A Christmas Carol

"Christmas isn't a season. It's a feeling." -- Edna Ferber (Roast Beef Medium)

December 18th And We Are Off To The Theater!

This was my 31st year of seeing the play at this theater.  COVID kept us from going the past two years but we are back!

A Christmas Carol at the Theater with Family and Friends 12/18/2022
A nice couple took this shot of us just after we arrived!

A Christmas Carol at the Theater with Family and Friends 12/18/2022
Charles Dickens at his home in England 1860

Did You Know? -  Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol in response to British social attitudes towards poverty, particularly child poverty, and wished to use the novella as a means to put forward his arguments against it. The story shows Scrooge as a paradigm for self-interest, and the possible repercussions of ignoring the poor, especially children in poverty—personified by the allegorical figures of Want and Ignorance. The two figures were created to arouse sympathy with readers—as was Tiny Tim.

A Christmas Carol at the Theater with Family and Friends 12/18/2022
Nick and Greg discuss the theater!

Did You Know? - Written in a six-week period in October and November of 1843, the novel was the first of five short Christmas books published by Charles Dickens. Obviously, it was the most successful novel in the series. In fact, he was so certain that people would like his story that he refused to sell the rights to his publisher and instead paid to publish it himself. His instincts proved correct, and soon after its publication all of the copies were sold.

A Christmas Carol at the Theater with Family and Friends 12/18/2022
Catching up!

A Christmas Carol at the Theater with Family and Friends 12/18/2022

A Christmas Carol at the Theater with Family and Friends 12/18/2022
More time to talk at the break!

Did You Know? - A Christmas Carol was first published on December 19, 1843, with the first edition sold out by Christmas Eve. By 1844, the novella had gone through 13 printings and continues to be a robust seller more than 175 years later.

A Christmas Carol at the Theater with Family and Friends 12/18/2022
The Liles families!
Charlie, Joe, Paul, Mary Amy and Alex

A Christmas Carol at the Theater with Family and Friends 12/18/2022
Oh my: We have left to right
Greg, Paul, Mary, Dr., Bill, Iris, Will Michele, Franklyn, Bob, Nick, Amy Alex, Joe and Charlie!

Did You Know? - Upon publishing the first edition of A Christmas Carol, Dickens had his 66-page heavily revised handwritten manuscript bound in crimson leather and decorated in gilt before gifting it to his friend—and creditor—Thomas Mitton, whose name was also inscribed on the cover in gilt.

A Christmas Carol at the Theater with Family and Friends 12/18/2022
We missed Robin but she is on the high seas sailing to Mexico!

Did You Know? - The Internet Movie Database lists more than 100 versions of A Christmas Carol, including a video game, a 1908 short starring Tom Ricketts (an English actor who also reportedly directed the first movie ever shot in Hollywood), and the 2015 TV-movie A Christmas Carol and Zombies.

A Christmas Carol at the Theater with Family and Friends 12/18/2022
We were here!!!

Did You Know? - In his later years, Dickens would read an abridged version of A Christmas Carol at public readings for which he charged a fee. Often, that fee went to the several charitable organizations that he was involved with throughout his lifetime. The book itself was instrumental in raising people's awareness of poverty.

A Christmas Carol at the Theater with Family and Friends 12/18/2022
Michele and Mary

Did You Know? - While A Christmas Carol was received favorably by many of Dicken's author peers, a 32-year-old Mark Twain was not a fan. Credited as the first writer to do reading tours of his work, Dickens read A Christmas Carol to American audiences during his second visit to the U.S. Twain's review of the now-iconic book? "There is no heart. No feeling—it is nothing but glittering frostwork."

A Christmas Carol at the Theater with Family and Friends 12/18/2022
Michele, Mary, and Paul

A Christmas Carol at the Theater with Family and Friends 12/18/2022
Franklyn spotted one of the ghosts!

A Christmas Carol at the Theater with Family and Friends 12/18/2022
Another tradition we shall continue in the future.


Thank you Charles for you wonderful stories!

A Christmas Carol at the Theater with Family and Friends 12/18/2022

We had planned to go home but Mary was feeling OK and we decided to have Persian food at Darya in South Coast Plaza Pavilion. Darya has offered Orange County residents and business professionals alike authentic Persian gourmet dining, at reasonable prices, for well over two decades.

Did You Know? - Typical Iranian main dishes are combinations of rice with meat, vegetables and nuts. Herbs are frequently used, along with fruits such as plums, pomegranates, quince, prunes, apricots and raisins. Characteristic Iranian spices and flavorings such as saffron, cardamom, and dried lime and other sources of sour flavoring, cinnamon, turmeric and parsley are mixed and used in various dishes.

A Christmas Carol at the Theater with Family and Friends 12/18/2022
Mary finally got her cucumber salad after the first try failed!

A Christmas Carol at the Theater with Family and Friends 12/18/2022
The barley soup was delicious!

A Christmas Carol at the Theater with Family and Friends 12/18/2022
The chicken was out of this world good!!!

A Christmas Carol at the Theater with Family and Friends 12/18/2022
We went off the tracks and had dessert!

A Christmas Carol at the Theater with Family and Friends 12/18/2022