DICKENS CHRISTMAS CAROL EAST COAST FAREWELL READINGS TOUR 2018

Great Stories Alive !
"Performance with Passion & Purpose"
PO Box 2491 - Eugene, OR 97402 / (503) 335-3876 - DickensChristmasCarol.net

Dramatic "farewell readings" of Dickens' Christmas Carol will begin at the Omni Parker House Hotel, Dec. 2, Boston, MA, and continue at Longfellow's Wayside Inn, Dec. 7 and 8, Subury, MA, will commemorate the 175th anniversary of the year Dickens wrote and published his holiday classic, A Christmas Carol. The first performance this year will also be on the exact historic calendar date of the famed author's first performance during Dickens 1867-68 American tour in Boston. Presented as a one-man show by performer Al LePage, the text is based on Dickens' own historic public reading script and also done in the style of Dickens himself, using only voice, facial expressions and gestures to create up to 26 characters. The Dec. 9 Wayside Inn show will also feature organist Dianne Carpenter playing traditional Victorian-era Christmas carols. All proceeds benefit charity, the Historic Site Preservation Fund for the Wayside Inn, The Greater Boston Food Bank relative to the Parker House event. Tickets can be purchased for Wayside Inn events by calling 978-443-1776, and for the Parker House event either online at DickensChristmasCarol.BrownPaperTickets.com or by calling 1-800-838-3006.

Photo Credit: David Krapes

"Charles Dickens wrote and published his beloved Carol one hundred and seventy-five years ago," begins performer Al LePage, "and it's time to commemorate not only this, but also the very beginning of his historic American performance tour in Boston! So, what better way to do just that by not only doing my one-man show in the style Dickens did, using his full historic script or a shorter version based on it, but also beginning my east coast 'farewell readings' tour both in the same city and on the exact historic date Dickens' did, Dec. 2nd. And performing it right next door to the very place where he performed it in 1867, the historic Parker House Hotel. And each event will also begin with a brief introduction about the writing and publishing of famed author's holiday classic, too."

Dickens' arrived in Boston on November 18, 1867 and headed straight for the Parker House Hotel, which became his home away from home in America while he toured the east coast of the United States. His first public reading was right next door on Monday, December 2nd, at a place then known as Tremont Temple, the location of today's Converse Hall. Every ticket had been sold and two thousand people packed the house. The audience included his long-time friend Henry Wordsworh Longfellow, with whom he had dined at his home in Cambridge for Thanksgiving dinner, and other literary elites such as Oliver Wendall Holmes, James Russell Lowell and Charles Elliot Norton, to name but a few. When Dickens came strutting across the stage the welcome was incredible! When Dickens began his "reading" it soon became apparent that Dickens was not only a highly skilled author, but also an accomplished performer, too. He literally brought the characters of A Christmas Carol alive dramatically by only using his facial expressions, tone of voice, and gestures. The audience loved it. They laughed, they cried, the applause was fantastic! Dickens was energized, and he continued his public reading with a select part from the Trial from Pickwick. When he was finished that night the response went beyond all expectations!" (Image: Al LePage as Scrooge)

Dickens went on to do more shows in Boston that week, then off to Steinway Hall in New York City, then back to Boston for more shows before the new year. He traveled the east coast from Portland, Maine to Washington D.C. during the next four months of 1868, giving at total of 76 performances and grossing more than three million dollars in today's currency, but taking a serious loss to exchange civil war greenbacks into gold which decreased it to about two million dollars. His American tour, though, was an obvious and great financial success.

Dickens' last performance was also in Boston, and this is what he said at it's end.

“In this brief life of ours, it is sad to do almost anything for the last time . . . Ladies and gentlemen, I beg most earnestly, most gratefully, and most affectionately, to bid you, each and all, farewell.”

LePage shares this sentiment, too, because this year's tour, after ten seasons, will also be his last.

