Act I

It’s Christmas Eve in London, and the streets are bursting as Londoners joyously finish preparations for the big day. Only miserly Ebenezer Scrooge seems resistant to the power of Christmas, but not even he can stop everyone else from celebrating (“Overture/The Season Starts Today”).

Trying to work but constantly distracted by fools and their Christmas Spirit, Scrooge laments the state of the world around him (“Scrooge’s Song”). No sooner does he get back to work when he’s visited by nephew Fred, who invites his only uncle over for Christmas dinner, even though he knows the invitation will be ignored. As expected, Scrooge angrily expels his nephew from his office, only to be interrupted again by Three Collecting Men, hoping Scrooge will donate to those less fortunate (“Mr. Scrooge”). Scrooge dismisses them as sternly as he did Fred, leaving him alone in the office with his clerk Bob Cratchit. Nervously, Cratchit asks Scrooge for the entirety of Christmas Day off work. Scrooge reluctantly agrees, but insists Cratchit return to work early the day after Christmas. Cratchit runs from the office before Scrooge can change his mind.

In the streets, Bob picks up his young song, Tiny Tim, who has to walk with a crutch due to declining health. Bob briefly encounters Fred and the two of them wish one another the best of the holiday season. Once Fred leaves, Tim asks if his older sister Martha will be coming home for Christmas dinner. Unsure of the answer, Bob cheers Tim up by telling him that some day all the children, even Tim, will leave the house. Despite his happy front, when left to his own thoughts, Bob asks God for a little more time with Tim before his health turns for the worst (“Next Christmas”).

With the workday complete, Scrooge leaves his office, continuing to mutter to himself about the sad state of affairs in London. He trudges to his own door but before he can open it, a ghostly face— that of his dead associate Jacob Marley— takes over his door knocker and bellows his name. Scrooge recoils in terror but eventually dismisses the occurrence as humbug and retires to his home (“Scrooge’s Song” Reprise). Once inside, he’s greeted by his housekeeper Mrs. Dilber, who also asks to have Christmas Day off. Feeling his charity has been abused enough, Scrooge refuses her request and she stomps off.

Finally left alone, Scrooge starts to settle in for the night, only to have the peace shattered by the ghostly appearance of his deceased partner, Jacob Marley. Scrooge tries to dismiss Marley’s appearance as impossible, but Marley is insistent that Scrooge hear his message. Doomed to an eternity of suffering for the sins of his life, Marley is trying to offer Scrooge a chance at salvation. Scrooge will be visited by three spirits, who will try to save him from the mighty chain that he is destined to carry for all eternity. Scrooge tries to disregard the opportunity but Marley is desperate and forceful (“Look at These Chains”). After delivering his message, Marley is violently dragged by his chains back from where he came.

Not sure what to make of his visit from Marley, Scrooge falls asleep, only to be awoken later by the sound of his clock. Confused, he seems to have woken up earlier than he went to sleep. Before he can make sense of it, he’s visited by the first of the three ghosts Marley spoke of: The Ghost of Christmas Past, a luminous woman who promises to show Scrooge how to fly as they take their journey through his past. Despite his reluctance, Scrooge takes her hand and they’re whisked off into the night (“Walk With Me”).

The Ghost and Scrooge land in what is a familiar place to Scrooge. He recognizes everyone, but they’re from his childhood. How he wishes to speak to them now! He’s saddened, though, when he sees a lonely young boy seemingly without friends or family, and recognizes the boy as himself. Struck by such a sad memory, he continues to ask the Ghost why she’s brought him here. His spirit lifts briefly when young Scrooge is reunited with his sister, Fan, who comes to bring him home for Christmas. Again, though, Scrooge’s happiness is tempered by a memory of loss, as Fan passed away after giving birth to her one son, Scrooge’s nephew Fred.

The Ghost takes Scrooge to another scene. Scrooge is somewhat older now, a strapping teen, seemingly working diligently at the office of Old Mr. Fezziwig. Upon closer inspection, it’s clear that Scrooge is not working at all, but daydreaming about a potential dance later that night with the girl of his dreams, a girl named Belle (“Ten Minutes More Part 1”). Scrooge’s distraction is interrupted by the appearance of his happy-go-lucky friend Dick Wilkins, and then by Mr. Fezziwig himself, along with his wife.

