Vol. 14, No. 07 – Dec 30, 2020 – Jan 12, 2021 – Ojai News & Events

Just in time for the holidays the Ojai Art Center Theater brings audiences a magical musical created with new cutting-edge technology sure to become a new holiday tradition. The World Premiere of Estella Scrooge: A Christmas Carol with a Twist! The production streams through the holidays until January 31. Purchase tickets at https://ojaiact.org/estellascrooge. As special gift from Ojai ACT save $5 off tickets for the next three days by entering the discount code ESTELLA72.

The story follows Estella Scrooge, a modern-day Wall Street tycoon with a penchant for foreclosing. A hotelier in her hometown of Pickwick, Ohio defaulted on his mortgage and Estella fancies the idea of lowering the boom personally. Arriving at Harthouse on Christmas Eve, Estella discovers the defaulting party is her childhood friend Pip Nickleby (Duncan). A good and generous soul, Pip transformed the property into a refuge for the sick, dispossessed and homeless. A freak snowstorm forces Estella to take refuge. That night, just as it happened to her ancestor Ebenezer, she is haunted by three visitations…and oh, what uninvited houseguests they are!

A modern day take on Charles Dickens’ beloved 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol, Estella Scrooge also wittily incorporates characters and plot lines from Dickens’ other great novels, Great Expectations, Little Dorrit and Bleak House, among others.

The production features a cast of 24 award-winning Broadway notables, and is the creation of John Caird, (the Tony and Olivier Award-winning director of Les Misérables and Nicholas Nickleby), and Tony Award nominee Paul Gordon (Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice). Caird and Gordon also paired to create Daddy Long Legs, which played at numerous regional theatres throughout the country and in four countries before enjoying a successful Off-Broadway run where Caird received a Drama Desk.

It was originally developed over two holiday seasons at Rubicon Theatre Company in Ventura (Karyl Lynn Burns and James O’Neil, Artistic Directors), with further development and support from Rhinebeck Writers’ Retreat.

Tickets are $29.99 for 72-hour viewing for each household, or $44.99 for a VIP Premium Theatre Experience, which includes unlimited viewings, a download of the CD and exclusive behind-the-scenes footage. Once purchased, audience members receive a promo code for viewing which they enter, along with their e-mail address.

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