Cedar City, UT—Join the Utah Shakespearean Festival this holiday season for a special production of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” This unique children’s theatre production will feature over 50 local children. Performances will take place in the Randall L. Jones Theatre on December 17 and 18 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $3 for children and $5 for adults, and are available now at 1-800-PLAYTIX and www.bard.org.

“Audiences will see special effects such as fog and snow, in addition to hearing authentic Christmas carols from Victorian England,” said Michael Bahr, Festival education director.

The cast features 30 child actors, 15 children in the chorus, and ten children in the orchestra. The participants are part of the Festival Playmakers education program and range in ages from five to eighteen.

This production is a more traditional approach to Dickens beloved story. Audiences will have the opportunity to see an original script created by Miranda Giles, Festival education outreach coordinator. Unlike many stage versions of “A Christmas Carol,” the Playmakers production uses the actual words of Charles Dickens taken directly from his beloved book.

The Festival education department is hoping that this will be an educational and fun experience for the entire community. Giles plans to visit 30 Iron County classrooms and see more than 1,000 students to prepare the students to attend performances. Giles believes that Dickens has an important message in his famous story for both children and adults, and that the message becomes even more poignant when told by children.

"The students in our production are extremely dedicated to telling the story,” said Giles. “Not only are they talented performers, but I think they capture the Christmas spirit of the story even better than adult actors because for them the magic is very much alive."

“Plus, our version is in 3D just like the recent Disney movie,” joked Bahr. “What is more exciting than to see this story presented by live actors, accompanied by a live chorus and a live orchestra? You don’t even need 3D glasses!”