Ebenezer Scrooge

Impossible Industrial Action is gunning for something different from the standard "Christmas Carol" this season. Opening Wednesday at the Theatre Project, "Double '0' Xmas (or I was a Reindeer for the CIA)" is a James Bond sendup written by Baltimore native Don Arab.Show times at the Theatre Project, 45 W. Preston St., are 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays (no performances Dec. 24 or Dec. 27), through Dec. 30. Tickets are $14. Call (410) 752-8558.

A favorite holiday tradition has come to Toby's Dinner Theatre of Columbia for the first time in a musical production of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol. " Toby's has chosen the version by Oscar-winning composer Alan Menken, known for his work in Disney films, with lyrics by Lynn Ahrens of "Ragtime" fame. The show ran for a decade of holiday seasons at New York's Madison Square Garden, where it consistently played to capacity audiences. Menken's music brings an upbeat quality to Dickens' familiar tale of stingy, nasty Ebenezer Scrooge, who is visited by several ghosts on Christmas Eve to bring about his transformation by Christmas Day. More relevant to contemporary tastes, this fast-paced version is suitable for all, from grandparents to children.

Union Bridge is a picturesque Carroll County town of 966 residents. Much of its history was tied to the Western Maryland Railroad, which is remembered in a museum housed in a 1902 Victorian structure on North Main Street.This quiet hamlet is unexpectedly in the news because the Maryland attorney general's office has ruled that the town council's recent $7,857 purchase of Christmas lights was not in compliance with state law.Is the state acting as an early Ebenezer Scrooge?Not at all. Union Bridge can buy all the Christmas lights it wants but town council meetings must be announced to the public or the media in advance.

One thing that Ebenezer Scrooge does not get is a good night's sleep. That's because pesky ghosts keep appearing with reminders that he needs to reconsider his grumpy life. Ever since Charles Dickens wrote "A Christmas Carol" in 1843, audiences have enjoyed accompanying Scrooge on his overnight ethical transformation. You have yet another opportunity to ride along in the musical theater version of "A Christmas Carol" that's being festively staged at Toby's Dinner Theatre of Columbia.

Theater Scrooge faces past, present and future The Charles Dickens classic about Ebenezer Scrooge is a timeless tale of the true mean ing of Christmas. The Nebraska Theatre Caravan performs A Christmas Carol at 7:30 tonight at the Lyric Opera House, 140 W. Mount Royal Ave. $18-$38. Call 410-547-SEAT or visit ticketmaster.com.

Ebenezer Scrooge has taken up residence at the Annapolis Dinner Theatre through Dec. 23, and there are many good things to report.In fact, Old Humbug and his supporting players have joined together to make the ADT's "A Christmas Carol" a most colorful, festive seasonal affair.Kudos begin with the musical score crafted by lyricist Michael Hulett and composer Doug Yetter.Their version is new to this area and is definitely worth a listen."Link By Link," sung by the riveting David Reynolds as Marley'Ghost, is a tour de force, and I was quite taken with the number sung by Belle, Ebenezer's fiancee, who deserts the miser rather than endure his all-consuming materialism.

WASHINGTON -- With his long-promised veto yesterday of a bill to expand health insurance for children, President Bush has ignited an ideological battle that could rage on into next year's presidential campaign. At bottom, the issue is whether government should take the lead in extending health care benefits to uninsured children - mostly in low-income, but some in middle-class families - or whether the problem should be left primarily to the private sector. The State Children's Health Insurance Program, known as SCHIP, is managed by states within federal guidelines.

For most of America, the Thanksgiving turkey will officially usher in the Christmas season.But in Annapolis this year, Ebenezer Scrooge -- Old Humbug himself -- will be the first to announce glad tidings of the holiday to one and all.At the Annapolis Dinner Theater, the tree is trimmed, and Victorian settings are already in place for Ebenezer's annual appearances, which begin tomorrow evening at the recently reopened theater on U.S. 50 just east of the...

THE MOUNT AIRY Players bring back a Christmas tradition with their presentation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. The theater troupe has performed the holiday classic on the life of Ebenezer Scrooge five times, but the last performance was in 1999. It will be presented over two weekends this month. Performances will begin at 8 p.m. Dec. 13, 14, 19, 20 and 21 at Calvary United Methodist Church, 403 S. Main St., Mount Airy. A matinee is set for 2 p.m. Dec. 15. "This is one production that people would come to see year after year because of its message that somebody can be transformed in a positive way during the holiday season and also because it's one of the most well-known of all Christmas stories," said Charles Beck, director.

Have you ever wanted to strangle a ghost? You might well feel the urge after seeing "A Christmas Carol," Robert Zemeckis' exasperating re-imagining of the Dickens classic as a 3-D action-thriller zooming through Victorian London and the fevered dreams of that most miserly of men, Ebenezer Scrooge. The "it's better to give than to receive" moral to this story is almost lost under snowdrifts of special effects. Then there is the blizzard of Jim Carrey's theatrics to weather. The actor voices eight characters, including Scrooge at all ages as well as the three ghosts who haunt him - you can just see him in the recording studio bouncing around manically during one of the Scrooge-ghost tete-a-tetes.

