“God bless us, everyone,” because there’s a fresh, new, reimagined version of Charles Dickens’ classic tale A Christmas Carol debuting in Chicago this holiday season.
Downtown Aurora’s award-winning Paramount Theatre is conjuring up an elegant and innovative new spectacle version of A Christmas Carol, based on the novella by Charles Dickens. Performances are November 11, 2026–January 3, 2027. Opening Night is Friday, November 20 at 7 p.m.
Paramount Theatre premieres a reimagined version of A Christmas Carol, directed by Trent Stork, this holiday season.
Set rendering of Paramount's A Christmas Carol courtesy set designer Jeffrey D. Kmiec
Paramount’s refreshing new take on A Christmas Carol is adapted and directed by Trent Stork, the two-time, Jeff Award-winning director of Paramount’s Come From Away and Kinky Boots. For A Christmas Carol, Stork has adapted Dickens' classic holiday tale specifically for the Paramount stage, replete with laughter, redemption, the most memorable characters in literature, elegant dance numbers, and live music throughout.
Reintroduce your family to Ebenezer Scrooge, the bitter and lonely miser, who is visited on Christmas Eve by three ghosts who take him on a journey through his past, present, and future. Along the way, Scrooge learns how to reexperience joy, compassion, and the power of generosity. Whether seeing Scrooge’s transformation for the first time or reliving the magic of the classic story, Paramount’s A Christmas Carol will leave audiences filled with hope and holiday cheer. Per tradition, a two-story Christmas tree in Paramount’s Grand Gallery welcomes audiences as the perfect backdrop for holiday photos before and after the show.
Rediscover the magic of the season at Chicago’s newest holiday production, ideal for friends and friends alike. A Christmas Carol begins previews Wednesday, November 11. Opening Night is Friday, November 20 at 7 p.m. Performances run through January 3: Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.; Thursday and Friday at 7 p.m.; Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.; Sunday at 1 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Exceptions: No matinee Wednesday, November 11, and no shows Thanksgiving, Thursday, November 26, or Christmas, Friday, December 25. There’s an added Thanksgiving weekend holiday matinee Friday, November 27 at 2 p.m.
Single tickets to A Christmas Carol are $34-$107 when purchased in-person. Additional fees apply for phone and online orders. Of course, tickets to A Christmas Carol make excellent holiday gifts.
Paramount Theatre is located at 23 E. Galena Blvd. in downtown Aurora. For tickets or subscriptions, visit ParamountAurora.com, call (630) 896-6666, or stop by the Paramount box office Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and until show time on show days. For group discounts, contact Melissa Striedl, MelissaS@ParamountArts.com or (630) 723-2461.
A Christmas Carol is sponsored by Jake’s Inc. and Rush Copley Medical Center.
A Christmas Carol : Behind the scenes
A Christmas Carol set renderings courtesy Jeffrey D. Kmiec
A Christmas Carol costume renderings courtesy Izumi Inaba
Paramount Theatre Artistic Producer and Casting Director Trent Stork is a Jeff Award-winning director renowned for their fresh takes on popular musicals. Most recently, they helmed Paramount’s Chicago regional premiere of Come From Away, its memorable, circus-inspired production of Cats, and Paramount’s smash hit, Frozen: The Broadway Musical.
“Having the opportunity to create this version of A Christmas Carol from scratch allowed me to craft an experience that is designed for our Paramount audience,” said director Trent Stork. “It's packed with all their favorite things while still delivering its timeless message. I feel like I've been crafting a Christmas present for them over the past year and I'm so excited to finally get to put it all together and put it under the Christmas tree for them!”
For A Christmas Carol, Stork is collaborating with another A-list Chicago design team including choreographer Brenda Didier, music director Kory Danielson, scenic designer Jeffrey D. Kmiec, costume designer Izumi Inaba, lighting designer Greg Hofmann, sound designer Adam Rosenthal, and video designer Erin Pleake.
In addition, Paramount tapped composer/arranger Matt Deitchtman, Jeff-nominated for music direction for Writers Theatre’s Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, to create an original score incorporating traditional carols to provide a bed of beautiful music to underpin the action on stage.
Paramount’s cast for A Christmas Carol is led by (top, from left) Michael Moreland Milligan in his Paramount debut as Ebenezer Scrooge, with Scott Westerman as Jacob Marley, Shawn Pfautsch as Bob Cratchit, Aja Alcazar as Mrs. Cratchit, Isabel Arianna Romero-Rodriguez as The Ghost of Christmas Past, Jared David Michael Grant as The Ghost of Christmas Present, Ben Dow as The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come, Schyler Vargas as Fred, (bottom) Russell Konstans as Mr. Fezziwig, Michelle Duffy as Mrs. Fezziwig, Will Lidke as Young Scrooge, Angel Alzeidan as Belle, Teddy Gales as Dick Wilkins, and Morgan Michelle Barber as Martha Cratchit and others. Youth performers Seamus Flynn and Julian Totleben alternate in the role of Tiny Tim.
