Charles Dickens Begrudgingly Performs "A Christmas Carol." Again

In 1853, ten years after having dashed off his surprisingly successful holiday story, A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens gave his first public reading of the work. The effort was so well received, as well as providing much needed cash, that he continued to perform these celebrated readings for the rest of his career.
The only problem is that Dickens, himself, has long grown tired of this annual reading. Reports of his death in 1870 were greatly exaggerated, and year after year he has sustained himself with these solo performances — albeit with dwindling enthusiasm as he has moved from the grand concert halls of London to finally, this year, The Building Stage in Chicago’s industrial West Loop. Now, as the world celebrates the 200th anniversary of his birth, Dickens has finally reached the breaking point. He knows he must grant the holiday wishes of his audience but desperately hopes to entertain them with anything but another performance of A Christmas Carol.