Island Stage Left presents A Christmas Carol

Contributed photo

Island Stage Left shares news about the second production in their holiday series.

The most delightfully cold-hearted, cynical, greedy, mean old man in English literature gets his comeuppance in Friday Harbor on Dec. 23 and 24, when Island Stage Left presents Broadway actor Allen Fitzpatrick’s one-man version of A Christmas Carol at 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. each day, weather permitting.

Fitzpatrick plays Ebenezer Scrooge — “hard and sharp as flint, secret and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster” — plus 25 other characters in this virtuoso adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic. Fitzpatrick modeled his show on the dramatic readings Dickens himself performed. The intimacy of a one-man show gives a special personal flair to the story of a wicked man brought to his knees by a series of painfully honest ghosts, one of them in the form of a door-knocker.

Fitzpatrick is a seasoned Broadway actor who has worked with stars of the profession ranging from Stephen Sondheim and Andrew Lloyd Webber to Vanessa Redgrave and Patti Lupone. He maintains a close connection to the Pacific Northwest, having appeared many times at the 5th Avenue Theatre, ACT, Seattle Rep, the Intiman Theatre and at Benaroya Hall with the Seattle Symphony.

Seating for A Christmas Carol is limited, and though a few no-shows may mean seats will be available at the door, Island Stage Left can’t guarantee a place to those who come without reservations.

The first three shows are fully booked, but a few seats remain for the 6:30 p.m. show on Dec. 24. To make a reservation, email [email protected].

Admission is free, but donations are gratefully accepted. Masks are strongly encouraged. Performances take place in the Marie Boe Building, at the San Juan County Fairgrounds — 849 Argyle Ave.

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