Christmas wouldn’t be complete without the timeless classic, “A Christmas Carol,” CenterPoint Theatre’s last musical production to finish out 2024.

“A Christmas Carol,” is the tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, an ornery old man who doesn’t like people or the holiday. Wealth is all he seems to care about until one magical Christmas Eve when he gets a glimpse of his life that has been impacted by the choices he’s made and what he can do differently before it’s too late.

Set in the Victorian era, Charles Dickens’ beloved characters such as Tiny Tim, Bob Cratchit, the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet-To-Be are artfully brought to life by a stellar cast, all against the backdrop of beautiful sets. 

The first scene opens on the streets of London as Scrooge grumbles at anyone who tries to wish him a good day or a Merry Christmas. He pushes away a man and his small child who is asking for an extension on his debt so that he can pay for his wife’s impending funeral. Scrooge ignores beggars, saying things like “are there no workhouses?” and “if they would rather die, they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.”

Scrooge turns down an invitation to dinner from his nephew Fred and begrudgingly gives his underpaid, overworked clerk Bob Cratchit Christmas Day off. That night in his bedchamber, he pulls on his nightshirt, puts on his slippers and nightcap and settles in by the fire. When he retires to bed he is startled awake by the voice of his old partner Jacob Marley who died seven years earlier.

Marley stands before him wrapped in tattered death clothes, draped in chains. He tells Scrooge they are chains forged in life by his greed and selfishness and warns him of the same fate if he doesn’t change. Marley tells him that he will be visited by three ghosts that night, the ghost of Christmas past, the ghost of Christmas present and the ghost of Christmas yet to be.

He then whisks Scrooge back to when he was a child watching as his father is taken off to jail but as he’s being dragged away, he tells Scrooge to always hold on to his money no matter what. 

Scrooge takes that to heart and Marley shows him a scene when he is a young man with his sweetheart Emily at a party given by Mr. and Mrs. Fezziwig. His preoccupation with wealth drives a wedge between the couple and he ends up alone.

The ghost of Christmas Present visits next, arriving with a flourish. Scrooge is taken to Fred’s house where a party is going on and he listens as they make fun of him. Then he watches as the Cratchit family celebrates Christmas and he sees for the first time that Bob’s son, Tim is crippled. Scrooge asks the ghost if Tiny Tim will survive. The ghost says he will die unless the course of events change, then waves him on.

After that unsettling visit, Scrooge is awakened one more time by the ghost of Christmas Yet-To-Be that remains silent as it shows him the funeral of a disliked man where everyone seems happy that he is gone. He takes Scrooge to the streets of London where the man he refused money and his daughter walk in the funeral procession for their mother. Then he takes Scrooge to the home of Bob Cratchit and his family as they mourn the death of Tiny Tim. Before returning him to his home, the ghost takes Scrooge to an unkept tombstone, bearing his name. Scrooge pleads with the ghost not to allow these things to happen and promises to change his ways.

When Scrooge awakens in the morning and steps out onto his porch, he is elated to find out that it is still Christmas Day. He hasn’t missed it. 

Nick Cash (M,Th, F) is great as the miserly old Scrooge and Nathan Sachs (M,W,F) portrays the tenderness of a father who cares deeply about his son Tiny Tim. Ross Clemens (M,W,F) plays sweet Tiny Tim as he says the famous line “God bless us, everyone.” They are all backed by a terrific cast that together teach what the true meaning of Christmas is all about.

“A Christmas Carol,” runs now through Dec. 19, Monday – Saturday at 7:30 p.m., with Saturday Matinees at 3:30 p.m. Tickets are $21.50-$39.50 and are available at CPTUtah.org or by calling the box office at 801-298-1302. Centerpoint Theatre is located at 525 N. 400 West, Centerville. λ