Dickensblog

R.I.P. Michael Jesse Bennett

The Utah actor portrayed Dickens in his one-man show, An Evening with Charles Dickens, for 56 years. I don't know if that's a record, but it's impressive! Bennett passed away on December 31 at age 90.

'Oliver Twist' update comes to BBC Radio

Add one more to the list of Oliver updates and remakes! Oliver: Lagos to London, an adaptation by Ayeesha Menon, tells the story of an Oliver-like Nigerian orphan. It starts airing on BBC Radio 4 on Sunday, and will be available globally on BBC Radio iPlayer and the BBC Sounds app. 

More adaptations coming from Knight

The BBC and FX confirm that they're eager for more Dickens adaptations from Steven Knight, who penned the recent Christmas Carol. I can only say that I hope the forthcoming versions manage to be a little less grim and joyless. 

The sad tale of the Dickens turkey

According to a recently rediscovered letter from the author, the 30-pound turkey Dickens was to have had for his last Christmas dinner met with a very unfortunate accident.

An angry 'Carol'

I shared some thoughts on the BBC/FX A Christmas Carol over at Christ and Pop Culture.

God bless us, every one!

Merry Christmas, fellow Dickensians!

Meet Tiny Tim(s)

Jai Srinivasan and Sebestian Ortiz share a friendship, a diagnosis of cerebral palsy, and the role of Tiny Tim on Broadway. "NBC Nightly News" recently interviewed these two talented boys and their families. (The report is in two parts; the second part should start automatically after the first finishes.)

Charles Dickens, foodie

Columnist Rich Barlow argues that Dickens was "the greatest Christmas food writer of them all."

The story behind the 'Carol'

"With Christmas approaching, Dickens wrote the book — some 30,000 words — in a matter of weeks. Off the page, his publishers played the role of Scrooge, showing little interest in the idea, so Dickens hired his own artists and editors and took care of the printing.

"His publishers weren’t totally wrong. Back then, Christmas wasn’t that big of a deal. But Dickens saw what they didn’t see: an opportunity to elevate Christmas as a symbol of hope and renewal, which would hopefully renew him, too."

--Michael S. Rosenwald, "The wrenching reason Charles Dickens wrote 'A Christmas Carol,'" The Washington Post, December 21, 2019

FX 'A Christmas Carol' open thread

The newest version of the story is about to go on air, at 7:30 Eastern. Feel free to use the comment section below to share your impressions! Additionally, I'll be livetweeting at @ginadalfonzo, so if you're on Twitter, you can engage with me and other viewers there. The show's hashtag is #FXMasCarol.