A Christmas Carol Is Coming to the Stage This Holiday Season

(SPOT.ph) Bah, humbug? Not this year. Manila’s theater scene is joining the holiday festivities with a staging of the quintessential Christmas tale of redemption, family, and generosity: A Christmas Carol.

9 Works Theatrical—the folks behind local productions of Rent, Tick, Tick…Boom! and Once on This Island— is decking the halls by showcasing the beloved musical adaptation of Charles Dickens' holiday story, brought to life with music from Emmy, Golden Globe, Oscar, and Tony-award winning composer Alan Menken (Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Disney's The Little Mermaid, Little Shop of Horrors), lyrics from Tony award winning lyricist Lynn Ahrens (Ragtime, Seussical, Once on This Island), and book by screen and stage writer Mike Ockrent.

This local production will be directed by Robbie Guevara, the man who brought us shows like Liwanag sa Dilim and Going Home to Christmas: A Jose Mari Chan musical. The show will run at the Proscenium Theater, Rockwell’s sleek new performance space, this November to December.

Also read: Your Ultimate Guide To Theater Shows in the Philippines in 2025

A Christmas Carol is one of Charles Dickens' most famous tales. It follows the penny-pinching Ebenezer Scrooge, who is visited by three spirits on Christmas Eve, forcing him to confront his past, present, and future. What follows is a tale of redemption with a generous sprinkling of holiday cheer.

With a tale so beloved, you can bet there's more than one version of A Christmas Carol out there. Dickens' story is so popular that it has been adapted several times across various media, including film, TV, and theater. In the theater alone, there are about four different versions, each with its own twist to the classic, but Menken and Ahrens' 1994 version is the only musical. It ran yearly at New York's Theater at Madison Square Garden from December 1, 1994, until December 27, 2003. It also found life as a yearly stage concert in London from 2016 until 2020.

Outside of the stage, a TV adaptation of the musical was produced in 2004, starring Kelsey Grammer, Jason Alexander, Jane Krakowski, Jesse Martin, Geraldine Chaplin, and Jennifer Love Hewitt.

As of writing, details about the cast, ticket prices, and exact show schedules for 9 Works Theatrical's A Christmas Carol have yet to be announced. But don't worry, we'll keep our eyes peeled.

For now, mark your calendars. Scrooge may have needed three ghosts to find the Christmas spirit, but you can catch yours in just one night at Rockwell when you catch A Christmas Carol this holiday season.

For more information, visit 9 Works Theatrical's Facebook page.