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A Christmas Carol in Concert
A sparkling orchestral-theatrical holiday event From Peabody Award–winning producer/director Elliott Forrest, Grammy-nominated composer John Forster, and Caldecott Medalist author Arthur Yorinks comes a fresh, symphonic take on Dickens’ classic tale of greed and redemption.
Originally a beloved WQXR holiday tradition in New York City—featuring celebrity Scrooges like David Hyde Pierce, Brian Cox, and F. Murray Abraham—this imaginative hybrid of theater and orchestra premiered in its expanded 45-piece version with the Louisville Orchestra in 2023.
Fast-paced and family-friendly, the 75-minute adaptation unfolds with nine actors performing in front of the orchestra, scripts in hand, while the orchestra becomes a full character in the drama: setting moods, underscoring action, and often stealing the spotlight.
John Forster’s mischievous score transforms familiar carols into witty, emotionally charged symphonic episodes: a spooky “God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen,” “Deck the Halls” as a Scottish strathspey, a tonally unmoored “Joy to the World,” an eerie polytonal “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” à la Stravinsky, and triumphant fanfares from “We Three Kings.” Interwoven throughout are vibrant original themes.
Available for orchestras large and small, A Christmas Carol in Concert can be licensed as a turnkey touring production or produced in-house. Forrest can provide direction, lighting, projections, and casting support—or you can feature your own local talent (including a celebrity Scrooge).
For programmers, this is a playful, musically rich, and theatrically engaging way to give audiences a holiday concert they’ll remember.
Audio from the Louisville premiere is available on request.
Email: [email protected]
A sparkling orchestral-theatrical holiday event From Peabody Award–winning producer/director Elliott Forrest, Grammy-nominated composer John Forster, and Caldecott Medalist author Arthur Yorinks comes a fresh, symphonic take on Dickens’ classic tale of greed and redemption.
Originally a beloved WQXR holiday tradition in New York City—featuring celebrity Scrooges like David Hyde Pierce, Brian Cox, and F. Murray Abraham—this imaginative hybrid of theater and orchestra premiered in its expanded 45-piece version with the Louisville Orchestra in 2023.
Fast-paced and family-friendly, the 75-minute adaptation unfolds with nine actors performing in front of the orchestra, scripts in hand, while the orchestra becomes a full character in the drama: setting moods, underscoring action, and often stealing the spotlight.
John Forster’s mischievous score transforms familiar carols into witty, emotionally charged symphonic episodes: a spooky “God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen,” “Deck the Halls” as a Scottish strathspey, a tonally unmoored “Joy to the World,” an eerie polytonal “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” à la Stravinsky, and triumphant fanfares from “We Three Kings.” Interwoven throughout are vibrant original themes.
Available for orchestras large and small, A Christmas Carol in Concert can be licensed as a turnkey touring production or produced in-house. Forrest can provide direction, lighting, projections, and casting support—or you can feature your own local talent (including a celebrity Scrooge).
For programmers, this is a playful, musically rich, and theatrically engaging way to give audiences a holiday concert they’ll remember.
Audio from the Louisville premiere is available on request.
Email: [email protected]
Is it Turnkey?
It can be.
When available Elliott Forrest will arrange all the per-production, direct the show, design the lighting and provide projections. John, when available, will conduct and play keyboards.
A cast of actors and narrator can be brought in - or local actors can be used.
A list of celebrities Scrooges have expressed interest in going on tour, however a local actor or celebrity is always welcome.
When available Elliott Forrest will arrange all the per-production, direct the show, design the lighting and provide projections. John, when available, will conduct and play keyboards.
A cast of actors and narrator can be brought in - or local actors can be used.
A list of celebrities Scrooges have expressed interest in going on tour, however a local actor or celebrity is always welcome.
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John Forster Bio
JOHN FORSTER is an award-winning songwriter, humorist and record producer whose work encompasses the worlds of singer-songwriting, musical theater and children’s entertainment. As a recording artist John’s 1994 debut album Entering Marion got an Indie Award HM (the independent record labels’ Grammy) for Best Comedy Album. Many of his witty topical songs have been featured on NPR’s “Morning Edition.” His songs have been recorded by Christine Lavin, Judy Collins, Rosanne Cash and the late Dave Van Ronk, among many others. His song "Entering Marion" is included in Dr. Demento’s “50 Greatest Novelty Songs Of All Time.” John is also co-author of the children's books "This Pretty Planet," based on his song, as well as "The Backwards Birthday Party" (Atheneum) and the teen parody book "The BSAT Official Study Guide" (Running Press).
As a writer and producer of bright, sassy music for children John has been nominated for four Grammy Awards, most recently for the Tom Chapin album Some Assembly Required. Other children’s albums include Family Tree, This Pretty Planet, Billy The Squid and a dozen more. He has produced records for everyone from the Olsen Twins to the original "tot rock" band, Rosenshontz. John’s song "Sing Me The Story Of Your Day" was sung by Faith Hill on the 2006 Grammy-winning Thanks & Giving. His musicals includes the regional theater favorite Eleanor-An American Love Story (licensed through Concord Theatricals) as well as "Into The Light" on Broadway and the Off Broadway revues "Pretzels" and "A Good Swift Kick." His latest is "Mariel," an Afro-Cuban immigration story commissioned by the Cincinnati Playhouse. His scores for young audiences include the perennial "How To Eat Like A Child," one of the most widely produced children’s shows in the country (licensed through Concord Theatricals), as well as book and lyrics for Freaky Friday with composer Mary Rodgers. Arthur Yorinks BioArthur Yorinks has written and directed for opera, theater, dance, film, and radio and is the author of over forty acclaimed and award-winning books, including Hey, Al, a children’s book, which earned the Caldecott Medal in 1987. In addition to his literary career, he is considered one of the leading figures in the reinvention of audio theater.
Born on Long Island, New York, Yorinks, from the age of 6 studied to be a classical pianist under former Juilliard professor Robert Bedford. At 17, veering from a potential profession as a classical musician, and moving to New York City, Yorinks began his over five decades-long work in the literary and performing arts. His wide-ranging career is known for unique collaborations among a broad spectrum of celebrated artists—from Andre Serban and Richard Foreman to Bill Irwin and Maurice Sendak to legendary filmmaker Michael Powell among many others. In the field of opera, Yorinks was Philip Glass’s librettist for the operas The Juniper Tree and The Fall of the House of Usher, both of which have been performed all over the world. In theater, Yorinks has written and directed numerous plays at The Kennedy Center, the Tribeca Performing Arts Center in New York, The Flea Theater, The Billie Holiday Theater and several other venues. In the 1990's, Yorinks collaborated with Maurice Sendak to form The Night Kitchen Theater. For nearly ten years, they developed, created, and produced compelling work culminating in a new production of Hans Krasa's opera, Brundibar, with an English libretto by Tony Kushner. In the field of dance, Yorinks helped create a full-length dance/theater piece entitled A Selection with the renowned dance company Pilobolus. Among his many published works for adults and children, his writings for children have been hailed as “one of the most distinctive prose styles in children’s literature.” Through his over forty years of picture-book making, he has teamed up with many famed illustrators including William Steig, Sergio Ruzzier, Mort Drucker, David Small, Richard Egielski, and Maurice Sendak. His book, Mommy?, was a New York Times bestseller. Making Scents, his graphic novel, was published in June 2017. Presto and Zesto in Limboland, his collaboration with Maurice Sendak, was published in September, 2018. Yorinks’s recent book, One Mean Ant, was published in February, 2020. The second book of the One Mean Ant trilogy, One Mean Ant with Fly and Flea was published in October, 2020. The third book in the triology, One Mean Ant with Fly and Flea and Moth was published in October, 2021. Bringing all his talents to the fore and compelled by the use of sound in the theater, Yorinks has, for over thirty years, experimented with the relationship between audio and live performance. He is at the forefront of a quest to redefine audio theater and create and produce what he has coined A New Theater of Sound for the 21st century—theatrical work in which the core of the dramatic narrative comes primarily from the use of sound—as both a live experience and a recorded and broadcast medium. He has written and directed over 40 original audio plays performed live in several series he established at The Kennedy Center, The Henry Street Playhouse, The Jacob Burns Film Center, and The New Victory Theater in New York City as well as other venues across the country. His audio work has been broadcast nationwide on Sirius/XM Satellite Radio and on New York Public Radio. Yorinks has directed the radio works of Tom Stoppard, adapted and directed for radio Garson Kanin's The Rat Race, Kafka's The Metamorphosis, Gogol's The Portrait, Dickens' A Christmas Carol, and many other works of literature. His multimedia audio theater work, The Invisible Man, was commissioned by WNYC Radio and premiered at the opening of The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space in New York. In 2012, Yorinks wrote an original audio play adaptation of Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. The play, starring Phylicia Rashad and Roslyn Ruff, was performed live in New York City and was directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson. Yorinks directed the radio broadcast, which premiered on September 14, 2012. A live version of the play re-opened the historic Billie Holiday Theater in Brooklyn, NY. Yorinks's three and a half hour audio play, Dubliners: An Audio Play Suite, based on the work of James Joyce, premiered to great acclaim in June 2014. Loved John's music. There's bits of Liszt and Stravinsky mixed in with the classic carols. Great to fun to play.” |
Elliott Forrest Bio
Peabody Award winning broadcaster, director, producer, designer, filmmaker. Midday host on New York’s Classical Radio Station 105.9FM, WQXR and WQXR.org. Elliott has been on the radio in NYC for over 35 years. Founding Executive Artistic Director of ArtsRock.org of Rockland County, NY. Co-Creator, Producer, Projection Designer of the National Tours of AN EVENING WITH ITZHAK PERLMAN and MICHAEL FEINSTEIN CELEBRATES JUDY GARLAND. Director, award-winning documentary with violinist Kelly Hall-Tompkins FACE TO FACE: FORGOTTEN VOICES HEARD, which premiered at Carnegie Hall. Host of the national radio concerts of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Hosted more the 60 concerts on-stage at Carnegie Hall.
Co-Director and Projection Designer: NY Production with Trinity Wall Street, National Tour and PBS-TV Special of CONSIDERING MATTHEW SHEPARD by Craig Hella Johnson. Executive Producer, The Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park on the Radio of RICHARD II. Director, AIDS NEWS, MCC Theater, NY. Directed several productions of A CHRISTMAS CAROL with Scrooges David Hyde Pierce, F. Murray Abraham, Brian Cox, Tony Roberts and Kathleen Turner. Elliott is featured on the Grammy winning comedy album WTWP: Classical Talkity Talk Radio with Peter Schickele. He regularly produces, directs and designs symphony concerts: LA Philharmonic, The NY Philharmonic, Houston Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony, New Haven Symphony, Pasadena Pops and the Little Orchestra Society in venues including the Kennedy Center, Hollywood Bowl and Lincoln Center. Orchestra narrator: Saint-Saens’ Carnival of the Animals, Peter and the Wolf, Stravinsky’s Soldier’s Tale, Britten’s Young Person’s Guide, Lincoln Portrait. For 12 years, Host, A&E Television Breakfast with the Arts. He was on the Gong Show with Chuck Barris in the 1970’s. Co-host, The Late, Late Radio Show with Tom Snyder. Theater Grad, University of Texas, Austin. www.ElliottForrest.com |