"This is my 'farewell readings' tour," says LePage. "Dickens also had his own 'farewell readings' tour in Great Britain after returning home from the United States, so in a very real sense for me personally history repeats itself. And, it's been a great run, my performances have raised thousands of dollars for charity, especially for food banks, and I've been able to have some serious fun, too, dramatically preaching Dickens' sermon of generosity and personal transformation. But even more serious things are pulling me and my life in other directions now and I must head their call. This realization, plus all that it takes as a performer and producer to make a one-man show happen, and wanting to end on a high note as a creative artist, means it's simply time to call it a day, or rather, a decade."

Dickens' Christmas Carol was meant for adult audiences, and historically, 'done like Dickens' means it's strictly a dramatic reading performance. So LePage decided to offer a shorter version, still based on Dickens' historic script and combined with organ music to make it more family-friendly. It works beautifully with traditional Victorian-era Christmas carols setting the tone for selected upcoming scenes. He calls it 'A Christmas Carol Times Two!' since it literally is, Dickens Christmas Carol plus Christmas carols. He's joined by organist Dianne Carpenter at the Wayside Inn for the Saturday matinee performance on Dec. 8.

Dianne Carpenter weaves organ music into the show!

Dianne Carpenter weaves organ music into the show!

Dianne Carpenter started playing piano at age 6, took up the violin a few years later, and by the time she was a junior in high school landed her first job as a church organist! She pursued her music education degree from Lowell State College, went on to teach music in area schools, but always remained a church organist or choir director as that "teachers second job" to make ends meet. She eventually decided to get even more serious about her life in "music ministry," went back to school to receive a Masters of Sacred Music from Boston University, but continued to teach school. A few years later, though, the economic situation for funding education statewide in Massachusetts took a turn for the worse and teaching jobs were threatened. All this forced her to do some soul-searching, and in the end she decided her journey was now to be the path of pastoral ministry. She sold her house, went back to school yet again, and eventually earned both a Masters of Divinity from Andover Newton Theological School and a PhD in Christian Social Ethics from Boston University Graduate School. She's been a minister in the New England Conference of the United Methodist Church for nearly two decades, serving in Natick, Spencer, Belmont, Hamilton and Brewster Massachussetts. She currrently serves as minister of the United Methodist Church in Franklin, MA, and continues to publicly perform both on organ and piano, typically now only playing the violin for her own enjoyment. (Image: Dianne Carpenter weaves organ music into the special Saturday matinee show.)

LePage has been refining his shows and sharpeing his skills as a performer of Dickens' Christmas Carol for over a decade, and besides enjoying his craft, especially loves the story's messages of personal transformation and generosity, both of which he can relate to in a very personal way.

"I've been hungry, I've had some pretty tough times in my life," says LePage, "and I knew I had to change to become the sort of person I am today. I'm still definitely a work-in-progress, but being as kind as possible in what I think and say, in what I do, is how I try to live my life each and every day. I've always liked being generous, but as I get older, I really love giving even more of my time, energy and other resources not only to help people but all creatures great and small . . . and the earth itself. Doing Dickens Carol is a great way to reach people, and to 'preach what I practice' you could say. So this year, as a final farewell gesture, a dollar for dollar match of the total performance fee, of all contributions donated by my audiences during my shows in Massachusetts is being offered by organist Dianne Carpenter and myself up to a total of $500. And the funds will be donated to a A Place to Turn, an emergency food pantry in Natick, close to where I grew up in Framingham, and used to buy food to help feed people locally."

"We all have gifts, and God wants us to be generous with those gifts, asking us to share them," begins Rev. Dr. Dianne Carpenter, recently retired pastor of the Franklin United Methodist Church. "And this event is an opportunity for the community not only to be entertained, but also become aware of the real meaning of Christmas, God's passion for the entire world as reflected in providing the resources needed by the food pantry so everyone served can celebrate the season, too."

