"Mark Twain's A Christmas Carol" at the California Center for the Arts Escondido

This December, for the first time ever, the world’s most beloved Christmas tale will be told by America’s most famous storyteller, Mark Twain, as the award-winning North County Players presents “Mark Twain’s A Christmas Carol” at the California Center for the Arts Escondido.

“Mark Twain’s A Christmas Carol” recounts the classic holiday tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, a miserly businessman who is visited on Christmas eve by three spirits. Only this time it’s set in the American South in the period following the Civil War and narrated in person by Mark Twain.

The show is complimented by colorful period costumes and dialogue of the Old South, memorable holiday music, exciting sound and video effects, and plenty of twists and surprises.

“Mark Twain’s A Christmas Carol” will be performed over eight shows Dec 6, 7, 8, 13, 14, 15, (7pm evening shows) and 9 and 16 (2pm matinees). Tickets are movie theater-priced, perfect for families looking for a traditional holiday experience that is both unique and affordable.

Buy tickets and get complete info at northcountyplayers.org or artscenter.org.

The North County Players theater troupe will celebrate its first decade in 2019. “It’s been a fun and rewarding ten years,” said the group’s vice-president, Marsi Carr. “Over that period, we’ve done a couple hundred shows at some fascinating venues: a hundred year old theater, a municipal museum, an art gallery, a charity arts center, Balboa Park — even outdoors inside an enormous tent.”

“Mark Twain’s A Christmas Carol” features a cast of more than 20 including some of So Cal’s best-known actors and production talent — people you’ve enjoyed in television, theater, and films: Ford Neha Curtiss (“Waiting for Godot,” “Clybourne Park”), Fred Gaines, Jr. (“The Young and the Restless,” “All My Children,” “Annie Get Your Gun”), Amber Stroyer (“Passage Into Fear”), Austin Williams (“O Beautiful”), Peter Bunn (“Lost,” “Guys and Dolls,” “Ten Little Indians,” “The Sound of Music,” “Funny Girl”), Milburn Stevens (Valley View Casino commercials), along with Floyd Strayer, Marsi Carr, John Aviles, Lexsy Mckowen, Betsy Toker, Jeff Makey, Bill Kvitli, Mike Janusek, Audrey Linder, Andrew Janusek, Lily Padua, Mateja Schmidt, and Teigan Schmidt.

Shows take place in the California Center for the Arts’ intimate 100-seat ‘Studio 1 Theatre,’ located near the Center’s Museum and Sculpture Courtyard. There’s plenty of parking in the lot adjacent to Woodward Ave (off Escondido Blvd.). Refreshments will be available before the show and during intermission.

“We love Studio 1 because it gets the audience as close to the action as possible,” Marsi Carr noted. “You’re so near, it almost feels like you’re on stage with the actors. That feeling of immediacy is something theater offers that you just can’t get at the movies. A classic show like this is the perfect way to get in the mood for the holidays and to treat young ones to the joys of live theater.”

“Mark Twain’s A Christmas Carol” conveys powerful messages about love of family, faith, and redemption that will resonate with any audience member of any age.