Workshops for the Great Dickens Christmas Fair Start Halloween Morning!

Come join us as denizens of Dickens’ Victorian London!
Seven stages and more than 700 costumed performers!
Come one come all, learn to act, costume and improvise for the biggest Christmas party on Earth –  in costume, in character, be a star!

We’re looking for characters from the books of Charles Dickens, and ‘Dickensian’ characters of ALL sorts.
What do you get out of it? Just the most fun you’ll ever have and lots of new friends!
Don’t be afraid if you haven’t done this before and don’t know anything about it, we have lots of wonderful classes and teachers!

Workshops and auditions for the Great Dickens Christmas Fair begin at 10:00AM on the morning of October 31st, 2015 at Oceana High School in Pacifica. Find out more here: http://dickensfair.com/involved/vendors-performers

The Dickens Christmas Fair is a bustling theatrical environment, combining the magic of the traditional holiday season with the writings of Charles Dickens and the rich tapestry of Victorian England. The Fair is a combination of stage performances and improvisational acting in the streets of our London, always involving the audience and encouraging them to feel part of the show. The goal of workshops is to create not just an event, but a world. Our visitors comment regularly about being transported to another place and time, and the way no other event can. In order for a world to really thrive, its’ inhabitants need to not only look their characters and act their characters, they need to *think* their characters. This allows us all to really become other people and it’s a lot of fun, both for our audience and for us.

So come out to workshops, on Halloween morning and join in with the biggest Victorian cast on earth!

Don’t just play the video game, learn to LIVE IT, at the workshops for the Great Dickens Christmas Fair!

The Great Dickens Christmas Fair runs five weekends starting November 21st, 2015 including the Friday after Thanksgiving. Three Acres of Victorian Holiday Delights – Gifts, Food, Drink, & Entertainments at the Cow Palace in Daly City, CA.

Get more information at http://dickensfair.com/involved/vendors-performers

Entertainment Proposals for the 2015 Great Dickens Christmas Fair due May 31st

Just a quick reminder that entertainment proposals for the 2015 Great Dickens Christmas Fair are due by the end of May. This year we are especially looking for variety performers and one more children’s show. If you have a new show or group that you’d like to propose, please visit this webpage to find out more about performing at the fair.
http://dickensfair.com/involved/vendors-performers/performerinfo

Please keep the following in mind if you are proposing a show:

• No fire performances
• No prerecorded music/audio, video/animation
• Costumes, language, sets and props must be appropriate for mid-19th century London (not Renaissance)
• No modern performance styles (no aerial silks, etc.) or obvious modern (vs. Victorian) technology
• Able to fit on available stage sizes

Please consult all of the information on the performer’s web page before proposing a show.
Proposals may be sent to entertainment director Cat Taylor at dickensfair@cattaylor.com

(Some items on the website may have last year’s information, we are in the process of updating. Please note new email address.)

Dickens Fair Character Auditions October 3rd in Pacifica (and more…)

Theatrical Fun in 19th Century London!

The Dickens book character groups are ensemble casts that pride themselves on showcasing the vast panoply of Dickens’ brilliantly wrought characters. Dickens’ characters are big, bold and quirky with a lot of theatrical and interactive opportunities, plus tons of scenery to chew. Our lives at Fair are one big theatrical and improvisational banquet throughout the day, interacting with our guests and fellow cast members, and creating scenes from Dickens’ works.

If there is a role in a Dickens book or adaptation that you want to play (or simply find appealing) prepare a brief piece to read – and act – for the audition team. It will give us a clearer idea of your capabilities and the type of character you want to play. Dickens wrote a lot of vivid characters – both male and female – that cover a broad range of age, class and eccentricity level. The books are a theatrical goldmine! There is an enormous amount of material available online to help make your search fun and interesting as well as easy.

More information on the character roles available, please see the Dickens Fair missives page at
http://www.cattaylor.com/missives.html
where you can also see audition opportunities for other shows and casts,  and sign up for the missive (newsletter) list.

For more information about performing at the fair, please see:
http://www.dickensfair.com/involved/vendors-performers/performerinfo

36th Great Dickens Christmas Fair Tickets Onsale Now!

