It’s a Dickens of a tale. The holiday theatre season isn’t complete without a visit to A Christmas Carol and the miserly bah-humbugging misanthrope at its center, Ebenezer Scrooge. The classic story has inspired countless theatre versions, with multiple productions popping up each holiday season.

Learn more about A Christmas Carol and the Broadway and Off-Broadway adaptations on stage below, and discover even more holiday and Christmas shows in New York this season.

What is A Christmas Carol about?

In Victorian England, cold-hearted Ebenezer Scrooge gets an otherworldly visit on Christmas Eve from his late business partner, Jacob Marley. He warns the miser to change his ways – and pronto! – or he’ll regret it. Three more ghosts, of Christmas past, present, and future, check in with Scrooge during the night to help make Marley’s case.

These spooky wake-up calls are compelling. Scrooge undergoes a 180-degree transformation and promises to keep the spirit of Christmas. He begins by opening his heart to charity and by lavishing the family of his beleaguered employee Bob Cratchit with compassion, kindness, and a holiday turkey that’s bigger than Cratchit’s fragile son, Tiny Tim.

2025 productions of A Christmas Carol in New York

Dickens's nearly 200-year-old tale has inspired countless adaptations, including films, books and, of course, theatre shows. People have performed A Christmas Carol in perfect period garb, as a one-person show, as a musical, and as a mashup with other iconic tales, to name just a few. Discover productions of A Christmas Carol on Broadway and beyond that you can check out this festive season.