity Association; he was most recently seen at The Rep as Boo Radley in To Kill A Mockingbird.   -Top-

Melisa Pereyra (Belle/Madeline), also making her Rep debut, regional credits include Titus Andronicus and Scapin (Utah Shakespeare Festival), Macbeth (Illinois Shakespeare Festival Tour) and The Winter’s Tale and Romeo and Juliet (Illinois Shakespeare Festival).   -Top-

Jonathan Smoots (Mr. Philpot/Mr. Fezziwig/Mr. Scadger/Businessman), a frequent Rep guest actor, past Rep credits include In the Next Room or the vibrator play, Speaking in Tongues, The Seafarer, The Voysey Inheritance and A Doll’s House; Smoots is also a resident actor with American Players Theatre and has played dozens of roles there in over 23 seasons.  -Top-

Luigi Sottile (Fred/Mr. Oatway) makes his Milwaukee Rep debut with this production; some favorite credits include Angels in America (Wilma Theater), Cyrano (Arden Theatre Company), The Mystery of Irma Vep ( Act II Playhouse), In the Next Room or the vibrator play (Wilma Theater, Barrymore nomination) and Macbeth (Wilma Theater).  -Top-

Emily Trask (Catherine/Mrs. Oatway/Cook), returns to The Rep for her fourth A Christmas Carol; past Rep credits Armadale, Tartuffe, Yes. No. (Maybe So . . . ) , Chaps! , Napoli Millioñaria and Mary Stuart.  -Top-

Jonathan Wainwright (Bob Cratchit/Mr. Sidebottom) returns to The Rep after performing in last season’s production of Othello; he most recently appeared in the world premiere of Broken and Entered this past fall for Milwaukee Chamber Theatre.  -Top-

Aaron Posner (Director) is a freelance director, playwright and teacher. He is an Artistic Associate of the Folger Theatre and an Associate Artist for Milwaukee Repertory Theater. Past Rep productions include My Name is Asher Lev and To Kill a Mockingbird. He is a founding Artistic Director of Philadelphia’s Arden Theatre Company and has directed over 100 productions at major regional theaters. His adaptations include Ken Kesey’s Sometimes a Great Notion, a musical adaptation of Mark Twain’s A Murder, A Mystery & A Marriage and Chaim Potok’s novels The Chosen and My Name is Asher Lev. Aaron is an Eisenhower Fellow, went to Northwestern University, is from Eugene, Oregon, and currently lives in Maryland with his wife, Erin Weaver and his daughter, Maisie.  -Top-

Marjorie Bradley Kellogg (Scenic Designer) whose Broadway credits include a season as resident designer for National Actors Theatre; Off-Broadway credits include Signature Theatre Company, Second Stage Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, Playwrights Horizons and Roundabout Theatre Company.   -Top-

Martha Hally (Costume Designer) whose designs for The Rep include Seven Keys to Slaughter Peak, The Government Inspector, King Lear, Pride and Prejudice, Sueño, The Voysey Inheritance and The 39 Steps, among others; regional credits include Pittsburgh Public Theater, Alley Theatre, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Chicago Opera Theater and The Center for Contemporary Opera in NYC, among others.  -Top-

Thomas Weaver (Lighting Designer) has designed Off-Broadway at York Theatre Company, Signature Theatre Company, Vital Theatre Company and Theatre Row, among others; regional credits include Arden Theatre Company, Wilma Theater, Walnut Street Theatre, CenterStage, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Folger Theatre and Yale Repertory Theatre; his awards include nine Barrymore nominations, winning for In the Next Room or the vibrator play and two Helen Hayes nominations.   -Top-

Barry G. Funderburg (Sound Designer) returns for his 15th season of A Christmas Carol and his 60th production at The Rep; memorable Rep productions include Othello, In the Next Room or the vibrator play and Pride and Prejudice; regional credits include Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Utah Shakespeare Festival and American Players Theatre, among others.  -Top-

James Sugg (Music Director) is a member of Pig Iron Theatre Company; regional credits include Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Arena Stage, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Arden Theatre Company and Folger Theatre, among others; his work has been recognized with two Obies and four Barrymores for Outstanding Sound Design.  -Top-

John Tanner (Music Arranger), a Rep Associate Artist, is a composer, sound designer and one of the Principals of Tanner-Monagle Inc., a video and audio production and post-production house in Milwaukee.  -Top-

Michael Pink (Movement Director), Artistic Director of Milwaukee Ballet since 2002, has staged critically-acclaimed productions of Romeo & Juliet, The Nutcracker, Dracula, and Peter Pan, among others; Milwaukee Rep credits include Assassins, Next to Normal and Cabaret; his choreography has been on stage, screen and television.  -Top-

