For 25 years, Nevada Conservatory Theatre has served as UNLV’s “lab” for theater arts. Executive Director Kirsten Brandt says the original mission of the training program was to create an intersection for research and professional practice.
That training model has paid off.Earlier this year, the NCT collaborated with UNLV’s other fine arts programs in That Show About the Hot Dog, which was featured at Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world’s largest performing arts festival.
As students, faculty and professionals continue working their way through NCT’s quarter-century season, they’re staging one of the most classic British tales of all time, with a 20th-century American spin. A Christmas Carol 1941 will run on select dates November 29 through December 14 at Judy Bayley Theatre. Despite the change in setting, the core of the story remains intact.
“Our A Christmas Carol is set in 1941 in [Chicago]. So, Pearl Harbor just happened. ... [But] everything we’re doing is so incredibly Dickensian. ... [Charles] Dickens was talking about corporate greed, not taking care of people. ... It’s just a little more modern vernacular and a more familiar ’40s vibe,” says Brandt, director of the play.
Choreography from UNLV Department of Dance’s Cathy Allen and a live jazz band hand-picked by the School of Music’s David Loeb make the World War II-era tale of Ebenezer Scrooge come to life. Here are three reasons to heed the call of the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future and go see the production.
THE TALENT
True to its mission, NCT creates opportunities for students to interact with and learn from working professionals. For A Christmas Carol 1941, it’s brought in Rolf Saxon to play Scrooge and SaMi Chester for the narrator.
Saxon has been acting professionally since the ’80s and appeared in both the original 1996 Mission Impossible as well as its 2025 sequel. Chester also brings his experience as a seasoned director and actor.
Not only do these artists enhance students’ learning experience; they also enhance the performance itself.
“I think for these guests that we have coming in, universities tend to be more experimental. ... Really, it kind of gives our guest artists a creative space to take more risks than they normally would in the professional arena,” Brandt says.
1941 MAKEOVER
A new look, sound and vibe replace the stuffy, Victorian England in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, which was originally set about 100 years earlier than D.W. Jacobs’ adaptation. Transporting the setting to 1941 Chicago opens the narrative up to more modern—but still vintage—cultural references.
Take for instance the Christmas parties thrown by young Ebenezer Scrooge’s boss, Mr. Fezziwig.
“We hit three different Fezziwig balls in the span of eight minutes. We start at the turn of the century with this 19-teens pre-World War I dancing ... and then it starts to turn into more of a speakeasy as prohibition hits,” Brandt says. “It’s not just the ball. We decided we would show this kind of history of dance and history of music as well.”
There’s also the costumes. Instead of the Ghost of Christmas Past, imagine three Ziegfeld Follies girls awakening Scrooge and guiding him through his youth. I’ll take that over dusty old 19th-century England, any day.
COMMUNITY
As you sit in a room and share an experience with a bunch of strangers, this play compels you to reflect on the importance of community, relationships and values. The themes and messages of the play are relevant to what’s happening in the world right now. Engaging via the arts can be powerful and just what our souls need at this time.
“[Scrooge] starts off frozen and so full of hatred about everything. ... Particularly now, it’s a hard time to live. And I think if we start to freeze and we forget about community, that’s a problem,” Brandt says. “For me, the show has always been about how community brings us together, how we’re never alone, even in the dark.”
A CHRISTMAS CAROL 1941 select dates November 29-December 14, times vary, $32-$36. Judy Bayley Theatre, unlv.edu.
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