Christmas 2019: It's bah humbug and ghosts again as Clarence Brown tells 'A Christmas Carol'

Christmas is filled with traditions that, no matter how often they're repeated,  are cherished each season. So it is with the Clarence Brown Theatre and its annual telling of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol." 

This year's production of Dickens' story of ghosts, family and redemption plays Nov. 27 through Dec. 21 on the CBT mainstage on the University of Tennessee campus.

Once again, the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge deals with his past, present and future behavior as he takes a magical journey with the help of the Ghost of Christmas Past, Present and Future.

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"Carol" has become a Clarence Brown Theatre tradition as well as a family theater-goer stalwart. The theater has presented some adaptation of Dickens' 1843 story since 2007.

Most often that adaptation has been the one by Edward Morgan and Joseph Hanreddy. This is the third consecutive year for return of the popular Morgan-Hanreddy story that incorporates traditional Christmas music in a Victorian setting.  

Familiar faces in a holiday tradition

"Carol" devotees will recognize familiar faces in the play.  Among them is Jed Diamond, who is the UT theater department's head of acting. Diamond, who last played Scrooge in 2017, reprises that role.

UT theater faculty member David Brian Alley returns to his 2017 role as Scrooge's business partner Marley, performed both as a dead ghost and a live miser. Visiting artist Kathleen Conlin is again directing the production and its cast of 31. 

Also familiar will be the play's set. The 16-foot-diameter clock face that hangs in the back of the stage again helps mark the passage of time in "Carol."

The play runs about two and a half hours with an intermission. Shows are 7:30 p.m. Nov. 27 and Nov. 29, Dec. 3-7, Dec. 10-14 and Dec. 18-20; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Dec. 1, Dec. 8, Dec. 15 and Dec. 21. 

"Carol" tickets for adults are $18 for the Nov. 27 preview, $45 for the Nov. 29 opening night, $25 for Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Sunday evening performances and $35 for Friday, Saturday or Sunday matinee shows. Discounts are available for students, educators, members of the military and UT faculty and staff. 

Geared to a family Christmas experience, the production includes specially priced $10 tickets for children 5 to 12. Those $10 tickets are available only at the CBT box office, 865-974-5161.  For all tickets or more information about show times or discounts, call the box office or see clarencebrowntheatre.com.