1. Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol: Full disclosure: I generally don’t get too excited by stage adaptations of A Christmas Carol. Sacrilegious, particularly around this time of year; I know. As much as I adore Dickens’ tale, I often find what have become ‘traditional’ mountings to be snooze fests - uninspired and stale.  Of course, I have my favorite film adaptations ranging from the sentimental, Scrooge (1970) to the unconventional Scrooged (1988). I’m only slightly embarrassed to admit that I was known to watch the Leslie Bricusse musical adaptation year-round as a child. And the hilarious and pitch perfect Richard Donner film starring Bill ​Murray has become somewhat of a seasonal tradition. So it comes as a bit of a surprise that this year’s filmed adaptation based on a 2018 Geffen Playhouse production should top my 2020 list. Although, I honestly should have had more faith given that this work is a collaboration between Michael Arden, one of the American theater’s most inventive stage directors and Jefferson Mays, one of the most talented actors to grace the contemporary stage. Paying homage to Dickens’ own tours and recitations of A Christmas Carol, Arden and his brilliant team of designers give us the most sublime and magical evening of Readers Theater imaginable. With adaptors Arden, Mays and Susan Lyons leaving most of Dickens’ text intact, Mays transitions from narrator to Ebenezer Scrooge to over 50 other characters throughout this one-man journey. And Mays is absolutely sensational. From his “once upon a time” with the fog rolling in from the streets of London, we are transported by the words of Dickens and Mays' bottomless bag of vocal and physical transformations. As he effortlessly slips from the misanthropic Scrooge to his benevolent nephew Fred, we know we are in for a treat. Whether distorting his face and limbs as the frightening Ghost of Marley or elevating himself from his toes through his joints, growing before our eyes, as the giant Ghost of Christmas Present, Mays makes his apparitions distinct. The color, variety, and layers that Mays brings to his narration is commendable and quite astonishing. Like Dickens, Mays is a lover of words. As Mays, the narrator, declares that Ebenezer “remembered everything” and “enjoyed everything”, it is astonishing how Mays, the Scrooge, is showing us just that. Even his simple, strategic tempo, particularly as he ascends the staircase of Scrooge’s cold, cavernous home, leads to an eerie suspense that is unmatched in any of the other film versions that have preceded it. Arden and Mays make Ebenezer’s transformation gradual and believable through generous beats connecting words, characters, and actions in each stave with Scrooge’s behavior earlier in the narrative. This is perhaps most explicit and effective in the scenario when Scrooge overhears his own words (“If he be like to die, he had better do it, and decrease the surplus population”) and he hangs his head and is overcome with “penance and grief.” With an actor as gifted as Mays, the one-man concept becomes an inherently brilliant one. Having the ghosts, characters past and present, joyous memories, and the feelings of sadness, regret, guilt, and melancholy all come from within the man, we believe in and applaud Ebenezer’s moral transformation more than ever. His need to change and his desire for redemption are propelled by these same powerful internal psychological forces. Years ago, popular actors and matinee idols, like James O’Neill and his Count of Monte Cristo, would recreate their most famous roles on tour for a lifetime. Mays is so good in this production, one almost wishes this theatrical tradition would continue with Mays reprising his role live for generations to come. Fortunately, he can with this first-rate filming. Here’s hoping a streaming service will purchase and distribute it for us to enjoy for future Christmas seasons. I think I’ve found a new favorite A Christmas Carol. Don’t tell Bill Murray.        ​