Jill Walmsley Zager (Dialect Coach), returns to The Rep and recent Milwaukee Rep credits include The Diary of Anne Frank, The Mountaintop, Assassins, To Kill a Mockingbird and A Christmas Carol, among others.  -Top-

Sandy Ernst (Casting Director), is The Rep’s Associate Artistic Director and Casting Director.   -Top-

Erin Weaver (Children’s Director) is an actress, teaching artist and director based outside of Washington, D.C.; regional credits include Arden Theatre Company, Folger Theatre, Two River Theatre Company and many more.   -Top-

Lara Leigh Dalbey (Make-up/Hair/Wig Designer) returns for her 13th production of A Christmas Carol; she is the Wig Master and Make-up Supervisor for The Rep; credits include Skylight Musical Theatre, American Players Theatre, Opera in the Ozarks, American Players Theatre and Writers’ Theatre.   -Top-

Briana J. Fahey (Stage Manager) returns for her tenth season of A Christmas Carol.  -Top-

Sarah Hoffmann (Assistant Stage Manager) returns for her fifth production of A Christmas Carol.  -Top-

Jason Simpson (Assistant Stage Manager) is The Rep’s Stage Management Apprentice.   -Top-

Marissa Robinson (Children’s Stage Manager) joins The Rep for her first season.  -Top-

Maddy Ernst (Assistant Children’s Stage Manager) joins the production team after performing as a member of the A Christmas Carol children’s ensemble for six productions.   -Top-

Maggie Ellsworth (Assistant Director), a 2012/13 Directing Intern, holds an MFA in Theatre-Directing from Western Illinois University; this season she has assisted on Gutenberg! The Musical! , The Mountaintop and Blues in the Night.   -Top-

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The Creator

Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth, England on February 7, 1812 during the Industrial Revolution. His father, John Dickens, worked as a clerk in the Navy Pay Office, which meant that his family was constantly moving. At the age of five, the Dickens family of seven moved to Chatham where they remained for six years. Unfortunately, unable to pay his debts, Charles’ father was arrested and sentenced to a debtors prison. With his father in jail, Charles became the sole provider for his family; two days after his twelfth birthday, Charles was sent to work at a factory.

At the age of 25, Dickens went to school at Wellington Academy and eventually became a clerk at a legal firm. Dickens quickly landed a job at the Doctors’ Commons, where all the legal offices and courts were located. In 1833, Dickens published his first story and quickly became known throughout England and the United States. Three years later, Dickens married Catherine Hogarth and began his first novel, The Pickwick Papers. This book, written originally in segments for a magazine, became a national favorite.

Dickens and his wife decided to brave the Atlantic in 1841 to live in the United States, but Dickens returned to England by 1843. Starting a series of five novellas about Christmas, Dickens began his careful writing of the immediately popular story, A Christmas Carol. Dickens reported that, while writing the story, he “wept and laughed and wept again.”

Taking a different turn in his career in 1848, Dickens organized an amateur theater company. During the ten years of operation, the company gave over sixty performances for charity in London. Dickens also was involved in public readings, traveling all around England to read his novels. In 1858, he began his own magazine called “All The Year Round” which featured weekly installments of his new book, A Tale of Two Cities. Following the book’s completion in 1860, Dickens began working on Great Expectations, another classic novel.

Five years later, in 1865, Dickens was involved in a train wreck. After the accident, he experienced dizzy spells, arthritis, gout and swelling of his left foot, which further complicated his already failing health. On June 8, 1870, Dickens was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm and died the following day. His body is buried in Westminster Abbey’s Poets’ Corner in London, England.

Learn more about the background of the show and/or the themes explored in this production.

» Charles Dickens Museum

» Charles Dickens Birthplace Museum

» PBS Presentation on Charles Dickens

Reviews

» NEW DIRECTOR, SCROOGE GIVE… ’CHRISTMAS CAROL' A TRUE SPIRIT
~ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

» 'CHRISTMAS CAROL' FUELED BY JOY AND LAUGHTER ~ ThirdCoast Digest

Features

» NEW DIRECTOR, NEW SCROOGE HOPE TO MAKE REP'S 'CHRISTMAS CAROL' BRIGHT
   ~ JSOnline.com

» YOUNG GIRL A PERFECT FIT TO PLAY 'CHRISTMAS CAROL'S' TINY TIM ~ JSOnline.com

Press

» CELEBRATE THE HOLIDAY SEASON WITH A CHRISTMAS CAROL!