A 2009 'Christmas Carol' Christmas comes but once a year, and the reflections of 2009 have not been pretty for many of us. Like Ebenezer Scrooge, it has been easy to be self-absorbed in our daily survival as our world swirls around us. Like Bob Cratchit, we are equally concerned about keeping our positions as we are about our families' future if those positions are lost. Scrooge's business was lending money to others by taking ownership of their desires, even though many of his clients could not afford Scrooge's financial entanglements, a case not far removed from the folly of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's spending binge that put us all in debt for decades to come.

Christmas comes but once a year, and the reflections of 2009 have not been pretty for many of us. Like Ebenezer Scrooge, it has been easy to be self-absorbed in our daily survival as our world swirls around us. Like Bob Cratchit, we are equally concerned about keeping our positions as we are about our families' future if those positions are lost. Scrooge's business was lending money to others by taking ownership of their desires, even though many of his clients could not afford Scrooge's financial entanglements, a case not far removed from the folly of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's spending binge that put us all in debt for decades to come.

Charles Dickens' sometime literary heir, John Irving, once noted, "Each Christmas, we are assaulted with a new [version of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol"]: indeed, we're fortunate if all we see is the delightful Alastair Sim." Robert Zemeckis' new digital version, starring Jim Carrey, is an assault, a horrible mismatch of technique and story. But the Sim version is a delight - and it's at the Senator for the holidays. Sim starred as Ebenezer Scrooge in a 1951 British production, written by Noel Langley (who co-wrote "The Wizard of Oz" and wrote and directed "The Pickwick Papers")

Charles Dickens' sometime literary heir, John Irving, once noted, "Each Christmas, we are assaulted with a new [version of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol"]: indeed, we're fortunate if all we see is the delightful Alastair Sim." Robert Zemeckis' new digital version, starring Jim Carrey, is an assault, a horrible mismatch of technique and story. But the Sim version is a delight - and it's at the Senator for the holidays. Sim starred as Ebenezer Scrooge in a 1951 British production, written by Noel Langley (who co-wrote "The Wizard of Oz" and wrote and directed "The Pickwick Papers")

Have you ever wanted to strangle a ghost? You might well feel the urge after seeing "A Christmas Carol," Robert Zemeckis' exasperating re-imagining of the Dickens classic as a 3-D action-thriller zooming through Victorian London and the fevered dreams of that most miserly of men, Ebenezer Scrooge. The "it's better to give than to receive" moral to this story is almost lost under snowdrifts of special effects. Then there is the blizzard of Jim Carrey's theatrics to weather. The actor voices eight characters, including Scrooge at all ages as well as the three ghosts who haunt him - you can just see him in the recording studio bouncing around manically during one of the Scrooge-ghost tete-a-tetes.

WASHINGTON -- With his long-promised veto yesterday of a bill to expand health insurance for children, President Bush has ignited an ideological battle that could rage on into next year's presidential campaign. At bottom, the issue is whether government should take the lead in extending health care benefits to uninsured children - mostly in low-income, but some in middle-class families - or whether the problem should be left primarily to the private sector. The State Children's Health Insurance Program, known as SCHIP, is managed by states within federal guidelines.

These days, the Ghost of Christmas Present is Chase Manhattan Bank, selling a credit card at the holidays. That's who called while I was watching A Christmas Carol, the latest incarnation of the Charles Dickens classic starring Kelsey Grammer as Ebenezer Scrooge and airing tomorrow night on NBC (WBAL, Channel 11). The Chase guy on the phone didn't hit any of the themes of A Christmas Carol, didn't ask if I had enough love in my life, though in fairness I didn't keep him long. OK, I hung up on him. A short time later, Grammer as Scrooge was being led by the Ghost of Christmas Past (Jane Krakowski, of Ally McBeal fame)

One thing that Ebenezer Scrooge does not get is a good night's sleep. That's because pesky ghosts keep appearing with reminders that he needs to reconsider his grumpy life. Ever since Charles Dickens wrote "A Christmas Carol" in 1843, audiences have enjoyed accompanying Scrooge on his overnight ethical transformation. You have yet another opportunity to ride along in the musical theater version of "A Christmas Carol" that's being festively staged at Toby's Dinner Theatre of Columbia.

Theater Scrooge faces past, present and future The Charles Dickens classic about Ebenezer Scrooge is a timeless tale of the true mean ing of Christmas. The Nebraska Theatre Caravan performs A Christmas Carol at 7:30 tonight at the Lyric Opera House, 140 W. Mount Royal Ave. $18-$38. Call 410-547-SEAT or visit ticketmaster.com.