FEATURES

TAKING “A CHRISTMAS CAROL” TO THE DRIVE-IN An Interview with Leora Morris

STORY BY Ansley Usery and Ashley Elliott

started thinking about how to continue the Alliance Theatre’s tradition of producing A Christmas Carol every holiday season while still adhering to current guidelines, she could think of no one better than Leora Morris. After all, Leora is no stranger to the Alliance, having been a Resident Artist and directed Nestled between the Downtown Connector and I-20, Summerhill is a historic, diverse neighborhood with a vibrant mix of restaurants,

When Susan Booth retail, parks, and much more. shows such as Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed: The Rock Experience and Ride the Cyclone (for which she received a Suzi Bass Award for Best Direction and Best Production of a Musical) amongst others in other theaters around Atlanta, but her qualifications expand further than our city limits. From a Yale School of Drama MFA, to working as a Yale Directing Fellow, to directing projects across the nation and

Orson Welles fields questions from reporters following, arguably, the most famous radio drama, “War of the Worlds,” performed and broadcast live on Halloween Eve, 1938, to a terrified audience who thought Earth was being invaded by Martians. (Photo in public domain.) beyond, she’s more than qualified to direct this year’s one-of-a-kind version of A Christmas Carol.

We recently had the chance to (virtually) sit down with Leora and ask her some big questions about this experience. Check it out!

What are your first memories of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol?

The first time I saw A Christmas Carol (ever, in my whole life!) was opening night of the Alliance Theatre’s production in December 2016. It was the last year the production happened on that stage before it was renovated into what is now the Coca-Cola stage. Sitting in the audience, knowing the theatre was going to be demolished, I felt so

aware that we were celebrating and saying goodbye to two decades of people’s holiday memories. The seats and walls and scenery and costumes had stayed constant while the cast, the audience, the city, the world had changed. It felt like the play itself — tender, joyful, and hopeful.

Aside from the Alliance Theatre’s, of course, do you have a favorite version? (i.e. The Muppet A Christmas Carol?)

I’m definitely a big fan of the Muppet version of A Christmas Carol! DIrector Leora Morris I actually haven’t really seen too many of the other versions. I’m Jewish and have never really celebrated Christmas, so my holiday experience tends to consist of Chinese takeout and going to the movies.

How is this year’s A Christmas Carol different from before? What can audiences expect?

At the heart of this year’s event is the story of A Christmas Carol that we all know and love (and many familiar songs), but just about everything else is different! Audiences will be congregating in their cars and listening to the show over their car radios. Live and onsite, a teeny tiny cast will voice the dozens of characters in the story, while a live sound effect artist will bring

Summerhill is home to some amazing restaurants. TOP: Enjoy delicious soft serve treats at Big Softie, where even the waffle cones are made in-house at sister company, Little Tart Bakeshop. ABOVE: Wood’s Chapel BBQ serves up an extensive barbecue menu cooked over traditional, wood-fired pits. the world of the story to life sonically. Plus, live feed cameras will give audiences a chance to watch the cast at work while they create all those sounds. It’s like a reverse drive-in — instead of the radio supporting audiences while they watch a movie, in our show, the videos will give audiences a sneak peek behind the radio play!

While listening to the story, we’ll be inviting the audience to participate and play along right inside their cars — with things like crafts, games, and sound-making. And we’ll be recruiting the audience’s help a couple of times along the way.

How do you feel taking on such a big Atlanta tradition, especially about taking it on during

such a weird time?

I’m so honored to get to collaborate on this show — especially this year. So much of 2020 has been spent separated from each other, and so little about 2020 has been normal. It feels very sacred to offer audiences a space to come together and to reconnect to a tradition, and perhaps even more importantly, to each other.

While we can’t do that by getting close to each other physically, radio allows us to use our voices in a way that’s very intimate — it will feel like the cast is right in the car with you. It’s been a fun challenge to think about bringing this familiar story to life for people inside their cars, just using sound. And we’re working on creative ways to get audiences to connect with each other, too.

Why A Christmas Carol? Why now?

Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol out of his despair about the extreme inequalities and

The hauntingly beautiful 2019 Alliance production Ride the Cyclone garnered director Leora Morris two Suzi Bass awards: Best Direction and Best Production of a Musical. injustices he was witnessing in Victorian England. So while A Christmas Carol is a story about one man’s transformation from a self-centered, miserly person into a community-minded, generous one, it is also about the world Scrooge lives in: one that desperately needs him to transform so that it, too, can transform. Tiny Tim only survives if people with resources and power decide he is worth their attention and advocacy.

Without that advocacy, he is an optimistic, graceful young boy without a fighting chance. This is a story of a waking up. And just like it is for Ebenezer Scrooge, A Christmas Carol is our annual theatrical opportunity to reflect on our past, be in our present, and think about our future. It matters so deeply to all of us making this show, that we honor

Charles Dickens’ call to see our pasts clearly, notice what’s happening in the present, and actively build a future we believe in for those who come after us.

Has this time changed you? Both as an artist and human? How?

Oof. So many ways. It has made me realize how much of what I love about my job is physically being in space with other people; I miss the way the air crackles. And I miss how each project in the theatre is an opportunity to model a way of being, a mini-world, a small utopic experiment in community-building. It’s been gutting to see the impact of COVID-19 and to watch the murder of George Floyd, but I am hopeful that the dovetailing of this forced pause and the global call for justice and equality for all people can result in true, deep change to our systems. I hope this production is a step in the right direction towards that change. Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed: The Rock Experience ended abruptly mid-run due to the pandemic, but it’s back virtually! Streaming now through April 12, this family-friendly musical can be enjoyed from the comfort of your own home.