Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, one of the most beloved stories in English literature, was written in just six weeks. Dickens said he was "seized...with a strange mastery" as he walked, frequently more than 20 miles a night, through the streets of London, thinking and rethinking the story.

Listen to excerpts of this presentation

Dickens planned for his readings of A Christmas Carol to be two hours in length, with a 10 minute intermission. The early readings, however, lasted three hours. He worked at trimming the presentation, recording numerous cuts to the text in a hand-annotated prompt copy. That copy is the source of Roy's 65 minute presentation - A Christmas Carol as adapted by Charles Dickens for reading aloud.

From "Marley was dead, to begin with," to "And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God Bless Us, Everyone!" Roy Lantz brings to life twenty-four of the unforgettable characters from Dickens immortal tale.