Music Composed & Arranged by Bob Christianson
Lyrics & Book Adaptation by Alisa Hauser
From a novella by Charles Dickens
© 2010 Christianson/Hauser
WTTW Performance
(C)2013 Scrooge & Friends LLC.
All Rights Reserved.
I always wanted to write a concert version of the Dickens story, and not a “Broadway musical”….there are already plenty of them. But at the time that Alisa and I wrote the piece, (Alisa Hauser - lyrics and book adaptation), we were the only version of the story that was written expressly for the symphonic stage. We first recorded a “full-up original cast album” in 2009, had the piece premiered by the Baltimore Symphony in 2011, and it was recorded & aired by PBS starting in 2013. We were nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in 2014 for the song “No Trouble.”
From the A Christmas Carol: The Concert Website
A Christmas Carol - The Concert. Charles Dickens beloved Christmas Carol as you’ve never seen it, or heard it before. Enjoy the timeless story of Ebenezer Scrooge through glorious, memorable and irresistible new songs in this instant holiday classic. A Christmas Carol - The Concert has musical styles that range from classical and Broadway, to blues and gospel. In concert with Chicago’s PBS station WTTW it was filmed at the North Shore Center For The Performing Arts in Skokie, Illinois this past May. It was filmed before a live audience using a full symphony orchestra, a choir made up of members of the Elmhurst College Choir and the Children’s Choir of Chicago and a rock/pop rhythm section. It starred Michael Aaron Lindner as “Scrooge”, E. Faye Butler as “The Narrator”, Scott Coulter as “Fred/Bob Cratchit & others”, Kyle Scatliffe as “Marley/The Ghosts & others”, and Arya Daire as “Belle”.
It was directed for stage by David Kersnar, conducted by Amy Duran, produced for television by Scott Silberstein and directed/edited by Matt Hoffman - both from HMS Media (Under The Streetlamp & Messiah Rocks).
Bob Christianson was musical director and executive producer.
A Christmas Carol - The Concert will premiere on PBS stations nationwide starting on December 14, 2013. Check your local listings for exact day and times of airing.
Emmy-Nominated “No Trouble”
2014 Emmy Nomination for “Outstanding Music & Lyrics” .Music by Bob Christianson, Lyrics by Alisa Hauser. Sung by Scott Coulter. From the WTTW-PBS Special.