ST. LOUIS — Several St. Louis celebrities are coming together next month for a virtual reading of “A Christmas Carol.”
Metro Theater Company is offering the virtual event to help keep the community connected during a holiday season that has been “transformed by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
More than 25 “outstanding St. Louisans” will serve as the readers for the broadcast, each contributing excerpts on camera.
So far, the lineup includes:
- Ellie Kemper, Emmy-nominated actress
- Paul Goldschmidt, St. Louis Cardinals player
- Judith Ivey, Tony Award-winning actress
- John Mozeliak, St. Louis Cardinals president of baseball operations
- Christine Brewer, Grammy Award-winning soprano
- Ken Page, film, stage and voice actor
- Aisha Sultan, columnist and St. Louis Post-Dispatch editor
- Jamie Rahn, St. Louis-based American Ninja Warrior
- Julius B. Anthony, president of the St. Louis Black Authors of Children’s Literature
- Mark Levine, medical director for the St. Louis Fire Department
- Sterling K. Brown, actor and St. Louis native
The virtual reading will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 10 and 2:30 p.m. on Dec. 13. The public can register for the event for free or make a donation when they register.
For a donation of $50 or more, you can receive a commemorative DVD or digital download of the broadcast. The DVDs will be available for all donations made through Jan. 1.
All funds raised through the event will support the theater’s programs during COVID-19 “to connect young people to the power and impact of theater.”
Metro Theater Company’s virtual reading follows a tradition of readings of Charles Dickens’ novella, according to a news release.
Public readings of "A Christmas Carol" have been around since 1853. Dickens adapted the work for public readings and did more than 120 performances until he died in 1870.
Register for the virtual event on the Metro Theater Company's website.