Mr. Fezziwig pretends to scold the boys before sending them off to get ready for the party. Mrs. Fezziwig, though, takes a second to help build Ebenezer’s confidence as he gets ready to dance with Belle. Left alone, Mr. and Mrs. Fezziwig remember that they too met under similar circumstances all the years ago (“Ten Minutes More Part Two”).

Mr. Fezziwig’s Christmas party is soon in full swing and brings merriment to everyone with song and dance (“Nothing Else Like Christmas”). Ebenezer and Belle meet and dance with the other partygoers. He’s nervous but Belle keeps telling him to try and have fun.

After the dancing is done, Mr. Fezziwig promises everyone an extra day off work and sends them on their way. Left alone, Ebenezer tries to finish cleaning the office, hoping to impress Mr. Fezziwig with his ambition. Belle finds him and he’s embarrassed that he couldn’t afford to get her a Christmas present. Together they dream of the future where they won’t have to worry about money and where all they’ll need is one another (“One Day”).

This idyllic moment of young romance is interrupted again by The Ghost, who moves the clock forward again, this time showing Ebenezer, slightly older but already hunched over his desk at all hours of the night. Belle comes in, begging him to join her for Christmas at the Fezziwig’s, but Ebenezer stays working (“Walk With Me Reprise”). Desperate to reach him, Belle asks Ebenezer what she would have to be so he would notice her. When he continues to look away, she returns his ring to him and leaves (“I Have To Know”).

Devastated by having to witness this personal tragedy again, Scrooge begs The Ghost to take him home. While it appears that’s what she’s doing, Scrooge actually finds himself again surrounded by the dancers from the past, now moving in a stylized, slower rhythm. Belle appears and is met by Dick Wilkins, and together the two of them dance away. Scrooge screams for The Spirit to take him home. Finally, she returns and lights a match as he shivers before her. She blows out the match and Scrooge is left alone in the dark (“Act One Finale”).

Act II

Scrooge is again awoken from his sleep, this time by a large boisterous man who calls himself The Ghost of Christmas Present. The Ghost drags Scrooge out of his bed and into the streets of London, stopping to help as many people as he can along the way, using what are clearly magical powers to help give everyone in need just a little bit more (“Beats the Dickens Out of Me”).

Scrooge bickers with The Ghost, though, wanting to know why he should give away all that he’s worked so hard to earn. The Ghost scoffs, telling Scrooge that every man must act in the present to help others; otherwise the future has no foundation from which to be built (“Forever”).

When Scrooge doesn’t understand, The Ghost takes him to another part of London, the tiny home of the Cratchit family. There Scrooge sees Mrs. Cratchit and the children preparing a Christmas dinner, while waiting for Bob and Tiny Tim to come home. Once Bob and Tim arrive, so does the eldest daughter Martha (“The Cratchits”). As the younger children clean up for dinner, Bob tells his wife about Tiny Tim’s exemplary behavior in church.

The family then sits down for Christmas dinner. Moved by their plight for the first time, Scrooge sees the dinner is too small for so large a family and asks The Ghost to use his magic to make the dinner into a feast. When Scrooge asks if Tiny Tim will live, The Ghost laments that he sees an empty seat in the chimney corner. Scrooge is dismayed, but The Ghost harshly rebukes him, stating he can only give them enough for one day but asks who will take responsibility for this family in the future. Before he can respond, Bob Cratchit offers a toast to Mr. Scrooge himself. Scrooge can’t help but feel unworthy.

Tiny Tim and Bob then start talking to Martha about moving away and how someday even Tim will move away. Worried that if he ever leaves he won’t be able to find his way home, Bob reassures him that fathers and sons have a special way of finding one another (“A Child Alone”).

