Charles Dickens Christmas Set

by Jerry Robbins, The Colonial Radio Theatre (Presents), Jerry Robbins (Narrator)

This dramatization by The Colonial Radio Theatre on the Air presents four classic holiday tales by the great Charles Dickens, complete with a full cast, music, and sound effects.

In “The Chimes,” the spirits of the steeple bells appear to take Toby Veck on a New Year’s Eve journey during which he discovers all that he has to be grateful for.

In “The Cricket on the Hearth," a cricket who chirps from the hearth of John and Dot Peerybingle appears to have supernatural powers and restores faith to the people.

A gentleman traveling on Christmas Eve tells a story about a soldier who finds the true meaning of forgiveness and redemption in “The Seven Poor Travellers.”

Finally, The Colonial Radio Theatre on the Air’s lush production of the immortal family favorite, A Christmas Carol, will enchant listeners for years to come.

Genres: Literature, Classics

Audio CD

First published November 1, 2006

About the author

Jerry Robbins is a playwright, and has written many radio shows. He is producer, director and Writer for the Colonial Radio Theatre On The Air.

The Co-founder of the Colonial Radio Theatre on the Air, Jerry has produced over 240 Radio Plays. Some of his titles include the recently released Captain Blood, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Ogle Award, Golden Headset Award), A Charles Dickens Christmas, Gettysburg, Treasure Island, Yankee Clipper, The Wonderful World of Oz (Parents Choice Award), Toby Tyler, and Little Big Horn. He also hosts The Colonial Radio Theatre Program which is heard Monday thru Friday on XM Satellite Radio’s Sonic Theatre. His western series Powder River is now being heard in 80 radio markets across the country as part of IMAGINATION THEATER, and is also heard on XM, and all four seasons are now available from Blackstone Audio. He has just completed the audio production of the acclaimed Broadway Play BARRYMORE, by William Luce. Mr. Luce adapted the play for audio especially for Colonial Radio.In 2006 he started a collaboration with legendary author Ray Bradbury, dramatizing some of his classic stories as radio plays. The first, DANDELION WINE, won the Ogle Award for Best Fantasy Production of 2006. This was followed by SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES (Ogle Winner, 2007), and the soon to be released THE HALLOWEEN TREE. He recently completed recording BUCK ALICE AND THE ACTOR ROBOT starring Star Treks Walter Koenig. He has been a guest on "The Jordan Rich Show" on WBZ Radio in Boston, and "The Diane Chapman Show" in Los Angeles, CA. Colonial's productions are released by Blackstone Audio, and GDL Multimedia.

Reviews

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

“ARE THERE NO PRISONS? ARE THERE NO WORKHOUSES?”

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

"A Christmas Carol" is always a fun read, but after reading this book I can see why Dickens' other Christmas stories didn't receive the rave reviews the former did. "The Chimes" is similar to "A Christmas Carol," sort of like he wrote the former first and when it failed he edited it into the latter which actually was a giant hit. "The Cricket on the Hearth" is not, as I see it, a Christmas story at all, as it takes place in January; though I suppose some would argue that Christmas begins Dec. 25 and lasts through Jan. 6. This is not my experience, so I was disappointed in the lack of Christmas season festivities.

I had a difficult time understanding what was happening in "The Chimes" and "The Cricket on the Hearth;" there were a lot of words in the stories and not much comprehensible therein. At least, not to me. There is, of course, a culture gap, seeing as how this was written in a different country at least 150 years ago, but I've read quite a bit of Dickens and haven't struggled as much as I did with these two stories. (The exception being Bleak House, which I never did make it more than halfway through.)

Dickens is Dickens no matter how you read him; he blathers and over-describes but in a beautiful, surprising way. He has an unexpected sense of humor and his narration sometimes surprises the reader in its cleverness and humor. That I always appreciate about Dickens.

If you're interested in exploring new Dickens, this could be a simple choice, as they are short stories, but be prepared to re-read paragraphs and/or sentences (sometimes the same thing because #Dickens) and perhaps not even then fully understand what is happening.

Overall, I was disappointed by these new stories, but I'm glad I've read them anyway, since they are written by a legend and master.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audio. The narrator of this collection sounds like an announcer from the 1940s. I found this a bit annoying but since he only spoke to introduce the tales it worked. I almost gave up because of it. It was a nice way to familiarize myself with lesser known works and get into the holiday spirit. I quite enjoyed this quick audiobook.

[August Bourré · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Christmas Carol is of course fantastic, but The Chimes is just plain bad, and A Cricket on the Hearth takes too long to get going and doesn’t earn its resolution.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of these three short stories, A Christmas Carol is the best remembered, and it’s easy to see why. Both The Chimes and The Cricket in the Heart – holiday season follow-ups to the immensely popular A Christmas Carol – borrow heavily from the first of Dickens’s Christmas stories but lack its charisma. They’re perfectly good stories and I’m glad I read them – The Chimes in particular, despite its mawkishness, is perhaps even more relevant today than in the 1840s – but it also isn’t shocking they aren’t as beloved as the story of Ebenezer. If nothing else, they’re missing a good, memorable catchphrase. Recommended.

[Madeleine Lindell Modin · Rating 2 out of 5]

För mig fungerar inte Dickens som ljudbok. Tycker att det var svårt att hitta fokus och att förstå händelseförloppet. Jag som annars älskar Dickens! Kanske är det språket som sätter upp hinder för mig? Men då vet jag det. Då har jag i alla fall provat.

[Debbie]

in Christmas Books

[Cody · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was an interesting book, but I don't plan on reading it again.