I MIGHT Have a Problem

If you don't know by now what my favorite Christmas thing is then you just don't know me at all. Rachel's favorite Christmas thing is....(say it with me now)....

A Christmas Carol!!

Why am I not sick to death of it? Why? I do not understand. I absolutely gorge myself on this tale every year and I'm never over it. And this year? Well....It was worse than ever. I didn't mean for that to happen but woah did it ever. Want to know how many times I consumed a version of this beloved tale? I'm a little embarrassed to admit it. 

TEN. Ten times! Ridiculous! 

Here are the versions:

The Audio Books, as read by

1) Jim Dale

2) Hugh Grant

3) Patrick Stewart, although this one is abridged, which is sad because he reads it so brilliantly. 

I think I love the audiobook better than any movie because the writing is just the most deliciously beautiful thing ever. Charles Dickens was a complete genius. 

The Movies:

1) George C. Scott

2) Patrick Stewart - definitely my favorite movie version, although the special effects are a little sad. It was a 1999 made-for-tv movie, so what can you do. It's so good.

3) Scrooge - the musical, with Albert Finney. I haven't watched it since my childhood, so I threw it in the mix this year. Not sure I'll do that again - it's not my favorite. I think it's from 1980. But Albert Finney is amazing. He was a young and very handsome man in 1980, and he just disappears into that gross old Scrooge. So, this one will not be every year for me, but from time to time I'll revisit it.

4) A Muppet Christmas Carol - what could be better? It's our family favorite, and we have come to watch it each year on Christmas Eve as we feast on waffles and wassail. 

And guess what. We found out that some of our very best friends, the Pehrsons, had not watched A Muppet Christmas Carol! I think they had started it once and weren't loving it and turned it off. How is that possible? So. We made a plan. Three Preslars journeyed to their home on a Sunday afternoon for delicious soup, salad, breadsticks, and getting to be the fun old aunty/uncle types with their four kids. After dinner we went down to their basement where they have a giant couch and a projector, so the movie took up the entire wall. We snuggled under mounds of blankets, where Troy's job was to keep me from falling asleep by plugging my nose whenever he heard me start to snore. The lights were off, the movie was on, and I do believe we converted our friends to the fun and delight of the Muppets. Well, I hope we did. Maybe they were lying about liking it after all. We really did have a fun afternoon and evening.

For most people, that would have already been way WAY too much Christmas Carol, but oh, not me! Our friends the Tates have two sons who are actors and singers, and they were each in a production of A Christmas Carol. We found out about the younger son getting a role in the Hale Center Theater production first, and bought tickets to see it early in the fall. But it wasn't until early December that we found out that the older son was also in a version, at the Parker Theater. 

We were very interested in seeing both! One, at the Parker Theater, in the middle of December, and the other, at the Hale Center, just a couple of days before Christmas. Both were wonderful.

Parker Theater - not a musical, very small theater, very fun, with an especially spooky ghost of Christmas yet to come. A huge hovering black-hooded figure hanging from the rafters in the center of the stage. So creepy and wonderful. This production will always be memorable because we invited Romney's new boyfriend Nicholas, who just happened to have a date that evening to a high school dance, which was set up before he started dating Romney. Since we were seeing a matinee, we thought it would work out fine. But then he found out there were afternoon activities as well...ooops. So, he did the afternoon stuff, then snuck away for the play with us, arriving only a couple of minutes late, then he had to leave again to go to the dance. Slightly awkward and I felt bad for making things stressful, but it was still fun. 

 

Hale Center Theater - we were in the jewel box stage, which is smaller and not in the round. Hale always puts together shows with lots of thrills, tricks and stunts. The Jacob Marley was fan-TASTIC. Covered in a cloak of chains so heavy he could barely walk, with a distorted voice. What a great production. I would say that Parker definitely held its own, though. 

So there you go. I am completely nuts. My family very kindly puts up with me and I'm grateful. I seriously wonder every year if I'll feel like just one or two versions are enough but so far, nope. Thank you, Mr. Dickens.