The holiday rush and its corresponding crush of activities often leave little room for Filipino families to enjoy the spirit of the season with their own meaningful celebrations. As with traditions, there are parties and reunions left and right with extended family, officemates, and friends that you may only see once a year. This leaves less time for families to enjoy memorable bonding moments with the kids.
It is for this reason Globe LIVE and 9Works Theatricals are restaging A Christmas Carol, with snowfall and Scrooge’s dramatic transformation from a penny-pincher to philanthropist providing a highly-entertaining backdrop for a new family tradition for this season.
The timeless tale by Charles Dickens was a big hit last season, with 3,000 in attendance on Christmas day, but that is not the reason why they are restaging the Ahren and Menken musical. Joe Caliro, the musical’s Executive Producer and Globe Head for Creative Marketing and Multi-Media Services, says that it was in their plan from the very beginning to have a restaging of the show. “We decided that we wanted to make what is for me the best Christmas property in the world and turn it into a new tradition for the Filipino families.”
Both Caliro and Robbie Guevarra, 9Works director for A Christmas Carol, say the restaging will offer a new experience, with a fresh set design by Ed Lacson Jr., new direction, and new choreography. Half of the cast will also be new, including Franco Laurel as the Ghost of Christmas Past, to support theater veteran Miguel Faustman, who reprises his role as Ebenezer Scrooge. Tiny Tim will be played alternately by cuties Jaime Yupangco and Elai Estrella.
“The play will definitely be different from last year’s,” the director declares.
Another new aspect introduced this year is the opportunity to share the Christmas spirit with the scholars of the Hero Foundation. A Christmas tree will be set up at the Globe ICONIC Theater, and people can buy ornaments and hang them on the tree. Proceeds of this endeavor will fund the Hero Foundation scholarships for children of our fallen soldiers. This fundraising effort resonates with A Christmas Carol’s lesson on sharing blessings with others this season.
The Globe LIVE re-staging of A Christmas Carol is in line with the Globe advocacy of offering its customers new online and offline experiences that help them enjoy more out of life. Caliro says, “We have been disrupting certain spaces, and now we are disrupting theater by producing a play that will run in December instead of November as what everybody is used to. We want to offer a Christmas activity that can be enjoyed by the Filipino family that is looking to create its new traditions.”
The Globe LIVE and 9Works Theatricals staging of Menken & Ahren’s A Christmas Carol will run from December 4 to 10, December 14 to 17, and December 21, 22, and 24 to 27 at the Globe ICONIC Theater in Bonifacio Global City. For more information, tickets, and for show schedules, visit Ticketworld.
(All mateials provided by Globe)