A Christmas Carol Opens at the Hanover Friday

By Steev Riccardo

New England’s largest production of the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol returns to the Hanover Theatre in Worcester this coming weekend.

The production, which will feature some new actors this year, will run from Friday, December 16, to Friday, December 23, in the beautiful theatre.

Veteran Boston actor John Davin will make his debut to the production as the Ghost of Jacob Marley. Dale Place and Sean Patrick Hopkins will return as Ebenezer Scrooge and Bob Cratchitt, respectively.

Davin has played Ebenezer Scrooge several times in various productions of the classic, but is highly excited about his new role.

“I have played Scrooge a number of times, but have never played Marley, and it’s really fun. I am excited, it’s a whole new production, all new songs, you could do it for years, and it’s like the first day of school every time.”

Davin described his role: “Marley is Scrooge’s partner and he died on Christmas Eve seven years earlier and now he has a chance to come back and redeem himself. This is his last chance to come back and help people out. He has these long heavy chains which he has to drag around. He comes to Scrooge and warns him that he had better change his ways. It’s Marley’s last change at any kind of redemption.”

Having worked steadily for years, Davin is happy to be a working actor and relished this opportunity. “I am very fortunate. A lot of it has to be luck, I’m really blessed.”

The actor also looks forward to his first time acting at the Worcester theatre: “It is an absolute thrill to perform at The Hanover.”

According to the theater, the scale of the production and special effects is greater than that of most of the Broadway national tours that play the Hanover Theatre.

The show is recommended for children 8 years old and up. Tickets for kids and students are half price, so the whole family can attend. Performance times are as follows: Friday December 16, 7:30, Saturday December 17, 2:00 and 7:30, Sunday December 18 1:00 and 6:00, and Friday December 23, 2:00 and 7:00. The Hanover Theatre is located at 2 Southbridge Street in downtown Worcester.

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