A Christmas Carol - 21 & 22 December 2024

You loved it last year, so we’re bringing it back for a repeat season of three performances!

Just in time for Christmas, Toi Toi Opera brings you an abridged version of renowned Ōtautahi composer Philip Norman’s charming operatic telling of the Dickens classic A Christmas Carol, with a sparkling all-local cast and creative team.  

Follow Scrooge as he is visited by a series of ghosts on Christmas Eve, who show him the bitterness of his ways, and the fate that will befall him should he not find redemption.

A light-hearted fully-staged musical extravaganza, performed in the beautiful Great Hall. Two shorter afternoon festive fun ‘pay what you can’ performances for the whole family, and an exclusive evening performance jam-packed with Christmas delights - including some very special guests!

Directed by Margot Button, with Musical Direction by Alison Holden.

SEASON SOLD OUT

The Composer

Philip Norman is an award-winning composer and author. From organs to orchestras, car horns to choirs, ballads to ballet, his compositions span the breadth of the performing arts. His critical and historical writings have also focused on the arts, with a particular emphasis on the work of other New Zealand composers.

A PhD graduate of the University of Canterbury, Philip has had extensive experience in musical direction, arts administration and arts advocacy throughout his 40-year freelance career based in Christchurch. He was invested as a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2015 for services to music and music theatre, and was the 2018/19 holder of the prestigious Creative New Zealand Michael King Writer’s Fellowship.

You can read more from Philip about the fascinating evolution of A Christmas Carol on the SOUNZ website here, and please visit his website to discover more about Philip and his work.

Principal Cast

Warwick Shillito as Ebenezer Scrooge

Julian Anderson as Jacob Marley

Wayne Carter as Bob Cratchit

Jamie Hart as Mrs. Cratchit

Tara Martin as Ghost of Christmas Past

John Bayne as Ghost of Christmas Present

Katherine Doig as Ghost of Christmas Future

Comprimario Cast & Chorus

Frances Campbell as Belinda Cratchit, Soloist ‘Coventry Carol’, Ghostly Chorus

Elizabeth Ellison as Belle, Caroller (Cover: Ghost of Christmas Future)

Emily-Jane Stockman as Martha Cratchit, Ghostly Chorus

Oscar Kersey as Peter Cratchit, Ghostly Chorus

Will Lynch as Scrooge the Younger, Caroller

Nigel Salsbury as Mr. Fezziwig, Caroller

Karyn Taylor-Moore as Mrs. Fezziwig, Caroller

Children's Cast

Rosalind Robinson as Adelaide Cratchit

Robin Keena as Tiny Tim Cratchit

Creatives, Musicians, & Crew

Philip Norman, CNZM - Composer

Margot Button - Director & Arranger

Alison Holden - Musical Director & Répétiteur

Julian Anderson - Assistant Director

Alex Robinson - Stage Manager

Matthew Oswin - Répétiteur

Raemon Greenwood - Wardrobe Mistress

Deirdre Fell - Head of Hair & Makeup

Keith Clark, Alex Robinson, Stephen Doig - Properties Design & Build

Gavin Bailey - Lighting Design & Operation

Spectrum Lighting and Sound - Sound Design & Operation

Tamzin Roe - Wardrobe & Backstage Assistant

Hannah Mason - Stage Crew

Wei Li Jiang - Season Photographer

Bede Miller - Videographer

Evening Special Guest Artists - Saturday 21 December

Louise Shen - Piccolo & Flute

Singing Lin - Piano

Programme

1. Le Bouquet de Roses (Op. 408) - Eugène Damaré

2. Concertino (Op. 107) - Cécile Chaminade

Please Consider Making a Donation

Toi Toi Opera is a charitable trust, run by three volunteer directors donating their services free of charge, and striving towards providing fair pay for all of the artists involved in our casts, musical and creative teams, and technical crews.

Your donations are critical to helping us to enable more Cantabrians to experience the thrill of live opera. Our donee organisation status with Inland Revenue means that individuals may be able to claim a 33.33% tax credit for donations over $5.

Thank you for being here, and for helping to nurture your local operatic artists.

Who knows - with enough support from you this weekend, we might even be able to bring you the complete opera in a Christmas Yet to Come! We’d like that.

An enormous thank you to our incredible team of volunteers for their invaluable support & assistance (past, present, and future!)

#TeamSpirit2024!

🖤

Meri Kirihimete Waitaha Canterbury from your proudly all-local little opera company!

Gallery

All of the photographs above & in the gallery below were taken in December 2024 at the General Dress Rehearsal of Toi Toi Opera's sold out season of A Christmas Carol at The Great Hall of The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora.

Photographs © Wei Li Jiang for Toi Toi Opera 2024