A Ghost Story of Christmas – Analog Artist Digital World

If you are looking to kick off the Holiday season with a taste for the macabre, then join Phantasmagoria as they present “Ghost Stories” this Christmas season. They will bring to life and the bitter sweet taste of death to not one but TWO whimsical classics. The well-loved A Christmas Carol, A Ghost Story of Christmas by Charles Dickens, followed by Oscar Wilde’s rollicking The Canterville Ghost.

I sat in on a dress rehearsal for the show at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. The set felt like an abandoned attic with carousel horses flanking the stage. Projections on a large screen behind the set changed the settings with ease. I fell in love with the faint flickering candle light that illuminated the various corners of the stage. That meant I needed to keep the scene dark so the candles could shine.

A Christmas Carol is a well loved and very familiar classic. Phantasmagoria added its dark and vaudevillian steampunk styled flair to the story. John DiDonna as Scrooge lived in the old man’s skin. I have seen him perform this roll many times over the years. Daniel Cooksley as Marley, draped in chains did an amazing job filling the stage with his his twisted and agonized self. Of the three ghosts, the ghost of Christmas future was magnificently designed. Much larger that life, the dark draped figure gestured with gnarly black branches for hands.

The Canterville Ghost offered a much lighter tale full of light hearted dance. It was the yin to Dickens dark and foreboding Yang. There are two more performances December 3–4, 2022 at the Alexis & Jim Pugh Theater, in the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, 8 p.m. and 2 p.m. Tickets are about $35.

I went to sketch a rehearsal for Phantasmagoria’s A Christmas Carol, A Ghost Story of Christmas at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. Masked, I sat alone in the audience . Many of the cast wore their masks before the full run through of the show.

From the cast: “To protect the health and safety of our audience, cast and crew—especially going into this holiday season—the Phantasmagoria troupe prefers that you wear a mask while in attendance for Christmas Carol. Thank you and the very best of the season to you!”

The Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center no longer requires masks, So I am left wondering how many of the patrons will respect the wishes of the artists.

We are definitely living in dark times with a new, more transmissible variant of the virus invading the world, but the heart in this time honored tale can still melt even the hardest heart. I found myself getting choked up as scrooge chose kindness over profits and was accepted by family. The joy of celebrating the holidays being recreated on the stage had me wiping away tears as I felt a warm glow of hope for the future. For another year Pam and I have chosen not to travel to visit family to avoid spreading the virus. Some family are unvaccinated and have no intention of protecting themselves and others. Perhaps this is why the warmth of the message stung so hard.

There is one more performance on December 4, 2021 at 8 PM at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts (445 S. Magnolia Avenue Orlando, FL 32801). Tickers start at $30. Feel the horror and warmth of this holiday season. Should you miss tonight’s performance, you can also catch them next weekend in Sanford, and the 22 and 23 at Athens Theater in Deland Florida.