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Marley's Christmas

book & lyrics by Jeff Goode

music by Jonathan Price

Story

From the playwright of THE EIGHT: REINDEER MONOLOGUES and the composer of the musical LAO JIU, comes the Christmas musical MARLEY'S CHRISTMAS.  A prequel to Charles Dickens' A  CHRISTMAS CAROL, it is the story of Ebenezer Scrooge's late partner Jacob Marley, a miser more miserable than Scrooge himself.

Seven years before Ebenezer Scrooge would come to learn the true meaning of Christmas... his old partner Jacob Marley wakes from a night of excruciating stomach pangs to find himself standing in an open grave... his own.

Refusing to believe in his demise, Marley is forced to contend with an ominous spirit — who Scrooge will later come to know as the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come — a hooded phantom who attempts to convince Marley that he is indeed as dead as a doornail by presenting visions of those who have been affected by his passing — businessmen he has exploited, widows he has swindled, and his hapless nephew Bob Cratchit.

When Marley finally accepts that he is deceased, he is whisked away to a Celestial Court of the Damnéd to be punished for his lifetime of wrongdoings.  There, the old curmudgeon continues to flout all rules of decorum, as he did in life, and demands a trial for his supposed crimes.  When the prosecution confronts him with images of his own past, they confirm not only his own wrongdoings, but the fact that he, Jacob Marley, is directly responsible for Ebenezer Scrooge becoming the miser that he is today.  And more importantly that it was his own manipulation that drove Ebenezer to murder him, and will ultimately lead to the death of his grand nephew Tiny Tim as well.

Finally understanding the damage he has done with his life, and in order to prevent his nephew Bob Cratchit and his family from suffering an undeservedly horrible fate, Marley begs the spirits to let him return to earth for one night to save the life of the man he despises the most.

MP3's

Marley's Christmas received a concert reading at Unknown Theater, Los Angeles

with the following cast:

Jacob Marley......Nathan Bouldin

Young Marley......Ben Zolno

Gravedigger......Chris Griffin

Gravedigger's Wife......Tenaya Cleveland

Ebenezer Scrooge/Caroller/Bass Ghost......David Fruechting

Phantom......Isaac Nippert

Benjamin Tuttle/Toby Cratchit/Businessman/Caroller/Friend of Marley......Michael Annetta

Dick Wilkins/Mr. Fezziwig......Dale Gregory

Jenny......Courtney DeCosky

Laundress......Erika Davis-Marsh

Pawnbroker/Maggie Cratchit/Caroller/Passerby......Ellen Dostal

Reverend Hedges......Jeffrey Stackhouse

Mrs. Adrian......Shelby Janes

Giant Ghost......Eric Curtis Johnson

Bob Cratchit......Brett Webster

Mrs. Fezziwig/Widow......Debra Kay Lee

Tiny Tim......Benjamin Luker

Susan Cratchit......Jonna Price

Mrs. Cratchit......Jenn Webster

Diminutive Ghost......Kevin Fabian

assistant director......Chris Griffin

music director......Beverly Crain

director......Dale Gregory

Cast Size

Male: 10 (expandable to many)

Female: 7 (expandable to many)

Children: 1 boy, 1 girl (expandable to many)