'A Christmas Carol' An 'Essential Stop' For The Entire Family

DENVER (CBS4) - "A Christmas Carol" is a tradition at the Denver Center Theatre Company, and an essential part of the holiday season in Denver.

LINK: For Tickets to "A Christmas Carol"

Charles Dickens published "A Christmas Carol" as a novel on Dec. 19, 1843. The classic tale of the miser Scrooge's spiritual redemption remains the Theatre Company's most popular and most produced show. This holiday season marks the company's 25th musical presentation dating to 1990. The company took two years off along the way, 2007 and 2012.

For the first time this year, a young female actor, Peyton Goossen, plays the role of Tiny Tim.

A review by Critic-At-Large Greg Moody:

Somehow it's just not the holidays without "A Christmas Carol." Dickens' phantasmagorical ode to the season warms the heart, lifts the spirit, and every now and then scares the golly-by-gosh right out of you. Once again the Denver Center has staged a sumptuous adaptation by Richard Hellesen, with a sharply comic take on Scrooge by Sam Gregory. 

Gregory fills his Scrooge with bully bluster and an essential cowardice that makes the character much more real to me than other harsher performances I've seen. That and the fact that he's surrounded by a great supporting cast, and marvelous special effects make this "Christmas Carol" an essential stop for the entire family this holiday season.

It's called the story that saved Christmas, likely with good reason. And now as we worry more about Black Fridays and Cyber Mondays, being reminded of the spirit of the season seems more important than ever.