MONROE — The Monroe Theatre Guild (MTG) recently announced its winter production will be the classic story “A Christmas Carol.” 

A Christmas Carol, part of the Colony Brands Performance Series, will be presented at the Monroe Theatre Guild, 910 16th Avenue, Monroe, on the Colony Brands Stage. Show times are 7 p.m. Dec. 5-7 and 13-14, with matinees at 2 p.m. on Dec. 7, 8, 14 and 15. Tickets are now on sale on the MTG website, monroetheatre.com, or by calling 608-325-1111.

The beloved Christmas novella about cruel, heartless Ebenezer Scrooge, originally written by Charles Dickens, has been adapted for the stage numerous times since it was first published on Dec. 19, 1843. MTG will share its own local adaptation this year, written and directed by MTG veteran Joe Leverton, with David Bristow and Steven E. Smith as assistant directors.

Many are familiar with the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a wealthy curmudgeon who resents the world around him. One Christmas Eve, Scrooge’s former friend and boss, Jacob Marley, haunts his home and explains that three spirits will be visiting him that evening to guide him toward reclamation. Leverton’s adaptation retains the classic scenes and characters of Dickens’s classic, while introducing new players and offering creative interpretations of the tale. 

MTG will also welcome some new talent to its stage alongside a number of MTG veterans. The cast includes Jesse Biesemeier as Ebenezer Scrooge, Jacob Gardner as Scrooge’s nephew Fred, Carl Messer as Bob Cratchit, and Shambry Blackbourn as Tiny Tim. Additional characters are played by Jerry Bredeson, Hannah Broger, Nora Collins, Connie Denison, Emily Duvall, Anna Havens, Rick Ivik, Kaylin Johnson, Kronk Johnson, Emily Kruse, Noah Kruse, Emma Lucas, Bayley McCoy, Sami McCoy-Turner, Victoria Norton, Emma Price, Andy Rocheleau, Harriet Sammwell, Leila Sanders, Melissa Schnepper and Ashton Thompson.