LePage, a native of Framingham, who also lived briefly in Holliston as a young child, began bringing history to life through improvised portrayals of real people from the past for over seven years at historic sites, museums, and other venues throughout the Pacific Northwest. He's written and produced his own historical dramas as one-man shows, appeared on the nationally televised PBS “History Detectives” series in roles ranging from a bartender to Robert E. Lee. Oregon Public Broadcasting Radio produced and premiered LePage's own shortened version of Dickens' Christmas Carol as his own one man one-hour radio program in 2010, its eighth annual broadcast being last year on Christmas eve itself. He's been giving performances of the Carol to benefit charity in the United States, Canada and England since 2006. In 2011 he traveled to England to perform there for the first time beginning in the same place and for the same charity that Dickens himself did his first public reading of the Carol in Birmingham in 1853, and LePage's last performance that year was in the old stables of the historic 16th century coaching inn in Framlingham, England itself, the very same town after which Framingham, MA, where he was born, was so named. He always strives to give his best, reaching beyond mere performance to create a unique and memorable experience for his audiences.

From Scrooge to Tiny Tim, from Marley's Ghost to Mrs. Cratchit, there's howls and growls, bangs and bongs, a DANCE WITH A SONG, lively laughter and heartfelt tears. Join Al for another season of special shows -- and Dianne for the special Saturday matinee -- on the 175th Anniversary of Charles Dickens' 1843 A Christmas Carol!

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Longfellow's Wayside Inn is a Massachusetts Historic Landmark and the oldest Inn in the United States, continuing to provide food and lodging along-side the old Boston Post Road since 1716. As a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation, the Wayside Inn is dedicated to the preservation of its 125-acre historic campus and outbuildings, which include the old Howe Tavern, the Martha Mary Chapel, the Redstone School, and the world famous water-powered Wayside Inn Grist Mill. Countless individuals, school groups and civic organizations take advantage of the property's educational programs each year, which focus on the site's colonial past as well as its more recent history as the country's first living history museum while under the ownership of industrialist Henry Ford from 1923 to 1945. The site is funded with revenue generated from its restaurant and overnight guest rooms, fundraising initiatives, corporate and public donations, through historic preservation grants, and their own Historic Site Preservation Fund. The Wayside Inn Historic Site is on the National Register of Historic Places. For further information, visit www.Wayside.org or phone 978-443-1776.

The Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB) is the largest hunger-relief organization in New England and among the largest food banks in the country. In 2016, they distributed more than 57.7 million pounds of food, equivalent to 48.1 million meals. Through their network of partners, 142,000 people ate something from GBFB each month, creating a compassionate and sustainable solution to hunger. One in ten people in Eastern Massachusetts struggles with hunger. You can learn more about the GBFB and help make a difference in the fight against hunger by visiting their website at www.gbfb.org or by calling 617-427-5200.

A Place to Turn Logo

A Place to Turn is a non-profit organization that has been serving the needs of the Metrowest community since the late 1970's. The emergency food pantry was created by a group of local residents troubled both by poverty and the lack of emergency assistance in the local area. It has and continues to provide emergency groceries and clothing to individuals and families in need. Funding and support come from many sources, with food donations from a wide variety of groups and local businesses, and financial assistance from individuals, corporations and foundations. People can participate in a variety of ways and besides much appreciated financial support, the organization also values the time and talents of volunteers, plus donations of non-perishable food and other essential items. Serving over 12,000 people in over 30 cities and towns in Metrowest in 2017, the majority of clients are from Framingham, Marlborough, and Natick. For further information, visit their webiste at www.APlacetoTurn-Natick.org or phone (508) 655-8868.
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NOTE TO MEDIA: Embedded images are offered for free use by the print media for stories related to these performances and may be cropped and color-balanced as needed.

CAPTION ALTERNATE SUGGESTION for IMAGE: Al LePage is sure to bring lots of laughter, and hopefully some tears, during his upcoming dramatic reading performances of Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol.