Cordell Cole, Emily Van Fleet, and Seth Dhonau in A Christmas Carol. Photo by Jamie Kraus Photography, 2023

This year, the Denver Center Theatre Company celebrates its 30^th anniversary production of the beloved holiday classic, A Christmas Carol. We asked the DCTC Production Team to share some fun facts about Dicken’s little ghost story for your reading pleasure.

1. DIRECTORS

There have been four directors over the Theatre Company’s 30 productions of A Christmas Carol:

Laird Williamson 1990 – 2004 (directed 14 times)
Bruce Sevy 2005 – 2015 (directed 9 times)
Melissa Rain Anderson 2016 – 2021 (directed 4 times)
Anthony Powell 2022 – 2024 (directed 3 times, maybe more in future)

2. SCROOGES

Scrooge is a hefty role in the American theatre, requiring an actor to remain on stage for the majority of the two-hour production. In the DCTC’s history, 13 actors have donned the role with up to two actors being cast in a single year to share the role.

Tony Church 1990,1991 (2 times)
James Lawless 1990 (1 time)
Frank Georgianna 1992, 1993 (2 times)
Richard Risso 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001 (7 times)
Randy Moore 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 (6 times)
Mike Hartman 2003, 2004 (2 times)
Philip Pleasants 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015 (9 times)
Sam Gregory 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021 (4 times)
Steven Hauck 2018 (1 time)
Timothy McCracken 2021 (1 time)
Michael Santo 2022, 2023 (2 times)
Justin Walvoord 2023 (1 time, Student Matinees only)
David Studwell 2024 (debut)

3. TINY TIMS

Tiny Tim, the youngest child of Bob Crachit, is the character the Ghost of Christmas Present predicts will die “if these shadows remain unaltered by the future.” Tiny Tim’s benevolent “God bless us, everyone,” leaves audiences full of hope and optimism as the play comes to an end. To date, 24 children have been cast by DCTC as Tiny Tim, including Charlie Korman who played the role five times:

Jonathan Winstead (1990)
Alex Wyatt (1991)
Ben Kimball (1992)
Colin Smith (1993)
Brendan Horton (1994)
Luke Eberl (1995)
Cameron Teitelman (1996)
Bobby Frause (1997)
Winston Sanks (1998)
Donovan Trent Fountain (1999)
David Strouse (2001)
Ben Larned (2002-2003)
Harry Feder Pruett (2004)
Harrison Steele (2005)
Ian Farmer (2006)
Alec Farmer (2008)
Charlie Korman (2009-2013)
Elias Harger (2014)
Augie Reichert (2015-2016)
Peyton Goossen (2017)
Lucas Turner (2018)
Logan Turner (2021-2022)
Hope Clarkston (2023)
Benjamin Martinez (2024)

4. CAREER LAUNCHPAD

Three of the individuals who portrayed Tiny Tim have gone on to professional acting careers:

Charlie Korman has appeared on TV shows including “Hacks,” “The Conners,” and “Barry”
Elias Harger played the role of Max Fuller in the Netflix reboot of “Full House, Fuller House”
Samuel Bird is on national tour with Mrs. Doubtfire

5. SOUND

Creating the ambience that transports audiences to Victorian England requires sound design that reflects everything from the eeriness associated with the visits of three ghosts to the jubilation of a holiday celebration. Of note:

There are 128 sound cues in the show.
Scrooge wears two mics in case one fails since he rarely leaves the stage.
The show has 63 speakers that allow both audiences and actors to hear the show.

6. LIGHTING

Much like sound design, the lighting of A Christmas Carol sets the mood from the stark emptiness of Scrooge’s office and home to the bright, joyful Christmas feast of London revelers. And, as lighting has evolved, so too have the lights used in the production. For instance, in 1990, the Company did not use LED fixtures or moving lights. Today, there are 185 LED color changing fixtures and 31 moving light fixtures. Additionally, the show includes:

632 lighting fixtures
200+ “gobos” or templates in lighting fixtures

7. OTHER PRODUCTION FACTS

Among the many other remarkable elements of A Christmas Carol, there are:

62.5 wigs in this year’s production
6 foam/snow machines
392 oak planks in the floor

DETAILS
A Christmas Carol
Nov 22-Dec 29 • Wolf Theatre
Tickets