Nevada Conservatory is pleased to present A Christmas Carol, 1941, running Nov. 29-Dec. 14 in the Judy Bayley Theatre.
Set in Chicago in 1941, this jazz-infused version follows the tightfisted Ebenezer Scrooge as he is visited by the Spirits of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. A Christmas Carol, 1941 reminds us that, in the spirit of giving, we can find redemption, grace, and joy. Charles Dickens’ timeless holiday classic returns to NCT in a production sure to melt your heart.
Tickets are $35.25 and can be purchased online, or at the UNLV Performing Arts Center Box Office. Discounts are available.
Transporting audiences to the golden age of swing, A Christmas Carol, 1941 pulses with the rhythm and soul of a city finding hope in hard times. Against the backdrop of wartime Chicago, Scrooge’s journey unfolds through live jazz, dance, and vibrant storytelling that blend nostalgia with festive flair.
Directed by NCT Executive Director Kirsten Brandt, this reimagined classic captures the warmth, wit, and wonder of the holidays while exploring themes of compassion, transformation, and community. A Christmas Carol 1941 is a celebration of humanity’s enduring spirit; where even the coldest heart can discover the music of redemption.
“I am thrilled to bring A Christmas Carol back to NCT this holiday season,” Brandt says. "This version is a uniquely American twist on the Dickensian tale. All your favorite ghosts are here - past, present and future, along with Jacob Marley. I had the honor of directing the world premiere of this version at San Diego Repertory Theatre years ago.The story is timeless as it reminds us about the value and need of community and even the coldest heart can thaw. In the bleakest of times, if we just come together to help, we all gain.”
NCT is delighted to welcome two outstanding professional actors from television, film and the stage to Las Vegas. Rolf Saxon, who recently reprised his role as William Donloe in Mission Impossible 8, takes on the role of the hard-hearted, penny-pinching Scrooge. Chicago born SaMi Chester, director and actor, joins as the Narrator, crafting the story as it unfolds before you.
Content Advisory: Ghostly imagery, mild supernatural effects, and moments of emotional intensity.
About The Show
Charles Dickens
British writer Charles Dickens is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. Born in Portsmouth into poverty, Dickens received little formal education and left school early to work in a factory. The work, settings and people he encountered there would later fuel his novels. The Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby, David Copperfield, Bleak House, Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities and the novella A Christmas Carol are perhaps the best-known of his 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles.
He edited a weekly journal for 20 years, published an autobiography, performed extensively and campaigned vigorously for social reforms, including lecturing against slavery in the United States.
Dickens pioneered the format of serial publication of fiction. The monthly installments of his novels in magazines whet the readers’ appetite for more, and huge crowds would gather around docks in the U.S. when ships bearing the latest installment would arrive. Within a few years he had become an international literary celebrity, famous for his humor, satire, vivid characters and exhaustive depiction of social classes, contemporary mores and values.
D.W. Jacobs
Jacobs is a playwright, director, actor and poet. Through high school, he studied science, math and international relations. At UC Santa Barbara, he was studying political geography when his brother, Steve, insisted he come to the College of Creative Studies to hear Bucky Fuller speak. Jacobs was very busy, rowing crew, taking his first acting class on top of a heavy academic load, and he was performing in his first play, the title role in J.M. Barrie’s PANTALOON. He started his theatrical career playing an old clown, and now, he is one. Steve said, “Come whenever you can, he talks all day.”
Thirty years later, Jacobs found himself in the middle of taking 5 years to research and write R. Buckminster Fuller: THE HISTORY (and Mystery) OF THE UNIVERSE, a play based on the life, work and writings of Bucky Fuller. This play has had over 1,000 performances in San Diego, San Francisco, Chicago, Ventura, Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle, Napa, Scottsdale, Santa Fe, Boston/Cambridge, Washington, D.C., Asheville, N.C., SIU Carbondale & Edwardsville (where Bucky taught in the 1960s), Atlanta, Montreal, and in Krakow and Wrocław, Poland. Ten actors have played the role of Bucky in over 25 cities. Jacobs has twice lectured on Buckminster Fuller at the Wrocław University of Science & Technology in Poland. Jacobs lives in Highland Park, Los Angeles, where he co-founded TEATRO ARROYO//Theater Stream (a performance wing of the Arroyo Arts Collective.)