Tickets onsale now! Step into a Victorian wonderland of waltzing, feasting, laughing and singing!

Purchase “Print at Home” tickets now through October 15th and save $5 off the box office price of $25 Adult tickets (good weekends 1 thru 3). Children’s tickets are only $10 online!

Discover new ways to amaze and delight your senses around every corner… Applaud, marvel, carouse, dance, and mingle with old friends and new, at the 36th annual Great Dickens Christmas Fair! Purchase your tickets early and save!

A Tale of Two Scrooges (Three, Actually)

The face of London’s favourite curmudgeon will look both different and familiar at the Great Dickens Christmas Fair this year. Don Hardy, who stepped into Martin’s large and well-loved shoes for Dickens 2012, will be snarling his way through the streets again this year! Other commitments drew him away from last year’s show, and Dennis Parks, who made a striking impression in his maiden voyage at Dickens Fair as the deliciously loathsome Wackford Squeers (from Nicholas Nickelby) stepped in to give a bravura turn in 2013. He is returning to his first love, improvisational interactive theatre, as Squeers and promises other delights as well.

Please welcome Don back to the family, and support both of these actors as they settle into their roles.

Entertainment Proposals for The Great Dickens Christmas Fair, 2014

Yes Virginia, it’s already time to start talking about the entertainment for the Great Dickens Christmas Fair for 2014. If you have a new show or group that you’d like to propose, please visit this webpage to find out more about performing at the fair.
http://www.dickensfair.com/involved/vendors-performers/performerinfo

Please keep the following in mind if you are proposing a show:

• No fire performances
• No prerecorded music/audio, video/animation
• Costumes, language, sets and props must be appropriate for mid-19th century London (not Renaissance)
• No modern performance styles (no aerial silks, etc.) or obvious modern (vs. Victorian) technology
• Able to fit on available stage sizes

Please consult all of the information on the performer’s web page before proposing a show.
Proposals may be sent to entertainment director Cat Taylor at cat@redbarnproductions.org

Our own Phyllis Patterson, in a nice write-up in the New York Times.

Phyllis Patterson, Who Revived the 16th Century, Dies at 82

GiveForward Site for Don Kelly’s Chosen Family

The Renaissance Faire, Great Dickens Christmas Fair and Northern California Pirate Festival lost a very dear friend this  week, Don Kelly. I did too.  The GiveForward site for Don’s chosen family is up and available at
https://www.giveforward.com/fundraiser/44g4/don-kelly-family-fund

 Please give what you can (even a little bit adds up) and share around.

Don Kelly at the Great Dickens Christmas Fair.

 

Dickens Fair: Innkeeper, Another Round of Auditions for Dickens Characters! 10/22

The next round of Dickens Character auditions will take place at pre-arranged times at Mission Alchemy Event Space on the evening of Tuesday, October 22nd.

Although we are not limiting our search to these roles, these are the characters we are specifically interested in casting:

The Book that started all, “A Christmas Carol,” is looking for several crucial cast members:

• Bob Cratchit (hard to place the age) – Scrooge’s gentle, much put-upon clerk. A devoted family man and ardent Christmas enthusiast
• Ghost of Christmas Present (no specific age) – Larger than life, irrepressibly jolly and loud. The condensed essence of Christmas celebrations
• Nephew Fred – (youngish man) Scrooge’s dashing, lively and ebullient nephew, a one man PR campaign for hospitality and Christmas cheer

Additionally Other Books is specifically looking for

• Nicholas Nickelby, the dashing, young, hotheaded hero of the book by the same name.

Although we are not actively casting for any other specific characters,Other Books is always looking for vivid, interesting people to liven up the streets of London and our guests’ experience of the Fair. If there is a role in a Dickens book or adaptation that you want to play (or simply find appealing) prepare a brief piece to read – and act – for the audition team.  It will give us a clearer idea of your capabilities and the type of character you want to play. Dickens wrote a lot of vivid characters – both male and female – that cover a broad range of age, class and eccentricity level. The books are a theatrical goldmine! There is an enormous amount of material available online to help make your search fun and interesting as well as easy.

