by Mike Bailey
After a long hiatus – too long – A Christmas Carol returns to the Scottish Rite Theatre just in the nick of time for Central Illinoisans needing that extra boost to get into the holiday spirit.
Five performances of A Christmas Carol: The Musical are on tap starting Thursday, Dec. 2, and running through Sunday, Dec. 5. The evening shows start promptly at 7 p.m., with matinees at 2 p.m. that Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 4-5, 2021.
Tickets range from $20 to $40 and can be purchased here. Families are welcome and group rates are available. Refreshments will be served and holiday carolers will entertain in the ballroom before the show.
“For almost 60 years, from the 1940s through the early 2000s, the Masons presented a non-musical version of A Christmas Carol, and it quickly became a holiday tradition for Peoria families,” said Jenny Parkhurst, who serves as executive director of performing arts for KDB Group and as the producer of this show.
In contemplating a revival of the Christmas classic, Parkhurst reached out “to one of the most talented local directors to bring this show back to 'the boards,' as they say in the theatre.
“Chip Joyce has directed countless local community theatre productions that are fresh and imaginative, making him a logical choice to help bring this show back to life,” said Parkhurst.
Not only that, but Joyce brags a unique historical connection to the show.
Christmas Carol Director Chip Joyce
“The first time I was ever on stage – any stage at all – was the Scottish Rite’s Christmas Carol,” Joyce said in an interview last year before COVID canceled the production. Indeed, he performed in the play with his entire family from 1990 to 1998. “I feel like I grew ‘Christmas Carol’ up there and, in a way, I guess I sort of did.”
“It was an aha moment for us, and I knew he’d be a perfect fit,” said Parkhurst. “He's passionate about taking older classics like this and presenting them with a new perspective."
Indeed, while the original Scottish Rite production used a script created exclusively for the Masons’ take on the familiar story of Scrooge and his ghostly adventures, this new production will utilize a different approach.
“This will be the version that played New York City’s Madison Square Garden for a decade” – 1994 to 2003 – “and has since emerged as sort of the quintessential stage adaptation,” said Joyce. “It’s a great big holiday musical with a score by legendary composers Alan Menken and Lynn Ahrens ... Our hope is to make it a special, can’t-miss event for area families to enjoy at Christmas, just as they did in New York.”
To that end, Joyce has assembled 35 of the most talented actors, singers and dancers in central Illinois, accompanied by new costumes and dramatic theatrical lighting, all wrapped up in a 90-minute show. Meanwhile, the musical will debut and showcase the new technological upgrades to the facility, including some spooky special effects.
(Expect to see a ghost or two levitating across the stage.)
We trust Charles Dickens himself would feel right at home in the nearly century-old Scotty -- purchased in 2019 and then renovated to its current majesty by entrepreneur/philanthropist Kim Blickenstaff -- with its touches of Victorian-era London, architecturally speaking.
Follow the Scottish Rite Theatre, located at 400 NE Perry Ave. in Peoria, on its website and on Facebook.