Early in his career, he co-founded San Diego Repertory Theatre, where he served as Artistic Director for 20 years. In 1976, the Rep premiered his adaptation of A Christmas Carol, and they produced various rewrites and conceptual versions of it over the next 30 years, A Christmas Carol 1941 premiered there in 2005, inspired by an idea from David Cuthbert, directed by Kirsten Brandt.
He’s currently rewriting that script for Brandt and the Nevada Conservatory Theater, UN, Las Vegas. His current obsessions: working on a theatrical adaptation of Dante’s Divine Comedy; and, directing The Circle by Stacey Martino Rivera in LA, He is a member of SDC, AEA, Dramatists Guild of America and the National Theatre Conference.
Kirsten Brandt
Prior to joining UNLV, Brandt was associate chair and artistic director of the department of film and theatre at San Jose State University. Brandt is an interdisciplinary artist and educator whose practice embraces inquiries into gender, technology, and politics. An award-winning theatrical director, playwright, and producer with over 20 years of experience, her passion lies in igniting the imagination of audiences through visceral storytelling and visual poetry to encourage dialogue and ethical engagement. For seven years, she served as Executive Artistic Director of the Sledgehammer Theatre (San Diego’s leading alternative theater) where she produced 25 productions including 11 World Premieres such as Kirsten Nash’s musical Alice in Modernland and Kelly Stuart’s Furious Blood, five West Coast premieres. and directed 15 productions.
Her avant-garde, gritty take on Sweet Charity earned her a coveted Backstage West award for her direction. Brandt served as Associate Artistic Director of San Jose Repertory Theatre where she directed Rabbit Hole, Groundswell, The Big Meal, Legacy of Light, Splitting Infinity, Doctor Faustus, and Next Fall among others.
Additionally, she was the casting director, literary manager, and mentor for the Emerging Artists Lab. She has directed for The Old Globe, La Jolla Playhouse, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Arizona Theatre Company, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Marin Theatre Company, San Diego Repertory, City Lights Theatre, African-American Shakespeare Company, Santa Cruz Shakespeare, The Jewel Theater, North Coast Repertory, Diversionary Theatre, Show & Tale Productions (Canada), Playwrights Project, and Sierra Rep. She has directed readings and workshops for NYU (Strasberg Studio), New Dramatists, San Francisco Playhouse, New Fortune Theater, Mo’olelo Theatre, and ASK Theatre Projects.
SaMi Chester (AEA)
Director, actor, writer, educator and activist SaMi Chester was born on Chicago’s Westside. He started his artistic journey at the age of 7 years old. Some of his credits include Godspell (Original Chicago Company) Hair (European and US National Tour) Native Speech (Soho Rep.) The Skin Of Our Teeth (Dallas Theater Center) Five on the Black Hand Side (Kuumba Workshop) FAUST (Kingston Mines Theatre Co.) Trojan Women (Phoenix Theatre Ensemble) and a host of others.
He has guest starred on numerous television shows; NYPD Blue, Law and Order, Doogie Howser, Quantum Leap… and was a series regular on his own short-lived series Human Target. He is the founder and artistic director of BeBop Theatre Collective and the Co-Founder and artistic director of STUDIO ONE, a multicultural space in New York city’s lower east side. He has directed over 30 theatrical productions. Currently he has two of his own works on the drawing board, one for TV and the other for the stage. Aside from his artistic life, SaMi has always and continues to fight for social justice. Enjoy.
