A CHRISTMAS CAROL at the MERCHANT'S HOUSE - AmNews Curtain Raiser

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Wednesday, December 1, 2021

A CHRISTMAS CAROL at the MERCHANT'S HOUSE

On Demand Streaming!

 

A CHRISTMAS CAROL at the MERCHANT'S HOUSE

 

Keeps Spirits High and Christmas Merry Virtually

Again This Holiday Season

 

In-Person Performances Begin Tonight


Summoners Ensemble Theatre
in association with the Merchant’s House Museum

 

Now Through January 1 only!

Stream On Demand – Pay Per View

www.summonersensemble.org

 

Adapted by John Kevin Jones & Rhonda Dodd
from Charles Dickens’ classic tale

Performed by John Kevin Jones
Directed by Dr. Rhonda Dodd

 

“Jones easily captivates the audience with his brightly-hued voice. Portraying Dickens as narrator, his delight for sharing the story is tangible and intoxicating.”

Out.com, David Clarke

 

“This is masterful storytelling.”

Theatremania.com, Zachary Stewart

 

“Jones summons Charles Dickens’ classic characters seamlessly.”

New York Daily News, Joe Dziemianowicz

 

This December, as Summoners Ensemble Theatre’s A CHRISTMAS CAROL AT THE MERCHANT’S HOUSE resumes long-anticipated live performances for its 9th holiday season, we are delighted once again to offer performances virtually! For $35, join Mr. Dickens and watch online, from anywhere and on your schedule. Your pay-per-view ticket is good for three viewings of our holiday classic anytime between now and January 1, 2022. 

 

“I have always thought of Christmas time —as a good time;
a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time. … when men and women seem by
one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely. … God Bless it!”

 

All proceeds will help keep us thriving as we move through the continuing COVID crisis and beyond, ensuring that Summoners Ensemble Theatre can continue bringing classic literature to life and the landmark 1832 Merchant’s House Museum remains a pillar of education about life in 19th century in New York.

A CHRISTMAS CAROL at the MERCHANT’S HOUSE, Charles Dickens in New York, 1867, is presented online by Summoners Ensemble Theatre in association with the Merchant’s House Museum. Performances were filmed in the landmark 1832 Merchant’s House Museum, New York City’s only 19th-century family home preserved intact, inside and out.

Pay-Per-View
Pay-per-view is $35 and allows patrons to view the production 3 times, anytime between November 25, 2021, and January 1, 2022.
View online at 
www.summonersensemble.org.

JOHN KEVIN JONES (Actor, Co-Adapter): Kevin is a member of SAG-AFTRA, Actors Equity Association, and the Dramatists Guild of America. New York: Nothing But Trash, Theater for the New City; Jeffrey (starring Bryan Batt), Lincoln Center; The Winter’s Tale and The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Hipgnosis Theatre. Regional: The Pavilion (American Stage), Othello (Arkansas Rep), The Rivals, All My Sons (Kentucky Rep), Angels in America, Gross Indecency (Playhouse on the Square).  BA in Theatre Performance from the University of South Florida and MFA in Theatre Directing from the University of Memphis. Kevin joined Summoners Ensemble in 2007.

 

RHONDA DODD (Director, Co-Adapter): An award-winning actor, technician, and director, Rhonda arrived in New York with over 150 shows under her belt. Once here she made her Off-Broadway acting debut with Terese Hayden and Jacqueline Brookes’ Workshop in Tennessee Williams’ Period of Adjustment, finished her Ph.D., and spent 10 years working at Circle in the Square Theatre School. Dr. Dodd is the Artistic Director of Summoners Ensemble Theatre and a member of Actors Equity.

 

CHARLES DICKENS (1812–1870): Considered the greatest English novelist of the Victorian era, Charles Dickens created some of the world's most well-known fictional characters. When his own family's destitution landed them for a time in debtor's prison, young Charles was forced to give up school and work in a blacking-warehouse. This era of his life heavily influenced his writing, which later made him a much sought-after orator. After giving a speech to a group of working-class poor, Dickens found himself contemplating the plight of exploited child workers. Taking only six weeks to complete, in 1843, A Christmas Carol stripped away the mask from some of England’s most acute social evils. By speaking up for the poor and oppressed, Dickens directly confronted the apathy and callousness of his countrymen. But more than just a timely political screed, Dickens’ spirit-filled holiday story has become a timeless treatise about love. He impelled his contemporaries then -- and now us today -- to care about everyone and to reach out and help if we see someone in need.

 

MERCHANT’S HOUSE MUSEUM: Built in 1832, the Merchant’s House is New York City’s only 19th-century family home preserved intact, with original family furnishings and personal belongings. A unique survivor of Old New York, the House offers an intimate glimpse of how a prosperous merchant family and their Irish servants lived from 1835-1865 when New York City grew from seaport to thriving metropolis.

The Merchant’s House is a National Historic Landmark and in New York City is 
distinguished as one of only 120 buildings that have NYC landmark status for both its exterior and interior.

 

SUMMONERS ENSEMBLE THEATRE: Founded by a group of actors who studied together at Circle in the Square Theatre School’s Professional Acting Training program, Summoners Ensemble joined the ranks of New York nonprofit theatre companies in 1993. Created as a collaborative to allow the members to share in all of the functions needed in running a theatre company, Summoners remains a collective effort as we jointly produce theatrical events with other nonprofits or as we find ourselves acting and directing, writing, and producing.


#CHRISTMAS #HOLIDAYS #THEATER #ONDEMAND #CHARITY 

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