Paramount’s cast for A Christmas Carol is led by Michael Moreland Milligan in his Paramount debut as Ebenezer Scrooge. A lifelong Shakespearean, Milligan has performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company and leading theaters nationwide. His Broadway credits include August: Osage County, Jerusalem and La Bête.
The ensemble features Scott Westerman as Jacob Marley and others, Shawn Pfautsch as Bob Cratchit and others, Aja Alcazar as Mrs. Cratchit and others, Isabel Arianna Romero-Rodriguez as The Ghost of Christmas Past and others, Jared David Michael Grant as The Ghost of Christmas Present and others, Ben Dow as The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come and others, Schyler Vargas as Fred and others, Russell Konstans as Mr. Fezziwig and others, Michelle Duffy as Mrs. Fezziwig and others, Will Lidke as Young Scrooge and others, Angel Alzeidan as Belle and others, Teddy Gales as Dick Wilkins and others, and Morgan Michelle Barber as Martha Cratchit and others.
Additional members of the adult ensemble include Morgan Schoenecker, Alanna Chavez, Ben Mayne, and Elaine Watson. Youth performers Seamus Flynn and Julian Totleben are taking on the role of Tiny Tim. The youth cast also includes Torben Mularski, Sebastian Rus, Léa Juat, Asha Dale Hopman, Audrey Bucholz, Brady Seth Barton, Emerson Secco and Ramona Jane Thompson.
Rounding out the production team are Katie Cordts, wig, hair, and makeup designer; Aimee Plant, properties designer; Ethan Deppe, electronic music designer; Susan Gosdick, dialect coach; Max Fabian, fight and intimacy director; Britta Lynn Schied, associate director/associate choreographer; Kevin Zhou, associate music director and associate conductor; Matthew Silar, stage manager; Valerie Anderson and Rachel Campbell, assistant stage managers; and Bailey O’Neil, young performer supervisor.
Paramount: Making live theater accessible to all
Paramount will offer two Pay What You Can previews Thursday, November 12 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, November 14 at 2 p.m. See ParamountAurora.com/Pay-What-You-Can for details.
Paramount will offer open captioning Friday, December 18 at 7 p.m. and American Sign Language interpretation Friday, January 1 at 7 p.m.
Paramount offers free assistive listening devices at all performances, including new Auracast technology that connects to blue tooth earphones. Check in at the coat room before the show to borrow a device. If you require wheelchair or special seating or other assistance, please contact the box office in advance at (630) 896-6666 or BoxOffice@ParamountArts.com.
Even Scrooge knows Paramount’s new three-show subscription package is a great deal
Paramount is now offering an affordable 3-Show Broadway Series package that offers deep savings on the company’s 2026-27 season, starting at just $61. The package includes A Christmas Carol, Stephen Sondheim’s Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning masterpiece Sunday in the Park with George, also directed by Trent Stork (February 10–March 28, 2027), and a 1980s-set Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (April 29-June 14).
Save 40% when you subscribe with a three-show package. Paramount gift cards also make excellent holiday gifts. They can be purchased in any denomination, used for any show, and never expire. For tickets, a 3-show package, or gift cards, visit ParamountAurora.com, call (630) 896-6666, or stop by the Paramount box office.
About Paramount Theatre
Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd., is the center for performing arts in Aurora, the second largest city in Illinois. The beautiful, 1,843-seat theater, graced with a strong 1930s Art Deco influence and original Venetian décor, nationally known for its high-quality productions, superb acoustics and historic grandeur, has been downtown Aurora’s anchor attraction since 1931.
Since launching its own Broadway Series in 2011, Paramount has amassed more than 40,000 subscribers, making it the largest subscription house in the U.S.
Paramount Theatre is one of five live performance, event and education destinations overseen by the Aurora Civic Center Authority (ACCA) in downtown Aurora. ACCA also programs and manages the 165-seat Copley Theatre, at 8 E. Galena in the North Island Center; Stolp Island Theatre, 5 E. Downer Place, Suite G, where its wildly acclaimed immersive production of Million Dollar Quartet has returned October 7, 2026-January 3, 2027; the Paramount School of the Arts; and RiverEdge Park, 360 N. Broadway, downtown Aurora’s outdoor summer concert venue and home to Christkindlmarket Aurora.
Paramount Theatre is overseen by Tim Rater, President and CEO, Aurora Civic Center Authority; Jim Corti, Artistic Director, Paramount Theatre; a dedicated Board of Trustees and a devoted staff of live theater and music professionals.
For the latest updates, visit ParamountAurora.com or follow @paramountaurora on Facebook and Instagram, and Paramount Theatre on LinkedIn.