One hundred and eighty years ago, on 19 December 1843, the first edition of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol was published. To celebrate, I’m releasing a special version of the story. Produced in 2001, this is the shortest edition of the story that I ever recorded (see below for the longer and medium-length editions). It’s also very meaningful to me, because it’s a collaboration with William R. Mathews, who way back in 1998 invited me to begin performing dramatic readings in Westfield, New Jersey, where we were both teaching high school. I also loved the opportunity to make music with current and former students, singing with members of the Westfield Chorale. So while there’s less than 20 minutes of storytelling in this episode—just a few lines of each of the “staves” of Dickens’ “carol”—there’s lots of great music! (Photo of Bill Mathews and me by Gretchen Meister Brand. At some point we discovered we had the same tie and made a point of wearing it for one at least one of our shared performances each December.) Bill Mathews in rehearsal with the Chorale at First Baptist Church in Westfield, NJ A CHRISTMAS CAROL LIVE AT FBC (2017) A GRAYCLIFF CHRISTMAS CAROL (2020)
