What if...a Dark Shadows Holiday fantasy

[CyrusL]

Several times, such as the Directors Guild show, Dan Curtis stated he wished he would have just placed a hold on the current story and staged a version of "A Christmas Carol" with the cast, running the week of Christmas. Now , there is no longer any way to determine at what period in the show's run (other than a December) this may happened, but I think the DS cast would have been excellent  doing this. I wanted to do my casting, and invite others to join in.

Ebenezer Scrooge:  Jonathan Frid
Jacob Marley : Louis Edmonds
Bob Cratchit : John Karlen
Mrs. Cratchit: Nancy Barrett
Tiny Tim : David Henesey
Cratchit children: Denise Nickerson, Sharon Smyth, Michael Maitland. David Jay...
Fred (Scrooge's Nephew) : Chris Pennock
Fred's wife: Virginia Vestoff
Fen (Scrooge's sister) : Joan Bennett
Ghost of Christmas Past : Lara Parker
Ghost of Christmas Present : David Selby
Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come : Humbert Astredo
Old Fezziwig : Thayer David
Mrs. Fezziwig: Grayson Hall
Scrooge's Charwoman : Clarice Blackburn
Fen (Scrooge's lost love) : Kathryn Leigh Scott
Young Scrooge: Michael Stroka
Young Marley: Roger Davis
Men collecting for Charity: Robert Gerringer, David Ford, Gene Lindsey
Undertaker: Jerry Lacey
Business men at Stock Exchange: Addison Powell,  Conrad Bain, Abe Vigoda

Now, of course the problem, who was around during those weeks and at what year. I did the casting based on the entire run. There's a few problems. There really isn't a juicy part for Grayson for example, we could switch her and Clarice for example. Also, while David Selby would certainly be a great Bob Cratchit, I felt John Karlen would be better, playing off the Barnabas/Willie chemistry. Also, Joel Crothers, Don Briscoe, James Storm or Selby again would also have been great as Fred, or Dennis Patrick as Jacob Marley. You could even switch Jonathan and Louis are Scrooge and Marley and it would still work. So, I invite you to make your cases for any changes, but most of all imagine what might have been..."the greatest ghost story ever."   

(I wanted to post this last year and never got around to it, so I waited until the right time...)

Michael   

A Christmas Carol is a Dan Curtis Production...  

[CyrusL]

Just to clarify, Scrooge's charwoman is often listed as Mrs. Dilber. I have been trying to get the definitive name for Scrooge's lost love, one version seems to list her as Isabel, another as Alice. I don't have the book here with me. Fen is pretty consistent for the sister's name, although she is often shown only as a child.

Michael 

[Charles_Ellis]

CyrusL, you beat me to it- well, sort of.  A few days ago I suggested on this board that Big Finish make Dan's wish come true and do an audo version for Christmas 2007!  In my version, Louis and Joan would've been the Cratchits, with Nancy as daughter Martha.  Sharon Smyth would've been Fan (short for Fanny, as it turns out), and Addison Powell would've been Jacob Marley.

[CyrusL]

CyrusL, you beat me to it- well, sort of.  A few days ago I suggested on this board that Big Finish make Dan's wish come true and do an audo version for Christmas 2007!

You are correct Charles, I had missed that post of yours. In a case of GMTA, we came at the same concept from different directions.

Michael 

[Raineypark]

Scrooge's sister was named Fan.  The young love that he left behind was named Belle.  I'm quoting a facsimile edition which includes the printed version, and Dicken's manuscript edition.

If anyone is interested in seeing the original manuscript, it's at the Morgan Library in Manhattan.

[MagnusTrask]

I consider the Mr. McGoo version to be definitive.

[Raineypark]

I consider the Mr. McGoo version to be definitive.

Well....yeh.......

[Lydia]

Very nice cast, CyrusL.  A quibble:  David Selby is too skinny to play the Ghost of Christmas Present.  I'm suggesting Don Briscoe, about whom one might make the same complaint, but I think he could do the jolliness well.  And I think Grayson Hall would have fun being ominous.  So here are my suggested changes:

Fred:  Chris Pennock --> David Selby
Ghost of Christmas Present:  David Selby --> Don Briscoe
Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come: Humbert Allen Astredo --> Grayson Hall
Mrs. Fezziwig:  Grayson Hall --> Clarice Blackburn
Scrooge's Charwoman: Clarice Blackburn --> Jane Draper

[arashi]

Oh man! It's too bad Dan didn't get the chance. How much fun would a Dark Shadows Christmas Carol be? It'd be a holiday staple for me, right up there with White Christmas! (which I have watched twice already)

[Nelson Collins]

Sorry, but IMO the only person for the Ghost of Christmas Present would be Thayer David.

How about Grayson as Christmas past, and Lara as Yet to Come?  And Anthony George as Marley.

[Nelson Collins]

Oh and Roger Davis and Alexandra Moltke as Young Scrooge and Belle...

[retzev]

A few days ago I suggested on this board that Big Finish make Dan's wish come true and do an audo version for Christmas 2007!

Great idea - have you suggested it to Big Finish?

A little off topic, but why hasn't Frid been involved in the BF productions? Maybe it's a travel issue? He seems to enjoy spoken-word/reading types of things lately, wouldn't it be great if he were recruited for a DS Christmas Carol?

[Mysterious Benefactor]

why hasn't Frid been involved in the BF productions?

Nancy addressed that here:

Jonathan Frid was asked to participate in the new recordings but declined, wishing to remain retired.

[Sunny_Collins]

I think Louis Edmonds would have made a good Scrooge. He played Joshua so well, and we all know Joshua could be a bit scrooge-like. 

Grayson Hall would have made a good Mrs. Cratchit and Don Briscoe could have been Scrooge's uncle.