Haunted by what he just saw, Scrooge asks to be taken home. The Ghost seems to oblige, but they end up in a dark section of London. Instead of his usual neighbors, Scrooge finds himself in the presence of rogues and the homeless. Even though he normally feels threatened by such people, Scrooge is moved by them as they quietly pray amongst themselves for a better life (“Rogues’ Song/Shine A Light On Me”).

As quickly as they arrived in the solemn poor section of London, The Ghost and Scrooge arrive at the home of his nephew Fred, where a raucous party is underway. Fred’s friend Topper is leading party games and flirting with any lady present. Fred still takes a moment to lament that his uncle hasn’t arrived. Rather than let Fred drag the party down, Topper leads the friends in a game of ‘Yes and No.’ Even Scrooge himself tries to get involved, only to be dismayed when the horrible creature Topper is describing turns out to be him. Despite the laugh, Fred toasts his uncle, and he and his wife Elizabeth again express their love for one another (“Yes and No/One Day Reprise”).

The partygoers dissipate and Scrooge finds himself in the darkness with The Ghost. The mood has darkened significantly. The Ghost reveals two ghostly children, Ignorance and Want, who are clinging to his legs. He tells Scrooge to beware them for they are a source of great evil (“Forever (Reprise)"). The Ghost and the children leave and Scrooge is left alone for the first time.

Scrooge turns and sees he is in the presence of a frightening, silent ghost, The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come. Scrooge tries to get answers from The Ghost, but all it does is point and reveal The Collecting Men from earlier, all speaking disrespectfully about someone who had just perished.

The Collecting Men are then interrupted by three surly individuals— one we recognize as Mrs. Dilber, the others are her friends, Old Joe and Molly. Mrs. Dilber is gloating about the items she took from someone who had just died, going so far as to pull out the bed curtains she took from his room while he lay dead. Scrooge recognizes the bed curtains as his own. The three grave robbers then try and justify their outrageous lives to The Collecting Men, who want no part of it (“We Build Ourselves Up”).

Disgusted by what he’d just seen, Scrooge begs The Ghost to show him an example of someone paying death the respect it deserves. Again, The Ghost points, this time to a gravestone. Before Scrooge can ask whose gravestone it is, the Cratchit family, minus Tiny Tim, emerges, clearly in morning.

Scrooge is shattered as Bob sings at the grave of Tiny Tim. Tim’s spirit rises from the grave and tries to offer Bob solace. Finally, Scrooge himself joins in and the three of them— Scrooge, Bob and Tim— vow to find their way together (“The Graveyard”).

Finally emboldened to take action, Scrooge confronts The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come, begging for another chance to make things right (“Scrooge’s Epiphany”). He runs to The Ghost, who flies into the night and leaves Scrooge alone on the ground.

Scrooge looks up, though, and realizes he’s no longer in the graveyard; he’s home, on his bedroom floor. He is ecstatic and vows then and there to be a better man and lead a better life. His first act as a changed man is to give Mrs. Dilber the day off work. As she runs off he starts getting dressed, only to look out the window and wonder what day it is. He sees a young boy running through the streets, who tells him it’s Christmas Day. Scrooge tells the boy to go fetch the prized turkey hanging in the poulterer’s window. The boy runs off, ready to face the challenge.

Emerging into the crowded streets, Scrooge quickly runs into The Collecting Men, who are not happy to see him. He tells them they will come to his office the next day and accept a rather large donation from him. The Collecting Men are practically knocked over by Scrooge’s generosity.

Scrooge then waits for Fred and Elizabeth and begs their forgiveness, promising to join them for dinner later that night, assuming the offer still stands. Fred is overwhelmed with happiness and he and Belle head home to start making dinner.

The boy returns with the turkey and Scrooge pays him, then slings the turkey over his shoulder and heads to Bob Cratchit’s house. There he plays a slight prank on Bob, pretending that Bob was supposed to be at work. Only when Bob stands up for himself does Scrooge let him in on the joke. He gives the family the turkey and promises to make every day better for the Cratchits from that day forward.

Scrooge and The Cratchits then become part of the chorus in the streets as they celebrate Christmas Day, together as one.