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Syracuse Stage announces a bonus offering to their current season

Just in time for the holidays, Syracuse Stage brings audiences a bonus offering for the holidays that delivers the spirit of Dickens to Central New York homes throughout the season. Estella Scrooge: A Christmas Carol with a Twist!” is a magical musical created with new cutting-edge technology that is sure to become new a holiday tradition. The world premiere of “Estella Scrooge” debuts Friday, Nov. 27 and is available for streaming through the holidays.

Tickets are now on sale and may be purchased online only here or at https://syracusestage.org/showinfo.php?id=108. Tickets are not available through the Syracuse Stage Box Office. 

“Estella Scrooge” is not part of the Syracuse Stage subscription season. Tickets are $29.99 for 72-hour viewing for each household, or $44.99 for a VIP Premium Theatre Experience, which includes unlimited viewings, a download of the CD and exclusive behind-the-scenes footage.

"Syracuse Stage has a long-standing tradition of producing a big family musical at the holidays," said Syracuse Stage Artistic Director Bob Hupp. "Since we can't do that this year, we are happy to find a way to bring a holiday musical to our patrons in their own homes. 'Estella Scrooge' combines great holiday storytelling in the spirit of Dickens with some great cutting-edge technology." 

The production features a cast of 24 award-winning Broadway notables, and is the creation of John Caird, (the Tony and Olivier Award-winning director of “Les Misérables” and “Nicholas Nickleby”), and Tony Award nominee Paul Gordon (“Jane Eyre,” “Pride and Prejudice”).

The story follows Estella Scrooge (Betsy Wolfe), a modern-day Wall Street tycoon with a penchant for foreclosing. A hotelier in her hometown of Pickwick, Ohio has defaulted on his mortgage and Estella fancies the idea of lowering the boom personally. Arriving at Harthouse on Christmas Eve, Estella discovers that the defaulting party is her childhood friend Pip Nickleby (Clifton Duncan). A good and generous soul, Pip has transformed the property into a refuge for the sick, dispossessed and homeless. A freak snowstorm forces Estella to take refuge. That night, just as it happened to her ancestor Ebenezer, she is haunted by three visitations, and oh, what uninvited houseguests they are!

A modern day take on Charles Dickens’ beloved 1843 novella, “A Christmas Carol,” “Estella Scrooge” also wittily incorporates characters and plot lines from Dickens’ other great novels, “Great Expectations,” “Little Dorrit” and “Bleak House,” among others.

Betsy Wolfe (“Waitress”) stars as Estella, a descendent of her famous great-great-great-great-grandfather Ebenezer. Clifton Duncan (“The Play That Goes Wrong”) stars as Philip ‘Pip’ Nickleby. 2020 Tony Award nominee Lauren Patten (“Jagged Little Pill”) stars as Dawkins. The production also stars Tony Award nominees Patrick Page (“Hadestown”) as Mr. Merdle, Carolee Carmello (“Parade”) as Marla Havisham and Danny Burstein (2020 Tony Award Nominee, “Moulin Rouge!”) as Ebenezer Scrooge.

“Estella Scrooge” is the first digital theatre piece filmed entirely during the pandemic, utilizing cutting-edge technology. The fully realized production, a dazzlingly cinematic musical theatre adventure, was filmed using tracked green screen techniques, with 3-D surreal digital environments created in post-production merged with the actual footage of the actors to bring the story to life in a brand-new way. 

Trailer