A Christmas Musical by Fraser Charlton

Based on the words of Charles Dickens, the works of Gilbert & Sullivan & Traditional Carols

After the success of ‘Humbug!’ and its subsequent productions outside of Newcastle, I felt that I should like to write another Christmas musical. Dickens was an obvious choice to make a companion piece – but, of his 'Christmas Books', only two are really Christmassy – ‘The Cricket on the Hearth’ and ‘The Chimes’. ‘The Cricket’ was, at one time, more popular that ‘A Christmas Carol’ – but that did not last beyond the Victorian age, as it now comes across as rather sentimental, and lacks both the satirical edge of the ‘Carol’ and its supernatural elements. ‘The Chimes’ is more appealing, with stronger characters as well as magic, although is set on New Year’s Eve and is quite depressing in its latter half.

However, there was something there which I thought could make a good show, particularly once I had realised that it was, in many ways, rather like ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’, in which someone gets to see what would happen if they weren’t around – and is there a better Christmas film than that? I also realised that I could move the setting back from New Year to Christmas Eve, to allow the use of Carols again. So, I set to work…

It was much more difficult to adapt than ‘A Christmas Carol’, although had the advantage that almost nobody knows it these days! It took me several years (on and off, mostly off) to knock it into shape. Once again, there is a narrator to keep in descriptive passages and make it easier to follow the plot. A great deal needed to be cut, and I went through multiple iterations to make it as lean as possible; however, I also added a scene with Mrs Chickenstalker in Act 1, as she is a sort of ‘love interest’ for Toby. Originally, I kept the subplot about the Adult Lillian falling into prostitution and dying in Act II, but removed it to shorten the show and lighten the mood, which was in danger of being too serious and gloomy. I also tried to choose upbeat, comic songs to provide light relief between the sad scenes – as it is a Christmas show, after all! However, I wished to remain true to Dickens’ intentions, and so made sure that his important message was put across as I believe he would have wanted.

I hope that I have managed to shape an enjoyable show from a story which isn’t an obvious comic operetta, and one that it is full of the true spirit of a Dickensian Christmas, combining laughter with tears, levity with a serious message, old songs and new songs – and a chance to give Scrooge a year off!

Download the full script of The Chimes of Christmas! (PDF format).

SYNOPSIS

Dramatis Personae

  • Narrator - NON-SINGING
  • Toby Veck (A ticket porter) - BARITONE
  • Meg Veck (Toby’s daughter) - SOPRANO
  • Richard (Meg’s betrothed) - TENOR
  • Tugby (Alderman Cute’s Porter) - BARITONE
  • Alderman Cute - BASS
  • Mr./Miss. Filer (A political economist) - BARITONE/’ALTO
  • Sir Joseph Bowley, MP - BARITONE
  • Lady Bowley (His wife) - CONTRALTO
  • Will Fern (A vagrant) - BARITONE
  • Lillian/Spirit of the Bells (Will’s niece) - NON-SINGING
  • Mrs Chickenstalker (A shopkeeper) - SOPRANO
  • Great Bell (A goblin) - BARITONE/’ALTO
  • Doctor - NON-SINGING
Chorus of CAROL SINGERS, LONDONERS, &c.

There are between 6-10 male parts and 5-8 female parts, as Narrator, Filer, Doctor and Great Bell may be played by either sex, depending on the resources available. It is possible for the parts of Filer, Great Bell, Tugby and Doctor to be played by two actors.


PRODUCTIONS

  • None yet!

POSTERS AND PROGRAMMES

  • None yet!

Information about producing 'The Chimes of Christmas!'

If you are interested in producing this show, please contact fraser.charlton@ncl.ac.uk. As this hasn't been produced yet, this is likely to be more collaborative than other shows, we further re-writes and editing anticipated to shape into the best possible show. I don't charge any royalties for performances - simply a copy of all promotional material, a video/DVD of your production and any reviews you get!