We have familiar guests heading our downtown way to ring in the holiday season.
Ebenezer Scrooge will be here Friday along with Jacob Marley, the ghost of Christmas past, present, and future, and Tiny Tim — all characters in Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” — in celebration from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. of the 25th annual A Dickens Holiday.
Charles Dickens, who wrote their story circa 1843, won’t be here to tell you about his fictional characters, but Elliot Engel will be to tell us all about Dickens’ classic novella.
“My challenge is to bring him to life,” Engel, 76, says about the 1 p.m. program at Hay Street United Methodist Church. “I’m very happy to come back to Fayetteville, and to make Dickens accessible to everybody.”
Engel has been doing programs on Dickens and the writer’s literary works for 30 to 35 years. Engel, according to his website, has been president of the Dickens Fellowship of North Carolina since 1980.
He dresses like Dickens when he lectures, but Engel says he cannot portray the parts of all the “A Christmas Carol” characters. But Dickens did, Engel says, when the novelist was touring Europe and doing dramatic readings of the holiday work.
“He could be a brilliant Scrooge, Bob Cratchit, Jacob Marley or a Tiny Tim,” says Engel, who studied Dickens as a graduate student at UCLA and has taught at N.C. State, Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill. “I don’t feel I have to dwell much on the story of ‘A Christmas Carol,’ but I’m going to explain why it became so popular. Dickens, you know, was famous before he picked up his pen” to write the novella. “I want to show people a Dickens they’ve never seen before.”
‘He is very dynamic’
While there is no cost to participate in A Dickens Holiday, tickets to see and hear Engel are $15 at the door, according to A Dickens Holiday Committee Member Michael Moose, and children under age 10 will be admitted at no charge. Advance tickets are $12, and may be purchased online by visiting the “A Dickens Holiday” website or the Downtown Alliance website. Doors to the sanctuary open at 12:30 p.m.
“He has done quite a bit of research on Dickens,” says Moose, 75, who is sponsoring Engel’s appearance on behalf of the Cape Fear Coin Club. “He will tell us the background about Charles Dickens writing ‘A Christmas Carol.’ Specifically, that will be the topic. He does give background on the life of Charles Dickens. He will focus on the story of ‘A Christmas Carol,’ and how it was received in England when it was written, how it was later received around the world and how it became to be so well known even by modern times.
“He presents in Victorian costume. He’s very dynamic. Elliot is a treasure.
“We want to make this a really thrilling thing for Fayetteville,” Moose says. “We’re just so lucky he can make it down here.”
Engel later will be at Center City Gallery & Books, Moose says, to answer any questions you may have about Dickens or “A Christmas Carol.” The bookstore is at 112 Hay St.
Candlelight procession
Otherwise, our downtown transforms into a Victorian village, where holiday Dickens-goers can find all the trappings of the season including Christmas carolers, carriage rides, a Victorian costume contest, a Gingerbread House contest, a Royal Tea and Tour at the Heritage Square Historical Society, and holiday decorated businesses offering crafts, food and gift ideas for under the tree.
And you certainly don’t want to miss the candlelight procession scheduled at dusk from the Market House to the Fayetteville History Museum on Maxwell Street for the annual Christmas tree lighting.
“We’ll start passing out the candles around 5 p.m.,” says John Malzone, 75, who returns for the 25th year as the town crier. “The Oakwood Waits out of Raleigh will lead us from the Market House and bring us down Hay Street and [will] be singing ‘Silent Night’ as is our tradition at the museum.”
Malzone will be dressed out in his top hat and long tales.
There’s plenty of other activities to celebrate in the spirit of the season, according to Elaine Kelley, chair for the A Dickens Holiday Committee, including a presentation of “A Christmas Story” scheduled for 8 p.m. at the Gilbert Theater, holiday lights at Segra Stadium and “Elves’ Night Off” from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. as part of Dickens After Dark.
Epilogue
“It’s the sense of community,” Malzone says about A Dickens Holiday, which is being presented by the Downtown Alliance and the Fayetteville History Museum. “To me, that’s the most important thing. We have thousands and thousands of people who come to celebrate. I think it’s the most unifying time in our community. Whether you are Christian, Hindu, Muslim or whatever, you cannot deny that spirit of community you feel when our community comes together to have a good time. There’s a tremendous sense of love, unity and community.”
Bill Kirby Jr. can be reached at billkirby49@gmail.com or 910-624-1961.
We’re in our third year of CityView Today, and so many of you have been with us from day one in our efforts to bring the news of the city, county, community and Cape Fear region each day. We’re here with a purpose — to deliver the news that matters to you.
