Dickensblog

Decode Dickens and win a prize!

The Dickens Code Project is offering £300 to whoever can decipher the "Tavistock letter," a letter Dickens wrote in his own "messy" personal version of shorthand. The Daily Mail has the details! Thanks to Rachel McMillan for the tip.

Doings of the Dickens descendants

Mark Dickens will give a Zoom presentation on "Charles Dickens -- A Family Perspective" on Wednesday, December 1, at 2:30 p.m. Eastern. And Lucinda Dickens Hawksley will give an online talk on "Charles Dickens's Christmas Books" on Wednesday, December 8, at 1:30 p.m. Eastern. Follow the links to EventBrite for details and to purchase tickets!

Meanwhile, Gerald Dickens is back in America to present his one-man Christmas Carol! Go to his USA tour page to see if he's coming to a venue near you. If you're in the U.K., check his general tour page to see where he'll be performing once he gets back there.

'A gorgeous experience'

Actor Bradley Whitford talks to the Spokane Spokesman-Review about why he's thrilled to be touring in A Christmas Carol, and why the story is "emotional CrossFit" for him. Follow the link to read his thoughts and to see a photo of him as Scrooge!

A very Dickens Halloween

On Sunday at 10 p.m. Eastern, actor Dominic Gerard will perform three spooky Dickensian readings online, in an event sponsored by the Dickens Museum. Tickets are £15 per device, and a Zoom link will be sent out upon purchase. The performance is not recommended for those under 12. Go here to learn more and to buy tickets!

R.I.P., Leslie Bricusse

The award-winning composer co-wrote the score for the 1970 film Scrooge, later adapting it for the stage. He also wrote the lyrics for the 1963 stage musical Pickwick, based on Dickens's first novel. Leslie Bricusse passed away on Tuesday at age 90.

Blu-ray release for 'Edwin Drood'

The long-neglected 1935 adaptation of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, starring the great Claude Rains, is finally getting a little love, with a 2K Blu-ray release on November 2 from Kino Lorber! Click here to pre-order!

(And I see now that it's also available on Region 1 DVD, so maybe it's time to upgrade that old VHS copy of mine ... )

Congratulations to Broadway's 'A Christmas Carol'!

The Broadway production won five Tony Awards tonight, for its score, costume design, scenic design, lighting design, and sound design -- every award it was nominated for. GoldDerby points out that it's the first Christmas-themed play ever to win a Tony, and also the first non-musical play to win for best score!

Scrooge goes west

Jack Thorne's Tony-nominated A Christmas Carol is not yet coming back to Broadway, but it won't disappear! Two productions are planned for this season. One of them, starring Bradley Whitford (The West Wing), will tour four western U.S. cities; the other, starring Francois Battiste (Person of Interest, Station 19) , will play San Francisco. Go here for details!

TCM alert

Oliver! airs on the channel at 11:45 p.m. Eastern tonight.

Rehabilitation by Dickens

This story has been all over the Internet: A British would-be terrorist was sentenced to read classic literature, including Dickens (specifically, A Tale of Two Cities). You can read about it here, here, and here. Naturally I'm very intrigued by the idea and eager to hear how it goes! I've always believed that reading literature, including reading Dickens, is good for the soul -- if we get follow-up reports, this should make a valuable case study.