Rolf Saxon
Rolf Saxon (AEA, BAE, SAG-AFTRA) (Scrooge) Born in Virginia, raised in the SF Bay Area in California. Worked the Renaissance and Dickens Faires (walking rope, juggling and blowing fire) was a member of the Berkeley Mime Troupe and a founding member of the California Shakespeare Festival before moving to London to attend the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Upon graduation, he was awarded the Gold Medal and, deciding to stay in the UK, worked extensively in film, television and theatre, including 2 seasons with the Royal Shakespeare Company, regional theatre, National and International Tours and many times on the West End including the British/European Premieres of works by, among others, Arthur Miller, Neil Simon, Lanford Wilson and Donald Margulies; 3 television series; 25 films (including Mission: Impossible 1 & 8); and was the North American narrator for Teletubbies.
In the U.S., productions with Aurora Theatre, TheatreWorks, Oakland Theatre Project, Playground, Playwrights Lab and for 9 years, a proud member of the Jewel Theatre Company in Santa Cruz. www.rolfsaxon.com
Creative Team
- Writer: D.W. Jacobs
- Director: Kirsten Brandt
- Choreographer: Cathy Allen
- Vocal Director: Paula Dione Ingram
- Scenic Designer: Cecilia Fisher
- Associate Scenic Designer: Natalie Rian
- Costume Designer: JD Anderson
- Lighting Designer: Christina Watanabe
- Sound Designer: Alan Holton
- Wardrobe Trainer: Katie Gould
- Projection Designer: Kirsten Brandt
- Technical Director: Mitchel Statler
- Production Stage Manager: Danielle Aikens
- Assistant Stage Managers: Caitlin Fielder, Will Nethery, Christian Martinez Marquez
- Youth Performer Supervisor / Assistant Stage Manager: Logan Haddad
- Associate Production Manager: Cameron Cox
Cast
- Rolf Saxon* – Ebenezer Scrooge
- SaMi Chester* – Narrator
- Andrew Scott Bullard ^– The Gent / Headmaster / Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come
- Andrew Callahan^ – Spirit of Christmas Present /ensemble
- Nick Case^ – Fred / Young Ebenezer /ensemble
- Katya Marlene^ – Mrs. Cratchit /ensemble
- Andrew Mikhael Caleb Trevino^ – Bob Cratchit /ensemble
- Dylan McCombs^ – Jacob Marley / Old Joe /ensemble
- Autumn Morgan^ – Mrs. Fezziwig / Kate /ensemble
- Jack Herrera – Fezziwig /ensemble
- Mahtab Zargari – The Lady / Past /ensemble
- Cynthia Nesbit^– Belle /ensemble
- Gracie Beaumont – Charwoman /ensemble
- Verdia Felder-Chamberly – Past /ensemble
- Aaliyah Haynes – Mrs. Dilber /ensemble
- Amethyst Garcia – Martha Cratchit / urchin / ensemble
- Maximillian Gilyard – Peter Cratchit / Young Dick Wilkins /ensemble
- Ryan Peralta – Topper /ensemble
- Rai Hunter – Young Ebenezer/ Cractchit/ Urchin / Boy
- Laura Nieland – Past / Maid / Urchin
- Ryan Zecchino – Kate’s sister / Little Red
Youth Cast
- Penelope Carlvin, Daisy Grace Keller - Tiny Tim /ensemble
- Kaia Vernon-Oliveria, Scarlett Zabalerio - Little Fan / Cratchit daughter /ensemble
Band
- Maxwell Zeitlin, Miranda Johnson, Jason Knuckles, Kalani Parra Molina, David Nguyen, Adryan Quijano
*denotes guest artists
^ denotes member of the MFA Professional Training Program with the Nevada Conservatory Theatre
About the UNLV College of Fine Arts
The College of Fine Arts educates, empowers, and engages creative people to become visionary change-makers in the arts through acts of imagination. At UNLV we believe the arts are an essential good for society. We make education relevant and accessible through our programs and outreach. We create new knowledge in the arts. We celebrate independent thought and the power of bringing people together to foster creativity.
