Clarksville, TN — The Roxy Regional Theatre is getting into the holiday spirit with A 1940s Radio Christmas Carol, a festive musical comedy that takes audiences behind the microphone of a live radio broadcast where nearly everything that can go wrong does.
The story is set on Christmas Eve, 1943, as the Feddington Players go on the air from a hole-in-the-wall studio in Newark, New Jersey, to present their own modern take on Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. Their broadcast has to survive noisy plumbing, missed cues, electrical blackouts and the over-the-top theatrics of William St. Claire, a veteran stage actor who is new to radio. As St. Claire’s blunders pile up, the show builds to a climax that is both funny and heartbreaking when he suffers an on-air breakdown and begins to see his own life reflected in Dickens’s classic tale.
The show is a sequel to The 1940s Radio Hour, which Walton Jones created as a Yale student in 1974. Jones has said he wanted to move the Feddington Players a year further into the war, when thoughts of World War II had grown more somber as the fighting dragged on. The result balances laughs with a wartime backdrop that gives the story its heart.
Music is a big part of the fun. Lyricist Faye Greenberg, known for High School Musical, and composer David Wohl wrote four original period songs for the production, along with swing arrangements of familiar Christmas standards. Jazzed-up carols, dancing and comical old-time commercials round out the broadcast, and the show is rated appropriate for all audiences, making it a good outing for the whole family.
The show has been staged at more than 80 theatres across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. The Roxy’s production is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals.
Produced in part by Jim & Dottie Mann. Additional funding support provided by Mildred & Mable’s and Stephanie Taylor & David Magers
Season 44 Ten-Pack and Eight-Pack holders can purchase tickets now during an exclusive presale running through next week.
Tickets go on sale to the general public on Tuesday, November 10th, and can be purchased online at roxyregionaltheatre.org or by calling the box office at 931.645.7699 between 9:00am and 2:00pm, Monday through Friday.
Performances run for three weekends in December. The opening weekend features shows on Friday, December 4th at 7:00pm, and Saturday, December 5th and Sunday, December 6th at 2:00pm.
The second weekend includes Friday, December 11th at 7:00pm; Saturday, December 12th at 2:00pm and 7:00pm; and Sunday, December 13th at 2:00pm.
The final week adds a Thursday performance on December 17th at 7:00pm, followed by Friday, December 18th at 7:00pm; Saturday, December 19th at 2:00pm and 7:00pm; and Sunday, December 20th at 2:00pm.
With construction of the new Clarksville Performing Arts Center (CPAC) slated to begin later this year, the production will be presented at the theatre’s temporary home at 114 Public Square in downtown Clarksville.
Theatergoers planning to see more than one show this season can save with the Roxy’s Season 44 Ten-Pack and Eight-Pack, which offer “anytime tickets” good for the best available seats at productions through June 27th, 2027. Along with the savings, package holders get presale access to every show before tickets go on sale to the general public. Remaining Season 44 shows include The Vagina Monologues, Peter and the Starcatcher, August Wilson’s Fences, Curtains: Young@Part and Next to Normal.
For more information, visit roxyregionaltheatre.org.
