The Great American Melodrama Presents A CHRISTMAS CAROL, Runs Through 12/31

Who can bring you Ebenezer Scrooge, Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf, and Rappin' Reindeer all in one wonderful evening's entertainment? Why the professional cast at The Great American Melodrama of course!

No holiday season should be without an evening at The Melodrama to see Charles Dickens' immortal tale of the true meaning of Christmas, A Christmas Carol. Celebrating its 35th season, The Great American Melodrama and Vaudeville features this classic followed by the brand new comic operetta, Little Red Riding Hood, and a delightful, heart warming Holiday Vaudeville Revue, playing from November 19 through December 31.

For anyone not familiar with A Christmas Carol, it is the story of Ebenezer Scrooge (Billy Breed), a stingy, old miser who professes that Christmas is a "Humbug!" despite the pleadings of his nephew, Fred (Andrew Beck) or anyone else who breathes the Holiday spirit near him, including two charity workers (Chuck McLane and Megan C.C. Walker) who come looking for donations for the poor. Not even his poor clerk Bob Cratchit (George Walker) can get an extra lump of coal out of him to heat their chilly office on The Day Before Christmas.

Scrooge soon learns that there is more to life than money when the tortured ghost of his dead partner Jacob Marley (John Keating) arrives for a visit. Marley informs Scrooge that to escape his own dreadful fate, three more spirits will visit. Moments later the first spirit arrives in the guise of a mysterious woman in white, The Ghost of Christmas Past (Katie Worley), who shows Scrooge important scenes from his past, including a visit from his young sister, Fan (Kerry DiMaggio).

Scrooge next meets The Ghost of Christmas Present (Chuck McLane), the personification of the Christmas spirit. This ghost shows him present holiday happenings, including a look into the home of Bob Cratchit and his wife (Jacqueline Hildebrand) and children (played by local young performers Liam G. Lazarich and Kimberly White of Arroyo Grande, Nathan and Andrew Miklas of Oceano, and Bailey Durnin, Chase Kelly, Mia Levy, and Haley Zahn of Santa Maria).

Finally The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, a silent, ominous specter, arrives to show Scrooge how his bitter, friendless life might turn out. All of these magical visits lead to heart-warming scenes of redemption and reunion as Scrooge finds his Christmas spirit. /A Christmas Carol /is directed by Erik Stein, with set design by Eric Hoit, lighting design by Gary Adams and costume and wig design by Jim Tanner.

Following A Christmas Carol at each performance is the brand new fractured fairy-tale musical, Little Red Riding Hood, written by Marian Partee and JorDan Richardson. Little Red (Katie Worley) is a teenage girl who spends more time texting on her cell phone than talking to her mother (Bree Murphy). In frustration, Mother sends Red off to visit her Grandmother in Ye Olde Folks Home, where Fairy Tale characters live in retirement. Along the way Red meets Junior Wolf (John Keating), who is a vegetarian and so a disappointment to his father, Big Bad Wolf (George Walker). The two teenagers become friends, and when Big Bad Wolf threatens the residents of Ye Olde Folks Home, Red and Junior join forces to aid the senior citizens in the fight of their lives. Loads of laughs await the audience in this hilarious satire, directed by Eric Hoit with musical direction and accompaniment by JorDan Richardson.

Rounding out the evening is the /Holiday Vaudeville Revue/, directed by Suzy King with choreography by Michael Jenkinson. Full of nostalgic songs to warm your heart and comic ones to make you laugh, this revue promises to send everyone out into the night with a smile on their lips and a song in their hearts. You don't want to miss audience favorites /The Rappin' Reindeer/ and the famous /Melodrama Waterglass Orchestra/! Fun and frivolity will be experienced by thousands of family and friends as they celebrate a traditional holiday season at The Great American Melodrama.

The Melodrama offers great food, snacks, desserts, beer & wine at the in-house pub. Many shows are added to the regular schedule to accommodate the demand for this show. A performance calendar may be found at http://www.americanmelodrama.com/>. Tickets are selling fast, so reserve now! For information on showtimes and reservations, call the Melodrama Box Office at 489-2499. The Great American Melodrama has been presenting professional family entertainment since 1975 at its location on Highway 1 in Oceano, three miles south of Pismo Beach.