Dickensblog

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.