{"id":3094,"date":"2014-12-28T05:00:11","date_gmt":"2014-12-28T13:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/?p=3094"},"modified":"2014-12-16T22:12:44","modified_gmt":"2014-12-17T06:12:44","slug":"dickens-a-christmas-carol-enjoying-dinner-theater-in-indiana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/writing\/dickens-a-christmas-carol-enjoying-dinner-theater-in-indiana\/","title":{"rendered":"Dickens’ A Christmas Carol: Enjoying Dinner-Theater in Indiana"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"IMG_0705\"<\/a><\/p>\n

At least, I assume we\u2019ll all enjoy it\u2014the music, the dinner, and a close-up view of an old favorite tale. What could be better?! I do hope, however, that the ghosts that haunted Ebenezer Scrooge won\u2019t be too scary for my six-year-old grandson.<\/p>\n

As I write this, I\u2019m still at my home in Washington State, my suitcase spread out on the living room floor. In a couple of days, I\u2019ll be in Indiana for a Christmas gathering with my children, their spouses, and my grandchildren. You won\u2019t see this post until after Christmas when I\u2019m on a plane flying back home. (WordPress makes it possible to schedule posts in advance.)<\/p>\n

\"Scrooge's<\/a>

Scrooge’s third visitor, illustration by John Leech, 1843<\/p><\/div>\n

In preparation for the holiday, my daughter has been bursting with ideas. Two months ago, she sent us a list of possibilities. And seeing \u201cA Christmas Carol\u201d among them, I quickly gave it a big thumbs up.<\/p>\n

So why do I want to see a story \u2026 yet again \u2026 that I know by heart? Haven\u2019t I already seen Scrooge at his cranky, stingy, hard-hearted worst? Haven\u2019t I been scared before by the chain-dragging ghost of poor Jacob Marley? And yes, I do know exactly what the three ghosts (the ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Yet-to-Come) will show Scrooge. And I\u2019ve cried (more than once) when Tiny Tim says, \u201cGod bless us, everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Dickens\u2019 story is a classic, a holiday tradition. I love its message of redemption. It reminds us that there\u2019s suffering in the world and we can help relieve it. In the snowy dark cold of winter, I like to think about the possibility of bringing joy and light into a time of darkness.<\/p>\n

\"Charles<\/a>

Charles Dickens<\/p><\/div>\n

A Christmas Carol<\/em> was published in December of 1843. Earlier that year, Dickens was thinking of publishing a political pamphlet. He called it \u201cAn Appeal to the People of England, on behalf of the Poor Man\u2019s Child.\u201d But he changed his mind, deciding a story would touch people more directly. Besides, his wife was pregnant again, and they needed money.<\/p>\n

It took Dickens only six weeks to write A Christmas Carol<\/em>. After publication, it was an immediate success. Production costs were high, though, so, unfortunately, Dickens didn\u2019t make much money from it.<\/p>\n

By now, 171 years later, A Christmas Carol<\/em> has been published and performed and filmed far too many times to mention. Even more noteworthy perhaps is the effect Dickens\u2019 little novella had on the way we celebrate Christmas today. Historians contend<\/a> that our manner of observing Christmas, with family gatherings, festive meals, and a generosity of spirit, \u201cis largely the result of a mid-Victorian revival of the holiday spearheaded by A Christmas Carol.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Best wishes to all.<\/p>\n

\"my<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At least, I assume we\u2019ll all enjoy it\u2014the music, the dinner, and a close-up view of an old favorite tale. What could be better?! I do hope, however, that the ghosts that haunted Ebenezer Scrooge won\u2019t be too scary for my six-year-old grandson. As I write this, I\u2019m still at my home in Washington State, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[644,583,4],"tags":[650,651,943,652,368],"class_list":["post-3094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christmas","category-ghosts","category-writing","tag-a-christmas-carol","tag-charles-dickens","tag-christmas","tag-ebenezer-scrooge","tag-visiting-family"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3Kn1e-NU","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3064,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/christmas\/3064\/","url_meta":{"origin":3094,"position":0},"title":"A Christmas Card with a Surprise inside","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"December 21, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0One of the first Christmas cards I received this year was from Mary, my roommate from college. Mary and I met going into our junior year at Seattle University. We\u2019d both signed up to be Junior Advisors at Marycrest Hall, the freshman girls\u2019 dorm. (And yes, we were \u201cgirls\u201d in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Christmas"","block_context":{"text":"Christmas","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/category\/christmas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Christmas card from Mary","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Christmas-card-001-e1418675542794.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Christmas-card-001-e1418675542794.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Christmas-card-001-e1418675542794.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11188,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/christmas\/old-friendships-christmas-cards\/","url_meta":{"origin":3094,"position":1},"title":"Old Friendships & Christmas Cards","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"December 15, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Movin\u2019 On: When Lee, my fifth-grade boyfriend, moved, we didn\u2019t think to exchange addresses. He was gone. That was that. When I graduated from high school, I assumed I\u2019d see my high school friends again\u2014as long as they came back home for the summer or attended our reunions. And most\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Christmas"","block_context":{"text":"Christmas","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/category\/christmas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Christmas cards","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/IMG_4806-e1734206265721.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4519,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/family\/christmas-gift-fails\/","url_meta":{"origin":3094,"position":2},"title":"Epic Christmas Gift Fails","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"December 20, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019m not talking about the Christmas gift that gets quietly taken back to exchange for the right size or color, or even the one that gets exchanged for something altogether different. Nor am I talking about the one that gets left in its original packaging and assigned to the re-gifting\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Christmas"","block_context":{"text":"Christmas","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/category\/christmas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Christmas, 2013","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/IMG_0766-e1417724996250.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6655,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/philippines\/christmas-cards-keeping-in-touch-and-losing-track\/","url_meta":{"origin":3094,"position":3},"title":"Christmas Cards–Keeping in Touch and Losing Track","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"December 17, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 I\u2019m all in with Christmas cards. Even in these days of emailed Christmas letters, I still do the cards and the enclosed printed letters and the personal notes. I know. There are other simpler ways to do this. And yes, the price of international stamps has gone up to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Christmas"","block_context":{"text":"Christmas","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/category\/christmas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/IMG_2889-e1513121486217-1024x815.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/IMG_2889-e1513121486217-1024x815.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/IMG_2889-e1513121486217-1024x815.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11240,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/christmas\/a-time-for-everything\/","url_meta":{"origin":3094,"position":4},"title":"A Time for Everything","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"January 5, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"One of President John F. 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A time to plant, and a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book of Ecclesiastes"","block_context":{"text":"Book of Ecclesiastes","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/category\/book-of-ecclesiastes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Christmas poinsettias","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_2228-e1735938200918.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_2228-e1735938200918.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_2228-e1735938200918.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_2228-e1735938200918.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_2228-e1735938200918.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_2228-e1735938200918.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2744,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/writing\/2744\/","url_meta":{"origin":3094,"position":5},"title":"Want a Creativity Boost? 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