A Christmas Carol at the Alliance Theater

Tonight we were at a showing of "A Christmas Carol" at the Alliance Theater in Atlanta, and it was just wonderful.  As you can see above, we went with some friends from church as well!  It just so happens that they bought tickets to see the show for the same night we did, and when we discovered this, we decided to make a night of it, going out to dinner first and then seeing the play.

The first place we went to was Ted's Montana Grill, which was on the way down.  This was a first-time experience for all of us, even though the restaurant has been around a while.  The place if famous for serving bison, which haven't had in decades.  The last bison burger I had was in Jackson Hole and that was many, many, many years ago.  So tonight the guys ordered various bison burgers - I got one with blue cheese, Daniel got one with a little spicy pepper jack cheese, and Nate ordered the Canyon Creek, which was a bison burger with egg on top, and raspberry jam too!  Mom got some grilled shrimp and Maddie got a chicken sandwich that had a little spice to it. 

Everyone enjoyed their time there - we gave ourselves enough time so that things were relaxed, and we were further down the road, so that driving to the theater wouldn't be so bad.  We said our goodbyes at the theater and had a fairly smooth drive down to Atlanta, although there was the usual traffic at one place.  But still, we arrived about forty-five minutes early to the play, enough time to pose for pictures in front of the photo wall, and relax as we talked or looked around at the Christmas decorations.

We got to our seats and really there aren't any bad seats in this place, as it's a small theater with great stadium seating.  We sat further back this time and just took in the whole thing, which was wonderful.  Of course, you can't take pictures during the play, and I'm not sure if I would actually do that anyway.  But here's a few more pics of us beforehand, including this one where Daniel is coming over to visit us.  We asked him to pose... and here's his best face...

These are some images I found online of the play.  There are some variations to the story, just like the last time we saw it here, but they all fit very well within the overall scope of the thing.  The set is just marvelous, and the actors performances really draw the audience in.  There's great humor in the story, in surprising places.  The effects are outstanding, from Jacob Marley's spooky appearances to the truly menacing Ghost of Christmas Future.  There is one moment where the Ghost of Christmas Present shows Scrooge Christmas around the world, and it features a musical portion where actors stood in various positions around the theater in the audience, all of them singing classic Christmas carols blended together and in wonderful harmony.  It was really nice.

 

We had a very nice time.  And of course it was late when we left, but everyone got home without incident.  We dropped off Nate, and got home quickly after that, ready for an unbroken night's rest.  

Earlier today was a lot of prep for Thanksgiving, and elsewhere.  I had to pick up Nate, of course.  And then there was more leaf-blowing, and marching along on the treadmill on the virtual Thanksgiving trail (while watching a VHS of "The Gift" from 2002!).  I picked up a virtual post card along the way:

Maddie started a new Beauty and the Beast puzzle, of about 750 pieces.  The weather outside is nice!  We got a visit from Nana, Aunt Shain and Hannah too.  It was a good day today, another nice holiday season sort of day as we march towards Thanksgiving and Christmas.

There was a little time for reading "Hogfather" of course, just a small passage before tucking everyone in and getting some much-needed rest.