The Dickens book character groups are ensemble casts that pride themselves on showcasing the vast panoply of Dickens’ brilliantly wrought characters. Dickens’ characters are big, bold and quirky with a lot of theatrical and interactive opportunities, plus tons of scenery to chew. Our lives at Fair are one big theatrical and improvisational banquet throughout the day, interacting with our guests and fellow cast members, and creating scenes from Dickens’ works.

NOTE: Auditioning for a Dickens character is like any other theatrical audition – preparation is crucial. When considering auditioning for any of these roles, please take the time to do some research on the character to determine both that it is a role that you would be able to play and something you would enjoy doing. Being prepared also makes it easier for you to show yourself at your best and will make the casting process move more smoothly for all parties.

Please note that the Christmas Carol characters must be able to memorize lines and follow the script exactly.

If you would like to audition for one of these roles, please email Entertainment Department Assistant Rickie Bolin at rickielee.bolin@gmail.com with the following information:

1. Your full name, email address and phone number

2. The character(s) you would like to audition for. (Please prepare a bit of the dialogue for that character – see web resources below – and be prepared to improvise as that character.)

3. Your first, second and third choice of audition time on Tuesday October 22nd. The auditions will be scheduled at 15 minute intervals, please be patient as we sometimes get a bit behind when auditioning promising actors.

4. Optional: A brief note of any experience you would like us to know about. We will have applications and accept resumes (not required) at the auditions.

Here’s a great page to learn more about the characters and the books:

http://charlesdickenspage.com/works.html

Dickens Fair 35th Anniversary Tickets go on sale today – order early and save $5 per adult admission!

Discover a lamplit city of feasting, laughing, dancing, & shopping for treasures. Over 700 performers sweep you into the sumptuous world of Charles Dickens’ London.

JOIN US OPENING WEEKEND NOVEMBER 23rd and 24th (the weekend BEFORE Thanksgiving!) for the very best selection of one-of-a-kind handcrafted gifts.

Quite possibly the most elaborate, inventive, and unique Christmas event in the world – and a beloved Bay Area tradition – the Great Dickens Christmas Fair & Victorian Holiday Party showcases over three acres of exhibition halls transformed into a brilliant facsimile of Victorian London circa the 1840s-1860s. It is the peak of the British Empire, Queen Victoria reigns and Charles Dickens is dazzling the world with writing unequaled since the Bard put quill to vellum. Enter an ever-changing slice of Dickens’ incomparable London, warmly lit and lovingly decorated. Discover winding lanes, shops and pubs, tearooms, lecture halls, a grand Music Hall, and the boisterous London dockside – all brought to life by over 750 skilled and authentically costumed performers.

The Fair kicks off on November 23 and continues FIVE weekends (including the Friday after Thanksgiving!) through Sunday, December 22, 2013 at San Francisco’s historic Cow Palace, 2600 Geneva Ave.

Enjoy traditional favorites and new shows on seven stages!

Now entering its 35th season, the Great Dickens Christmas Fair is the incomparable holiday original that generations of families have embraced as their holiday tradition.

It’s an exciting old-time world for friends and family to explore for hours on end, even over multiple days or weekends. Arrive early, stay late, or simply join us for “dinner and a show” as you would in Charles Dickens’ London!

There is something to amaze and delight your senses around every corner of our winding lamplit streets. The opportunity to applaud, marvel, carouse, dance, and mingle with old friends and new in a festive Victorian world makes the Great Dickens Christmas Fair unlike any other event in the world – while presenting an enchanting alternative to the typical commercial fare of the season.

Purchase “Print at Home” tickets now through October 15th and save $5 off the box office price of $25 Adult tickets. A $2 discount for children (ages 5-12) is also offered. It’s a deal even Scrooge would love! Don’t delay, purchase your “passports” to Dickens’ London today!

Explore our website www.dickensfair.com for a wealth of information about the Fair and the exciting world of Charles Dickens’ London!

Do join us in “London in San Francisco”!

The Great Dickens Christmas Fair & Victorian Holiday Party
Nov. 23 – Dec. 22
FIVE Weekends, beginning the weekend before Thanksgiving!

When High on the Walls You have Twined
The Green Holly,
Let Music Resound and Let All
Be Most Jolly!