Originally published in 1843, Charles Dickens’ holiday classic, “A Christmas Carol,” has become one of the most well-known and oft-covered stories in Western literature with its story of the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge’s journey to find the meaning of Christmas.
On Saturday, the Boulder City Library will welcome Los Angeles-based actor Duffy Hudson for the second year in a row to present one of the more unique portrayals an audience will find of the feel-good ghost story: a one-man show.
During the 75-minute show, and without the use of props or costume changes, Hudson will bring 30 different characters to life as he tells the tale of kindness and redemption through the voices of such characters as the Ghost of Christmas Past, Bob Crachit and the tragic Tiny Tim.
Hudson performed “A Christmas Carol” at the library last year and the show was such a success that Director Kim Diehm was thrilled to bring him back.
“He is a veteran actor who brilliantly captivates the audience by bringing characters to life with the most minimal of settings,” Diehm said. “To me that’s what makes his performance so noteworthy: his ability to do so much with so little.”
Hudson has been acting since he was a child, including nearly 50 plays while in high school, and he studied theater while in college in New York. While acting has always been his passion, it wasn’t until about 15 years ago that he began performing one-man shows.
“My booking company actually came up with the idea and asked if any of their clients, including me, had any one-man-show projects they could pitch,” Hudson said. “Well I didn’t at the time, but I thought about it and put together a proposal and they went for it. I’ve been doing it consistently ever since.
His first show, and still one of his most successful, was based on Edgar Allen Poe, during which he portrays the iconoclastic author as he performs reading of “The Raven” and “The Tell-Tale Heart.” In another of his most popular shows, Hudson depicts Harry Houdini and even escapes from a straitjacket.
He has portrayed these, and other figures of history and literature, at schools and public institutions across the country. His shows have been so successful that last year he was recognized as the best one-man-show performer in Los Angeles by the Los Angeles Daily News.
This is Hudson’s seventh year performing “A Christmas Carol” and this show in Boulder City will be his last of this holiday season.
“I’ve always loved ‘A Christmas Carol,’ such an emotional story of love, redemption and the Christmas spirit,” Hudson said. “And this show, a one-man performance without props or changes, you’re not going to experience it anywhere else. We take the ride together.”
The show will begin at 1 p.m. in the community room; it is free and all ages are welcome to attend. The library is at 701 Adams Blvd.
For more information, call 702-293-1281 or visit http://duffyhudson.com/a-christmas-carol.